Sunday, December 20, 2009

Micah 2:13

Micah 2:13 "The breaker goes up before them, they break out, pass through the gate and go out by it so their king goes on before them and the Lord at their head." NAS

We are the breakers in prayer in intercession we go out ahead and break through the strongholds, so the Spirit of God can come in so the King of Glory may come in.

Enter Your Prayer Closet

I believe the Word the Lord is giving me for 2010 is "enter your prayer closet."
Ephesians 5:14 "Awake sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." NAS
**AWAKE: the idea of collecting one's faculties to waken to rouse from sleep, sitting or lying; from disease; death; obscurity.
Rise: to stand up, literally and figuratively
Dead: corpse dead figuratively
Light: illuminate give light

Isaiah 26:20 "Come my people, enter into your rooms. And close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while. Until indignation runs its course (v.21) For behold the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. And the earth will reveal her bloodshed. And will no longer cover her slain." NAS
For 2010 He is calling for : completion, maturity, perfection, fulfilling, full fruition.
Light must come to expose the darkness, hardness, coldness of hearts, indifference, deception, manipulation these things must be illuminated. Conviction of righteousness, sin and judgement.
An outpouring of confession of sin and repentance not only for the individual but for Churches, Body of Christ and the nation.
Confession will get the ear of God.
There are multitudes in the valley of decision, decisions for eternal life to accept Christ.
there are also multitudes who profess Christianity who must make a decision in 2010 to turn from carnal Christianity and embrace a full commitment to the kingdom of God. Multitudes who must awaken and repent for the darkness and coldness in their hearts.
The church is filled with dead men walking.
The earth is groaning for man to stand and manifest the works of God.

Praying for Presidential Positions and the Church

When we were praying for the Presidential elections, I felt we should always start our prayers with repentance for how this nation treated President Bush. Whenever I expressed this feeling to people, intercessors looked at me like I was from the moon.
I still feel this way, that when we pray about the health care bill, the economy, gay marriage bills, abortion; that we must repent first for the great sins of this nation and for the sins of complacency of the church. then we can petition God for favor. Isn't II Chronicles 7:14 a verse of repentance, isn't that why God will hear from heaven, forgive and heal? God listens to the contrite heart, His ear is always turned toward the humble, repentant heart.
When we pray for our church, perhaps we should first repent for the carnality, the lack of prayer; the power struggle among the administrators, pray for our sins; pray for the people's sins.
Stand in the gap, ask for forgiveness for the lack of power, glory , grace and guidance. And then let us ask for His direction and his plans for the Church.

Commissioned to Pray

We are commissioned by Jesus to pray. Paul instructed us to pray without ceasing. Pray we must! God wants to release His power, glory and the knowledge of Him if we will just pray.
So we struggle with prayerlessness. We feel guilty; we feel ashamed,we have tried and failed our heart isn't in it. Yet we know the power that is lacking in the Church is due to prayerlessness. What are we to do?
The Blood of Jesus has set us free from all our other sins--why not the sin of prayerlessness? He will do it if we just ask and believe, if we confess our sin of prayerlessness and ask to be delivered why wouldn't the Blood of Jesus set us just as free in this area as it has in all other areas of sin.
First we must come to grips with the fact that prayerlessness is sin! It is sin because Jesus told us we are to pray, He gave us a format; He said go into your prayer closet, shut the door and pray in secret to the Father.
when the disciples asked why they lacked power to cast out a demon, Jesus said it comes with prayer and fasting.
The Church's prayerlessness goes against Jesus' commands, so it is sin. It is shunning time with God; it is attempting to serve God in our strength and power; it is prideful to think we can save souls without the power of prayer. All of this makes it a sin, all of this needs to be confessed and repented. When Jesus delivers us and softens our hearts once again, we are filled with the loved of God and are humble and able to bow the knee in prayer.
For most of the Church, it means going back to square one: recognize sin, confess sin, repent of sin, humble oneself in the sight of God; believe He will fill you with the Spirit of power.
Now there is another obstacle, the flesh has such a grip on us and is so deceived by the enemy of our soul that many believers do not even want the Spirit of prayer because of the sacrifice it requires. that is the devil lying to us in order to try to disarm us of our most powerful weapon. The flesh must be put down so that our spirit man can rise up and serve God in prayer.
There is only one road back to God--repentance!

Matthew 4:4

Matthew 4:4 a well known and well quoted scripture but do we take it to heart "man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." NAS
Just as the body requires bread to live so the spirit requires the Word of God to live. We eat three times a day, maybe more, how often do we eat the Word of God. We cannot live spiritually without nourishing our spirit with the Word, just as bread strengthens our body; so does the Word of God strengthen our spirit. Many Christians have malnourished spirits but very well nourished bodies.

Luke 1:17

Luke 1:17
John the Baptist was "to make ready people prepared for the Lord."
He was to do this by turning the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the right.
It was a spiritual awakening and preparation to receive Christ.
Now we need another spiritual awakening and a preparation for an outpouring of the Spirit and the Second Coming of Christ.
Proverbs 6:6-11 tells us to be prepared through the example of the ant and the sluggard.
The ant is wise and has no ruler but still gathers provision in the summer and in harvest. The ant is prepared for winter for famine; for difficult times.
While the sluggard sleeps his poverty will come in like a thief.
His poverty in spirit, the lack of the Word; lack of prayer will catch him unawares; he will be swept away.
The ones who have built on the rock of the Word in calm times will have protection in times of storms.

Psalm 127:2

Psalm 127:2 "it is vain to rise early or stay up late working or to toil hard because the Lord gives to His beloved even while he sleeps" NAS
What a beautiful scripture, God loves us so much that He is pouring out into us even while we sleep!
Behold, little children, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Exodus 20 Revisited

I wrote about Exo.20:24 in the blog titled "Heb. 2:14, Matt.6:10". Let me re-visit Exodus 20:24 "altars of earth... In every place where I cause My name to be remembered..." NAS
God causes His Name to be remembered. How? When the people had an encounter with God; they did not have daily encounters with God. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and can have daily encounters, if we will present ourselves as a holy and living sacrifice daily to God. He will cause His Name to be remembered and will come to us and bless us. We are the altars of remembrance carrying the memory of God and His goodness each day to the world. Each day to the world and each day on our altars if we remind God of His word, He pours out the knowledge of His glory on all the earth.

Acts 2:19

Acts 2:19 "And I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath Blood and fire and vapor of smoke" NAS
Verse 19 accompanies the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all mankind. Verse 17 as prophesied in Joel 2:28-32
Peter declared this the day of Pentecost was that Joel 2.
God has poured out His Spirit, but now we await the great outpouring, the harvest, the awakening and the soon coming king. We need a great awakening!
God said He will grant wonders in heaven and signs on earth in the Lord's prayer we are to pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
We are to pray heaven and earth together. We are to bridge the gap between the two. Loose His knowledge on earth "to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea."
He said He would grant the wonders in heaven and the signs on earth and He also instructed us to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
So: prayer will bring this about! Call for signs and wonders according to His word, call for His kingdom to come, call for His will to be done. We cry for the windows of heaven to be opened and pour out on us, we are instructed to pray heaven and earth together.
Oh how we need to be awakened to heaven and to the knowledge of the King!
Was that what was happening in Jacob's Ladder, angels ascending and descending bringing heaven down to earth--touching heaven and earth.
Influencing earth with heavenly things was the will of God and the glory of God; the knowledge of God being poured out upon the earth in that place?
I submit to you that when we pray we connect heaven and earth and we make a place; an altar for the remembrance of God; His glory and knowledge are poured out onto the earth.
The more prayer spots--the more heavenly connections.
Send down the fireballs of glory Lord, we need heavenly connections.

Hebrews 2:14 and Matthew 6:10

Hebrews 2:14 "for the earth shall be filled with the Knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." NAS

Matthew 6:10 " Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." NAS

God has clearly shown us His desire and plan to bring revival and the light of His glory to the earth.
When we pray for a spiritual awakening it is well within His plan and lines up with His word.
When we pray this spiritual awakening and revival, we are taking an active place before God and are a participant in His grand plan for all of mankind--hallelujah!
Praying these prayers is an act of obedience.
Recognizing this requirement of prayer in the scriptures is part of what Psalm 119 speaks of when he says (verse 27) "make me understand the way of Thy precepts" NAS
(verse 34) "give me understanding that I may observe Thy law and keep it with all my heart" NAS

For God's glory to fill the earth He must be acknowledged and remembered throughout all the earth. In olden days, they built altars wherever they had an encounter with God so that He and His words would be remembered.
God instructed them to build the altars and sacrifice on it so He would be remembered and He promised to come to them and bless them in these places (Exodus 20:24) in the New Testament He also called for an altar and sacrifice (Romans 12:1).

Exodus 20:24 "You shall make an altar of earth for Me and you shall sacrifice on it burnt offerings, and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you." NAS

Romans 12:1 "I urge you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship." NAS

We are earthen vessels (II Corinthians 4:7)
We are the 'altar of earth' for God. We offer our bodies as a sacrifice as a spiritual service of worship as we build within us altars of obedience, thanksgiving, worship, praise and prayer God is remembered.

We bear God's name and we are the altars of earth that cause His name to be remembered; His knowledge to fill the earth; His will to be done because of our prayers, praise and obedience. We carry His name we show forth His glory.
We represent His awesome works; ambassadors for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20).
The fire on the altar is to never go out (Leviticus 6:13) "fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out." We are to always be on fire for God, to remain passionate, aglow, filled and pressing onward. Romans 12:11 "fervent in spirit" (amplified). "be aglow and burning with the Spirit". Never let the fire on the altar go out.
We are the ones that cause God to be remembered!
If we are not altars of praise and prayer, the next generation will not remember God.
This is what happened to the Children of Israel when their forefathers died off, they did not know of the wonders of God, that is why the Children of Israel were given such explicit instructions about telling their children of the works of God. Fathers were to pass the heritage down to sons; the fathers failed to do so, God was not remembered; the next generations turned to idol worship.
Redig the wells of living water keep the altar fires burning!

Numbers 14:11-21

Numbers 14:11-21
Moses prayer to God; asking Him pardon the iniquity of the people. God was prepared to smite them.
Verse 20 the Lord Says to Moses, according to your word I have pardoned them.
According to the prayer of Moses, standing in the gap between the people and God, Moses' prayer caused God to change His mind and to hold back judgement and destruction.
We fail to recognize, believe in and utilize the position in prayer that we have been given.

Psalm 119:73

Psalm 119:73 "...give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments."

To even learn of God's commandments before we even obey we must have understanding given to us by the Father.
There is a depth, a purpose, and a goal in the commandments not just rules to follow and we get a prize at the end of the day. His commandments are designed to lift us up above the corruption of this world; to move us into a domain that belongs to Him and Him alone. We must see beyond just rules and formulas, visualize the ultimate goal, the glorious result, the beauty of holiness. We must learn to see beyond our limited vision and see according to God's word.
verse 80 "May my heart be blameless in Thy statures that I may not be ashamed."

the scriptures speak in several places about not being ashamed.
There will come a day when every sinner will be ashamed, every one's eyes will be opened to the holiness of God and will fall on their knees and worship Him.
Sin, selfishness, blindness, hard hearts will be ashamed of how they spent their time on earth.

Psalm 119:59

Psalm 119:59 "I considered my ways and turned my feet to thy testimonies" verse 60 "I hastened and did not delay to keep Thy commandments." NAS
We must consider our "ways" in verse 27 we are understanding the ways of Thy precepts, which leads us to knowing the ways of God; we have considered His ways. Now in verse 59 we must consider our ways, look deep into our hearts and what 'way' lies within it. If there are ways within us that do not match up with God's ways we must 'hasten' without delay to turn to god's ways and keep His commandments.

Psalm 119:41-48

Psalm 119:41-48
Here the Psalmist speaks of all that he will do concerning God's word.
He will trust in the Word; keep it; walk in it; seek it; speak of it; not be ashamed of it; delight in it; love it; lift up his hands to it; meditate on it.
These words describe a life consumed with the Word of God. It describes a life built entirely on the word. The Word is the center of all he thinks, feels and does.
We say we love Your Word, Lord, but perhaps we need to examine our lives to see just how much of the Word actually does influence our lives.
Help us to walk in more obedience to the Word--to walk in the deeper places of the Word.
This life consumed with the Word; influenced by the Word is setting us up for wholehearted service to God. It is placing a nature within us that enables us to do the work that we have been created to do.
Ephesians 2: 10 "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good words" NAS
We must have this love, this influence and this obedience for the Word working in our being. Then we can yield to the pressing matter of prayer. We were created for prayer, we were created to loose the knowledge and will of God upon this earth. We will not have the strength for it without the great influence of the Word and the leadership of the Holy Spirit within us.

Salvation is an Internal Experience

Salvation is an internal experience. It is not an external experience of purchasing a salvation ticket and standing in line to enter heaven. Salvation is an internal union of believer and God.
We talk people into praying for salvation and all they have done is outwardly spoken salvation but inwardly the heart remains the same. the heart is stony, cold and unresponsive to the gentle wooing of the Spirit. These people mistakenly believe they are saved and destined for heaven; they continue their daily lives unchanged, unconvicted and unholy.
The inward heart of man, the spirit of the man must be touched in such a way that he sees his sin, his helplessness, the futility of his life and his monumental need for God. Until the knees of his heart collapse and bow before God in humility and true repentance. There is no true abiding in Christ and no union between his heart and God's heart. The heart of man must be convicted and swept clear of his own ways , in all humbleness as he cries to God and the precious Spirit of God begins to hover over his heart and starts to breathe life into him. Then he awakens from his dead, sinful life and receives salvation in his heart and not in his hand.
Man must understand that his relationship with God is not an external relationship with a God who is "somewhere out there" but rather with a God who dwells within us and with whom we are to take on His nature and attributes giving Him complete control.

Personal Revival

The Psalmist repeatedly asks God to revive him.
Psalm 119:25,37, and 40
We also can and must ask for personal revival, we must be refreshed, renewed, revived and regenerated. We may do all that we know to do to be revived and still nothing changes. We can do nothing on our own, we must look to Him for our own personal renewal; ask Him to breathe a fresh on us; ask Him to enliven the word and to stir our soul. To quicken our spirits within us, to pour out fresh manna from heaven to feed our souls. He and He alone can quicken our mortal bodies and revive our spirits. He awakens us to the presence of His glory.

Psalm 119:36

Psalm 119:36 "Incline my heart to Thy testimonies" NAS

I Kings 8:58 Solomon's blessing over the assembly of Israel
"...that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments" NAS

Incline: to stretch out; spread out; extend bend down; bent; bow

Psalm 119: We are asking God to stretch or spread our hearts in the direction of His Word. we must extend our hearts towards His word. Our heart must be humbled as we bow to His laws, we bend our hearts down and bow to His word in contrast to our hearts being lifted up in pride and arrogance. We must be obedient to God; but we need Him to draw our hearts; to incline the desire of heart to be for Him and His testimonies.
The carnal heart does not desire this, it desires the things of the world, so we must petition God to turn our hearts and to bend them towards His precepts.
We need Him to teach us, incline us, turn us to His Word: establish His Word in us.
This is why He has sent the Holy Spirit He is our teacher, He inclines us toward the Word and testimonies of God and reveals the Truth to us.
Psalm 119:37 "We can even ask Him to help us in turning our eyes from vanity" NAS
His job is to help us fix our eyes upon Jesus.

Psalm 119:34

"Give me 'understanding' that I may observe Thy law and keep it with all my heart." NAS

To accurately observe God's laws we must have understanding. The laws are not a formula; the laws are not step 1,2,3 and now I am holy and sanctified.

The keeping of the laws is NOT an external exercise--it is an internal activity--done in the heart with all of the heart.
Understanding, insight, love for the laws, respect for the laws and an inner soul changing must take place to follow the laws because we love, adore and honor God; not plugging in a formula in.
The understanding enables us to keep the law.
How remarkable that God wants us to see into His hear, to know Him and understand His ways and purposes. He could have just said: 'here just follow these rules and don't ask questions, just do it'.
The UNDERSTANDING brings obedience; it brings a desire to please Him.
The Lord's ultimate goal is to rescue us from the capture, the one who imprisons, the one who binds up; the one who locks the door, the one who destroys the one who lies.
Our hearts should be so bound to the Lord that our only desire is to obey and please the Master who brought us from the wicked master who held us captive in sin. Gratefulness should flood our soul and the demonstration of our love should be evident in obedience.
Lord help us to walk in faithfulness and obedience, ever mindful of the wonders You have performed.
Man is always on God's mind and always in His heart.
What is on our minds and in our hearts??
Help me to know the way of Your heart!

Humility

Humility --knowing that all I am is by the grace of God. Humility is more than repentance--it is participating in the life of Jesus by serving; it is being an empty vessel and allowing God to manifest Himself through me; it is learning entire dependence on God.
Adam and Eve were in complete dependence on God until the temptation came to "be like God" that desire destroyed their humility; their dependence on God.
That has been the struggle of man ever since that day in the garden--the desire to be independent; to depend on one's own strengths, decisions and power to be in control-or- to surrender to God and be dependent upon Him. To serve or to be boss--this decides true humility!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Psalm 119:27

Psalm 119:27 "Make me understand the way of Thy precepts, so I will meditate on Thy wonders." NAS
When the Holy Spirit gives us understanding into the way of His precepts; when He gives us knowledge, insight, wisdom, and opens of the eyes of our heart, then we stand in awe at His wonders. We do not think on His wonders when we have no understanding of His Word. But as the eyes of our spirit are illumined, we begin to grasp the magnificent wonder of the God we love and serve.
This verse says "make me understand the way of Thy precepts." Note that it doesn't say make me understand Thy precepts, but rather make me understand the WAY of Thy precepts. The addition of the word WAY leads us to believe it is more than just understanding God's laws and commands. Understanding the WAY of His precepts leads us to understanding their purpose; the reason for their existence; what they will accomplish in the future; what the ultimate goal is; and the direction that God is guiding us.
The WAY of His precepts should also clue us in on God's nature and personality, the way He thinks, and works and His methods. The WAY of a person has to do with their inner being; their inner person; what makes them who they are. We often use the expression, "That's the WAY he does things or that's just the WAY he is." That "WAY" springs from who he is in his heart. The experiences and environment that have molded him into the person he is. That "WAY" reflects his thinking and his perception of situations.
So this verse is telling us that we don't just understand and follow a list of rules set down by God. We understand the WAY of the rules meaning we understand the person behind the rules. This way we begin to see the rules through God's eyes and through His heart. The precepts become more than a set of rules, they become the embodiment of God. The precepts become who He is and what His plan is for mankind. Then we are struck with such awe at the wonder of our God.
How remarkable that God wants us to see into His heart and to know Him and to understand His WAYS and purposes. He could have just said," Here, just follow these rules because I said so." But instead, He desires for us to have understanding into His WAYS. This understanding brings a desire to please Him and to be obedient.
The Lord's ultimate goal is to rescue us from the capturer; the one who imprisons; the one who binds up; the one who locks the prison door; the one who destroys; the one who lies. Our hearts should be so bound to the Lord that our only desire is to obey and please the Master who bought us from the wicked master who held us captive in sin. Gratefulness should flood our soul and the demonstration of our love should be evident in obedience.
Lord, help us to walk in faithfulness and obedience and to be ever mindful of the wonders You have performed.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Lord Searches For Us

II Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.(NAS)

What does it take to have a heart that is completely His? Is my heart completely His? The key word in this scripture is "completely". He is searching, looking for those who are crying out to Him, to those who are listening and looking for Him. He is searching for the seekers, the watchers, those who are not satisfied with the things of this world. For those who want more than a casual Christianity. Those whose heart beats to the same beat as His. Those who trust Him and who trust His Word and His promises. Those who strive to please Him, who strive to obey Him and those who cannot be happy unless they are in communion with Him.
He looks for us, He searches for us, He knows where we are. He will show Himself to be mighty, to be faithful, to be Father, to be Redeemer and protector. He will also show forth His power and His glory.
How humbling, how awesome that we serve a God who searches for us, supports us and displays all of His glory to us.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Right Handed, Left Handed or Both?

I Chronicles 12 is a description of the mighty men who came to David at Ziklag to be a part of his army. Verse 22 says "For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God." (NAS) This chapter describes the strengths and skills of these great warriors. I Chronicles 12:2 " They were equipped with bows, using both the right hand and the left to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow.." (NAS) These men were very valuable warriors because if they were injured in battle in the right arm they could still continue to fight by slinging stones with the left arm. These men had to be highly trained and disciplined to be able to shoot arrows with both hands. I took archery in high school and found it to be a very difficult sport. It took a lot of strength to pull the string back against the resistance of the bow while keeping the bow steady and the arrow staight. Hitting the target was another challenge! These men could not only shoot arrows accurately but with either hand and could sling stones.
When someone injures their right arm and cannot use it, usually they are incapacitated and are somewhat helpless and feel useless. This is the devil's plan when he brings emotional and mental injury to us. He damages us with rejection, hurt feelings, estrangement, and disappointments. Like the physical injury to the right arm, we become helpless, listless and useless to the Kingdom of God and the devil has achieved his purpose.But if we are well trained in prayer and equipped with the Word we can continue to function. We must be able to use our right arm and our left arm spiritually. If we are dealt a setback we must be able to use the "other arm" and fight back. Arming ourselves with the Word, prayer and forgiveness, we can continue to press forward for the Kingdom of God. Too many Christians have stepped out of the battle because they have been dealt a blow from the enemy. We have too many Christians on the injury list sitting on the sidelines. We must be trained, disciplined and strong enough to use the "other arm" when wounded. When the enemy strikes a blow on us we must run to God. We must be quick to forgive our fellow men who may have hurt our feelings. We must pray for the Body of Christ, speak the Word and ask God to strengthen us in our inner man. Then begin to pray and pull down these strongholds that try to incapcitate the believers. We cannot be one armed warriors and be rendered useless.
Psalm 144:1 "Blessed be the Lord, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle." (NAS) Psalm 18:34 "He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze." (NAS) As I meditated on these scriptures, I noted that hands, fingers, and arms are all plural. We are to be right handed and left handed warriors for God. We must be so skilled in prayer, so skilled in the Word of God, and so skilled in hearing the Spirit that if we are attacked and "injured in the right arm" we can continue to fight with our left arm.
Let us pray for our pastors and leaders to press on to "equipping the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the Body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13 (NAS)

Famine - A Place of Positioning

Famine is lack. Famine is usually thought of in terms of lack of food, but it could also be the lack of anything to sustain quality life. America is in a spiritual famine. We are starving for righteousness, holiness, and godliness in our schools, in our government, in our businesses, in our lives. America is also experiencing a famine in the natural in the area of jobs, finances, home foreclosures, and businesses closing. These can be anxious times that we are living in. During these times we must strive to keep our eyes on God and not on the circumstances around us. We must not get caught up in fear but rather stay relevant to God's kingdom and His purposes. God can use times of crisis to position us so we can accomplish His work. I believe God is preparing us for future assignments and if we co-operate with Him, we can be positioned now for those tasks.
We see in the Bible how God used the impending famine in Egypt to position Joseph in a place of authority. The famine also brought all of Joseph's family to Egypt where they would live together and increase in numbers until God delivered them. During this spiritual and natural famine in America, faithful saints can be placed in positions, both spiritual and natural, to accomplish His will and perhaps to have influence and authority in our land.
The prodigal son also encountered a famine. After he had spent all of his father's inheritance there was a famine in the land and he had to take a job feeding the pigs. He was starving and his boss was not giving him anything to eat. When he came to his senses, he knew that there was provision in his father's house. Even the hired hands would be fed in his father's house. So he decided to return to his father's house in humility and repentance and asked to be hired on as a worker. He knew that even though there was a famine in the land where he was feeding the pigs that there was provision in his father's house. The famine brought him home and positioned him in right standing with his father again. The key factor in his homecoming was his willingness to humble himself and repent and seek his father's face. This of course brings us back to our study of II Chronicles 7:14 " If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (NAS) Forgiveness, healing and positioning are available to us if we will humble ourselves and turn away from worldliness and repent.
We also find in the prodigal son's story that even when there is famine in the land there is always provision in our heavenly Father's house. So do not fear the times that we live in but seek God with all of your heart and allow Him to spiritually position you for the road ahead.

Anointing Fall on Me

I often sing that little song, "Anointing fall on me. Anointing fall on me. Let the power of the Holy Ghost fall on me. Anointing fall on me." I do pray for the anointing to fall on me for prayer and for teaching, but we must remember that we all have an anointing dwelling within us. I have come across too many Christians who do not believe that they have an anointing because they are not in a leadership position. The Bible tells us otherwise. I John 2:20 " But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know." (NAS) John is speaking to everyday believers like you and me. We have an anointing! Let's look at the Amplified Bible for this verse. I John 2:20 "But you hold a sacred appointment, you have been given an unction-you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know (the Truth)." (AMP) Let's also look at verse 27 in the same chapter. "But as for you, (the sacred appointment, the unction) the anointing which you received from Him abides permanently in you.." (AMP) Now just to be sure that you are convinced let's look at II Cor. 1:21-22. "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." (NAS) Praise God, we all have an anointing residing within us. The Holy Spirit brings it when He comes to dwell in us.
Now what exactly is an anointing and what do we do with it? First we see that anointing means unction or sacred appointment which means we have a task to perform assigned to us by the Holy Spirit. Vines Expository Dictionary explains the anointing in I John 2:20 & 27 this way: "that believers have an 'anointing from the Holy One' indicates that this anointing renders them holy, separating them to God. The passage teaches that the gift of the Holy Spirit is the all-efficient means of enabling believers to possess a knowledge of the truth." (W.E.Vine) From this definition we see that the anointing brings holiness and we possess knowledge of the truth. When this anointing comes to dwell in us it brings the truth and light of the gospel and a desire to live pure and holy before God. When we pray we are not just sending forth words for God to hear but we are also releasing this great anointing that is within us. We are releasing the holiness of God into the earth to influence all mankind. We are releasing the knowledge of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ into the darkness and deception of this world to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. What a great assignment we have from our Lord, to release this anointing that will help draw all men unto Him. Let us begin to pray fervently and passionately to release this anointing into all the earth.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Prayer For The Body of Christ

We have been praying for the people who are called by God's name to humble themselves and repent from their wicked ways, so God might heal our land and Jesus might have the Bride that He is worthy of. Jeremiah 6 speaks a strong word from the Lord concerning the sin in the church and the leaders. Let's begin at verse 13. "For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely. And they have healed the brokeness of My people superficially, saying 'Peace, peace', but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush." (NAS) Sadly these same sins are in the Church today. We see greed, lust for money, lust for power, lust for recognition. There are some false prophets and false pastors who are leading the people astray by watering down the gospel and not warning their flock of the consequences of sin. They are lulling the people to sleep with words of assurance that they are OK and all is peaceful. Yet the people of God are indulging in sin. I hear stories of Christians who have live in boyfriends, are dating married men, having abortions, having affairs, looking at pornography and they do not blush about it. They do not try to hide it. They have been lulled into a false sense of security. They have their ticket to heaven and want to live only for their own gratification.
What does the Lord say we must do? In verse 16 " Thus says the Lord, 'Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls.'" (NAS) The NIV Bible says "Stand at the crossroads and look and ask for the ancient paths." We must choose to either walk after the laws of God or to walk after the desires of the flesh. The Body of Christ is standing at a crossroad and we must turn back to holiness and purity and sanctification. We must make the right choice and turn to the Ancient paths, to the well worn paths of those who have gone before us, following the laws and commandments of God. We must walk on the path that the Ancient of Days has laid out for us to follow. A path of holiness and righteousness. Jeremiah 18:15 says, "Yet My people have forgotten Me.... They have been caused to stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, to walk in bypaths, in a way not graded up-not a highway." (AMP) the people of God have become sidetracked and are no longer walking on the highway to Zion but are walking on the bypaths of this world. Being pulled off into worldly thinking and activities and straying from godly principles. The saints of God are plaqued with problems, sickness, heartache and oppression because they have stumbled off the highway of God. Jeremiah 31:21 tells us to "Set up for yourself roadmarks, place for yourself guideposts; direct your mind to the highway, the way by which you went." (NAS) Make markers, reminders, scriptures, prayers that will guide you and direct your steps to stay on the right path. Keep your mind focused on the highway to Zion and not on the path of the world which will lead only to destruction. Seek God's face and study His Word. Pray the scriptures over yourself and your family and your home. Enlist the help of the Holy Spirit to lead you into all holiness. Remember in Jeremiah 6:16 the Lord said that you will find rest if you stay on the ancient paths. Let us pray for the saints and for our spiritual leaders to return to the Ancient paths - the laws of God's Word and cleanse our hands and purify our hearts before Him. Let us show reverence to God by living righteously before Him.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Joel 2:12-17

In my last entry we spoke of the Body of Christ turning away from sin and humbling ourselves before God and crying out to Him for repentance. We also spoke of the much needed prayer for our spiritual leaders that they also would turn from worldliness and sin and would boldly preach holiness to the Church. While praying for our church leaders, the Lord led me to Joel 2:12-17. Verses 12-16 are a call for the people of God to return to Him with all their hearts with fasting, weeping, and mourning. But verse 17 has a word for the priests. Joel 2:17Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say,"Spare Thy people, O Lord and do not make Thine inheritance a reproach, a byword among the nations."(NAS)Not only must we ask God for holy and righteous leaders who will boldly speak the truth but we also need to ask for praying leaders. Leaders who will weep and wail for the people of God. Leaders who will be good shepherds and will watch over the flock and be on the lookout for a wolf in sheep's clothing. We need to pray for leaders who will preach hard against sin and who know their sheep and will lay down their lives for them. Leaders who are alert to the evil influence that may be coming against their flock and fight against it and will look to God for direction. Who will not just operate out of programs, plans and intellect, but will operate according to Zechariah 4:6 Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.(NAS)Also pray for false prophets and false pastors to be exposed so the people of God will not be led astray. Pray for the King of Glory to come into our churches and into our services that He might be glorified in all holiness.

II Chronicles 7:14

II Chronicles 7:14
and My people who are called by My Name humble themselves and pray, and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (NAS)

One morning as I was praying II Chronicles 7:14 over the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to something very important in that scripture. It was as if He took a huge highlighter and marked turn from their wicked waysand will heal their land. There is a great promise within that scripture. If we, the Church, will turn from our wicked ways, from our worldliness, from our lustful desires then God will heal our land. The scripture does not say for the wicked to turn from their wicked ways but for the people called by His Name to turn from their wicked ways. That is the Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ. The future of America lies in the hands of the saints of God. If we will turn and repent and live holy and pure lives before God then He will forgive and heal our land. We must begin to pray for believers to cleanse their hands and to purify their hearts before God. Our churches must not look like the world. We must be a holy and undefiled people.
Then the Lord took me to I Timothy 2:1-2 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. We have all prayed this over our government leaders and prayed the evil to be rooted out of our government, but now the Lord turned it towards our spiritual leaders. He wants prayer for our spiritual leaders and for evil to be rooted out of our spiritual leaders. We must have holy, undefiled leaders who will speak boldly to the congregations concerning sin. We need leaders who will bring forth apostolic preaching with the power of the Holy Spirit. When the power of the Holy Spirit is present, people are able to hear and to obey. They are convicted and willing to repent and to turn to God. The Church of Jesus Christ must turn from worldliness and self indulence and sin and become the Bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle. Then we can look to God to heal our land. America is in our hands.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Come Away With Him

I John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. (NAS)
We know that God is love and that He loves us. He sent His Son because He loves us so much. But those words of love are just that – words – if we don’t allow them to sink deep into our hearts. We must open up our hearts and allow the King of Glory to enter in. He desires to have an intimate relationship with each one of us and desires for us to rest in His love and to be so secure in His love that we do not fear the things of this world. He desires us to draw away from the demands of our lives and meet Him in the secret place. In worship and prayer and quiet meditation, He will reveal Himself to us. But we must make ourselves available to Him. In Song of Solomon, He repeatedly calls to His beloved to arise and come away with Him. He calls her to come with Him to the clefts of the rock, to the secret place where He might hear her voice. In Chapter 5 He comes to her while she is sleeping. She hears His voice, she hears Him knocking but she is tired. She has prepared herself for bed and so she delays coming to Him. When she finally arouses herself, it is too late. He has gone. Isaiah 55:6 (NAS) tells us to Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. We must not let the complacency of our flesh prevent us from seeking Him. We must come away with Him and allow this precious love that He has for us to become so real that we are as the maiden in Song of Solomon who declares to be so in love that she is lovesick. She is so in love that she delights to sit with Him and His Presence is so sweet to her. We must arouse ourselves from sleep and set our affection upon Him.
One morning when I called to my Beloved and desired to sense His Presence in a special way He spoke these words to me.
I am aware. I always know when you draw near. Nothing escapes My notice. Every little cry from your heart is always heard by Me. I miss you when you are preoccupied with other things. Your love is as important to Me as the most famous saint that ever lived. Although you find that hard to believe, you must remember that with Me love is not earned – love-just-is. As it is on earth in human relationships, it is not so in heaven. My manner of love is quite different from human love. My love stems from a Creator’s viewpoint and all that I have created is good. It is the enemy who tries to destroy and distort what I created in order to make it unlovable. That is why My Son came to break the enemy’s power, so My people may be free to receive My Love. Your attention and affection is not lost on Me as it is on humans. I cherish every expression, every moment. Do not ever forget that although I am the God of this universe, I am also the God of the individual. I love you always, God.
So be encouraged to press in and learn what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon you and allow Him to make His love so real to you that you are lovesick.