Friday, June 29, 2007

Slavery vs Sonship

We have been discussing the importance of spiritual fathers and mothers, and the lack of them in this generation. I believe that there is a cry in the hearts of the tweenies to be fathered and mothered. May God heal those with broken hearts, and raise them up to father and mother a new generation ..for the glory of God! I also wrote on this subject in my post from April 4th, 2007 and August 30,2006 if you want to check the archives..

This article is Part II on the revelation of the orphan heart and sonship. Part I, “Exposing the Roots of the Spiritual Orphan”, can be seen on the website - www.shilohplace.org)

In our recent monthly letters, I shared that what we see taking place in the natural is often a reflection of what is beginning to occur in the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46). I want to briefly review and build upon that. The spirit of Ishmael (the orphan heart) warring against the spirit of Isaac (the spirit of a son) seems to be the dominating spirit upon the earth today. The same spirit that is releasing terrorism upon the earth is also prevalent within all of society. Rivalry, envy, and jealousy produce violence within both the natural and spiritual realms as we compete with one another for the hearts of people and seek to establish our own land. Our search for acceptance, significance, and identity often results in a wrestling match as we grasp for what we deem is rightfully ours. It is evident within politics, the workplace, the entertainment and sports industries, and sadly, even within the Church. The result can be a “holy war” unconsciously proclaimed by those with an orphan heart as they struggle with their brethren for position, and authority, and inheritance.

Ishmael (meaning “whom God hears”), was the first-born of Abraham to Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. At 16 years of age, Ishmael was forced into the wilderness, away from his father, because of jealousy and rivalry between the two women over whose son would have rights to the inheritance of Abraham (Genesis 21:9-21). Arabic historians divide the Arabs into two races: (1) Pure Arabs, descendants of Joktan; and (2) Mixed Arabs, descendants of Ishmael. The prophecies from Genesis 16:12 and 25:18 are now and have always been true: “And he (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him… He settled in defiance of all his relatives.” Since the moment Ishmael experienced rejection from his father through the next 3900 years, many of Ishmael’s descendants’ attitudes, dispositions, manners, habits, government, or dress have not changed. What also has not changed is the tension between the one who lives life as if he does not have a home (the spirit of an orphan) and the one who is secure in his father’s love and heart (the spirit of sonship).

Often within the church, it is difficult to tell whether a person walks in the heart attitude of an orphan or a son (this includes daughters). Outwardly, a person may have a pattern of service, sacrifice, discipline, and apparent loyalty, but you do not know what is inside a person until he or she gets bumped. Then the attitude of the heart overflows at a time when they feel they are not getting the recognition or favor they deserve. Somehow the difference lies in the motives and intentions of the heart.

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:7-9)

Let’s define the orphan spirit and the spirit of sonship. The orphan spirit causes one to live life as if he does not have a safe and secure place in the Father’s heart. He feels he has no place of affirmation, protection, comfort, belonging, or affection. Self-oriented, lonely, and inwardly isolated, he has no one from whom to draw Godly inheritance. Therefore, he has to strive, achieve, compete, and earn everything he gets in life. It easily leads to a life of anxiety, fears, and frustration.

The spirit of sonship is all about having a heart attitude of submission – being subject to another’s mission. Jesus Himself said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) In Hebrews 12:9, “Be subject” is also the word “submission.” In the Greek, this word means “to get underneath and to push up.” So to have the spirit of sonship is to put yourself underneath another’s mission and do all you can to make them successful, knowing that as a son/daughter, there is an inheritance that lies ahead. Sonship is about security, significance, identity, patience, basic trust, faithfulness, loyalty, humility, and being others-oriented.


Here is an excellent chart comparing the Orphan Spirit with Sonship:http://www.shilohplace.org/Downloads/Handouts/OrphanOrSon.pdf

Monday, June 25, 2007

Capture my heart again..



Check out this song..here are the words ..
Lyrics to "Your Love is Extravagant
Performed by: Casting Crowns

Your love is extravagent
Your friendship intimate
I find I'm moving
To the rhythms of Your grace
Your fragrance is intoxicating
In our secret place
Your love is extravagant

Spread wide in the arms of Christ
Is the love that covers sin
No greater love have I ever known
Than You considered me a friend
Capture my heart again
Capture my heart again

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Excerpt from Canada in Prayer Newsletter May 2007

Intercessors, be reminded that 2007 is the ‘year of the sword’, and the battle has never been more fierce across Canada for the soul of this great country. Dr. Chuck Pierce was very eloquent in shedding light on why 2007 is so significant for our nation. He spoke forth the following:

“The HEBRAIC number seven – in Hebrew seven (zayin) is a sword. The sword is equated with the Word of God. The sword of heaven is beginning to penetrate the earth’s realm, and June is a pivotal time. This is the time when the Holy Spirit is beginning to move in His people. The Spirit of God is confronting His people in a fresh way, and prayer and intercession is taking a different turn.”

Therefore, “if” we follow the Spirit during this visitation, we will be positioned to receive what God has for His intercessors during this time.

Friends, be encouraged – Dr. Pierce’s words are not to be feared, but to be embraced, as history shows us that when God’s Spirit confronts His people, His kingdom here on earth is being established in a mighty way. John Knox knew how to follow the Spirit, as He constantly carried the burden for his land. Night after night he prayed on the wooden floor of his hideout refuge from Queen Mary. When his wife pleaded with him to get some sleep, he answered,“How can I sleep when my land is not saved.” Payne reports that often Knox would pray all night in agonizing tones, “Lord, give me Scotland or I’ll die!” God shook Scotland.

Another great intercessor that testifies to how important it is to stand during this time is John Hyde, the apostle of intercession of India. He often cried out, “Father, give me these souls, or I die!” He alternated in agony of intercession and joyous praise, receiving tremendous answers to prayer, and by the end of his missionary service was averaging more than four souls a day, largely won through prayer.

Scripture tells us that Jesus himself is an intercessor (Heb. 7:25). 1 Tim. 2:1 puts it this way, “I urge then first of all that requests, prayer, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour.”

Kneeling Army, in closing, I would like each of you to know that I am not unaware of the price many of you have paid, are paying, and will pay, for standing in the gap for our nation. I know that at times you have wondered, “Does it really matter? Am I making any difference? Are all the prophecies and the words of knowledge I’ve heard over the years all for naught?” I implore you to daily put on your helmet of salvation and protect your mind. That’s where your battle begins and ends. Take heart, and fear not, for the battle is not ours but it is the Lord’s!



Take Heart,

Brian Warren

Executive Director, CIP

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The Blueprint: Handbook for Revival on Campus

Book by Jaeson Ma..
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2339799588

Foreword for "The Blueprint" by, Lou Engle
As I write this foreword, tears run down my face. I am praying and believing for such a revival to sweep our nation that homosexuals by the thousands could be transformed. My cry is that a bridal love could seal a generation’s heart in such a way that sexual sin could be quenched by a love stronger than death—a flame far hotter than the flames of pornography and lust. My prayer is that abortion, the greatest injustice of our day by which God sifts and judges nations, could be exorcised by a great people who could suffer and seize the day—a people much like those great generations in the days of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., who let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

I dream of an awakening in universities in America that will shake humanism and its professors like a terrier shakes a rat in its teeth. I dream that Christian students would become more radical than anarchists, and that the preaching of Christ and the healing power of God would create riots in the public squares . . . that fraternity houses with sons of Greek philosophy would be taken over by the sons of Zion with their 24/7 houses of prayer! But is it merely a dream? No! A thousand times, no! We are in the throes of a great reformation of prayer. In the past two years, spontaneously and almost undirected by human hands, student-run houses of 24/7 prayer have popped up in colleges all across the nation. When God is getting ready to do something atomic, He always sets His people to praying. It seems that our universities are going to be ground zero for the revival balm of God.

Thousands of our churches’ sons and daughters have been taken captive by the wisdom of fools. They have rejected revelation for speculation and have spun out of control into the sexual seduction of the antichrist culture produced by the pagan professors and present-day prophets of Baal. God is demanding a new breed—a new leadership with a commanding moral vision that will lead our Christian clubs out of cruise control and into commanding destiny. A new apostolic witness is being demanded in our universities. Through fasting, prayer and dedication to a stand of no compromise, the Daniels of God are being forged into prophets who will be 10 times better than their peers in the hotly contested battleground for truth.

This is the new breed that will not be silent in the face of pressure to be politically correct. They are not the angry right; but neither are they those who cry “Peace, peace” when there is no peace. Their message and life is filled with compassion, but they will disturb the status quo by their unbending allegiance to a culture of life, love and the liberty to speak their faith and be heard.

This new breed is not interested in grades; they are committed to God alone. They are gathering into student communities—churches, if you will—of a righteous resistance to the culture of compromise. They are confessing their sins and confessing their Christ publicly. These little bands of Daniels will proliferate, and with their preaching and with their prayers they will permeate the current stifling atmosphere of the dominating darkness that remains virtually unchallenged in our universities today. A great light dawns! A new student mission movement is getting ready to rumble!

These are not just words! Words are taking on flesh and blood. The survivors of the abortion holocaust have been given the rod of deliverance and destiny. Jaeson Ma, my friend and compatriot in prayer, is one of those survivors who light my inward torch of zeal and generate within me spiritual groans for a Gideon greatness to expel our demons of defeat and despair. Jaeson is not one of those seminary-trained technicians of the Bible, but rather he has been summoned and sent by the Word of the Lord to preach the gospel of the Kingdom in the lions’ den of our universities. His book carries an authentic vision of hope that I believe will be the seed of the tree of life that will ultimately cut down the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that has found such fertile soil in our schools. That seed of the tree of life, though small and young, is nevertheless already sprouting with obvious Kingdom power and vitality.

This book is not theory. This spiritual revolution has actually begun; and of those who read this book, many will take up its message and run with it! That which most people would say is impossible could actually become possible. Harvard’s halls could be filled with heaven, and Berkeley’s rebellion could be betrayed by obedience! The students of this present day could become the professors of our schools tomorrow and disciple the next generation in wisdom and in righteousness.

So go on, Jaeson! May you and your comrades be strong and courageous! Just as Churchill, that great leader of men, declared, “History will speak kindly of me, for I intend to write it,” if you become the apostles of this present throbbing moment, history will speak kindly of you. If you win the universities, history will be your prisoner.

Lou Engle

President, Justice House of Prayer and The Call International

The Gift Of Holy Hatred

"I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:104b).

From our earliest days as young Christians our special emphasis is on love. We are taught to love God with all our heart, love our neighbor, and love our enemy. We feel convicted if we do not love someone the way we think we should, and we ask God to give us a love for that brother or sister. How wonderful when the Lord responds to our prayer and we are able to love one another with a holy love.

Yet there is another aspect of love that is often overlooked, and that is hatred. This is a holy hatred. It goes right along with holy love. Yet we do not hear a lot about this holy hatred. We are not talking about the kind of hate that causes people to fight and kill one another. We hear the word "hate" and we think of gossip, slander, strife, murder, war, "hate crimes" against individuals and groups, jihads and crusades. There is nothing holy about that, that is sin. But what we have in mind here is a holy hatred that is the result of a holy love.

I would like to suggest that the reason we are not familiar with holy hatred, the good hatred, is because our love is not strong enough. A strong love produces a strong hatred; a holy love produces a holy hatred. For example, in Psalm 119, David rejoices in the truth of the Law of the Lord. Because he has learned to love the truth, he has also learned to hate every false way. You cannot love the truth and love error at the same time. But the more you love the truth, the more you will hate the false. Do you see this? That is one example of holy hatred.


LOVING WHAT GOD LOVES, HATING WHAT GOD HATES

Do you know that the Lord hates things? As we proceed with our study we will see that God says He hates certain things. Yet God is love. So love and hate are not mutually exclusive, but they are complementary. Why do people hate other people? Because they love themselves. Self-Love is extremely destructive. So love is powerful, and so is hate, even if we are loving and hating the wrong things. Both can be misused, we know that. But holy hatred is as much of a gift as holy love. Until and unless we have a holy hatred of ignorance then we will always be deceived. Until and unless we have a holy hatred of sin then we will always be in bondage to it. Until and unless we have a holy hatred of hypocrisy then we will never be genuine. Until and unless we have a holy hatred of our own way then we will never surrender our way over to God. Until and unless we have a holy hatred for evil then we will never overcome it with good. In your life you will always love something and hate something else. The question is whether or not you will love what God loves and hate what God hates, or whether you will love what God hates and hate what God loves.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other..." (Matthew 6:24a).

The context of this passage is talking about mammon (the love of, and the endless pursuit of, wealth). But the principle applies to everything else. There can only be one master in your life. You can only serve one thing at a time. You are not free to do as you please. Even if you say you serve no one, you are still serving Self. So which will it be? Jesus says if you love Him then you will hate everything else. What does that mean? It means that you will allow nothing and no one to take the place of the One you love - not for a day, not for an hour, not for a minute. If our love for the Lord is strong then we will learn to hate everything which competes against Him. We will despise anything that seeks to hinder our relationship with Christ.

Monday, June 18, 2007

A Mission Statement I Can Agree With

The chief end of all mission work is the Glory of God. Our greatest concern is that His Name be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun (Malachi 1:11), and that the Lamb who was slain might receive the full reward for His sufferings (Revelation 7:9-10). We find our great purpose and motivation not in man or his needs, but in God, His commitment to His own glory, and our God-given desire to see Him worshipped in every nation, tribe, people, and language. We find our great confidence not in the Church’s ability to fulfill the Great Commission, but in God’s unlimited and unhindered power to accomplish all He has decreed.

The Christian who is truly passionate about the glory of God and confident in His sovereignty will not be unmoved by the billions of people in the world who have yet to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are truly Christlike, the lost multitude of humanity will move us to compassion (Matthew 9:36), even to great sorrow and unceasing grief (Romans 9:2). The sincerity of our Christian confession should be questioned if we are not willing to do all within our means to make Christ known among the nations and to endure all things for the sake of God’s elect (II Timothy 2:10).

As Christians, we are called, commissioned, and commanded to lay down our lives so that the Gospel might be preached to every creature under heaven. Second only to loving God, this is to be our magnificent obsession. There is no nobler task for which we may give our lives than promoting the glory of God in the redemption of men through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the Christian is truly obedient to the Great Commission, he will either give his life to go down into the well or to hold the rope for those who go down. Either way, the same radical commitment is required.

While we recognize that the needs of mankind are many and his sufferings are diverse, we believe that they all spring from a common origin - the radical depravity of his heart, his enmity toward God, and his rejection of truth. Therefore, we believe that the greatest benefit to mankind can be accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel and the establishment of local churches that proclaim the full counsel of God’s Word and minister according to its commands, precepts, and wisdom. Such a work cannot be accomplished through the arm of the flesh, but only through the supernatural providence of God and the means which He has ordained: biblical preaching, intercessory prayer, sacrificial service, unconditional love, and true Christlikeness.

Taken From: Heart Cry Missionary Society - www.heartcrymissionary.com

Check this out - Actor Stephen Baldwin

Friday, June 15, 2007

GOD'S WORD FOR CANADA

CANADIAN PROPHETIC COUNCIL REPORT - Part 1

In May 2007, prophets from across Canada gathered in Ottawa to pray and seek the Lord for a word from Him for the nation. From Parliament Hill, Stacey Campbell, founder of the Canadian Prophetic Council, reports their findings:

We came together in Ottawa strategically to seek the Lord for a governmental word, or what is God saying to the nation of Canada at this time? We’d planned this over a year ago and it just so happened, I didn’t even know until the very day that we landed on the calendar, the Jewish calendar – forty-year anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. We all just went “whoa!” what is the Lord saying? And He began to speak to us out of Revelations 21 that God is bringing His people back together. He is uniting us and in the nation of Canada, this is His heart.

One of the main themes that God showed us is that this is a convergence of times. In fact when the Canadian Prophetic Council visited Parliament Hill one of our young prophets saw a vision of an angel of the Lord standing over the Justice Building with one leg on either side. And he said, “Lord, what is this?” It was a huge angel holding a trumpet. And He said “this is the angel of the winds of change, and it’s about to decree a change in the times and seasons.”

2007 in April marks the 90th year anniversary of Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge in World War I was a key focal point of the war. The British had tried to take Vimy Ridge from the Germans. The French had tried to take Vimy Ridge from the Germans. Neither nation had been successful. They’d tried over and over again. But finally they said to the Canadians, “See what you can do.” And the Canadians at that moment ninety years ago developed a strategy which was a “both-and” strategy. They both bombed from the air just ahead of the troops and then they sent the ground troops in to take land. And before that they had only been able to advance by feet. And they had lost 190,000 soldiers before this point.

When the Canadians developed this strategy, again it was about unity. The whole Canadian army had to walk in such unity. First the bombs, then the advance. First the bombs, then the advance. They perfected a strategy that they were able to take territory not by feet but by yards, then kilometers, and finally they took the entire hill. And the other countries said, “This day Canada has truly become a nation in the eyes of the nations of the earth.” And God began to speak to us prophetically, “That’s the strategy I want you to take in this hour.” First the intercession, the fasting, the prayer - then the advance into reformation of society. Send the troops; send the young generations. Send them out there to reform media, government, arts. But back them up, first of all with intercession, fasting and prayer.

In 1967, Canada hosted Expo ’67. And the theme of that Expo was “Man and His World.” It exalted man. It brought in a philosophy of humanism that permeated the times and the seasons of that generation. And we believe that God says “you have a three year window -” till the Olympics that are hitting Canada, in Vancouver in 2010, to put people in place in the next international event where nations around the world will gather in Canada yet once more to bring the glory of God and let Him have dominion.

CANADIAN PROPHETIC COUNCIL REPORT - Part 2

1967 was the summer of love where a generation in one generation entered into a very short period of time that changed the moral fiber of North America. We believe that God is giving us a window of opportunity this summer to re-change the moral fiber of a generation. Sometimes there are strategic happenings that happen only in a very short space of time but what happens in those kairos moments affect an entire generation. God always works in generation. The forty-year anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.

The forty-year anniversary of the summer of love, 1967, where young people came from all across North America, by the tens of thousands from Canada down to San Francisco and just opened up the whole continent to immorality. Free love, free sex, free drugs.

One of the things that we heard the Lord say is “Sound the alarm.” There is a divine window of opportunity -- We can take it or not take it -- Where a generation can come together in fasting and prayer. Corporate, corporate, corporate is the word. Corporate fasting and prayer. And along those lines we decided we’re all going to join the calls that are going on across North America, and Canada is going to rise to the call.

We’re going to take a team of Canadian youth all the way down to The Call to join 120,000 young people in Titan Stadium in Nashville in 07-07-07.

We actually had several people that had dreams. And in the dreams they were in Catholic Churches, and by the hundreds there were Catholic youth just on fire for Jesus. There was revival going on in the Catholic Church. And we went in and we joined them, and the Lord began to speak that there’s young reformers coming out of the Catholic Church. They’re going to work with us. We’re going to labour together. The new Jerusalem, all tribes, all tongues, all denominations are going to bring reform in this generation if we can work together.

One of the deepest tones that we heard over the course of our waiting on the Lord the last couple of days, was the sound of enduring love. And we just heard the heart of God. We had images of the cross of Jesus Christ, and the longing for the glory of God. Compassion, compassion, compassion, where we don’t want to have any self-righteousness in this move. Of course we want to see righteous laws, but we want to see it in a way that nobody is despised, but everybody is loved into the kingdom of God and brought into the kingdom of God with the heart of God.

So the deep sound that was heard was out of Romans 8, where there was a longing of creation, the groaning of creation. That deep tone where we could hear not just the mighty power and acts of God which we all long to see, but all those mighty power and acts coming out of the heart of God.

The strategy for the summer of love. It’s going to be a whole new kind of love. It’s enduring love, the enduring love of God. It’s going to be Vimy Ridge, working together, a united army, a Joel 2 army that doesn’t break ranks when they through the fences -- defenses. And God is doing amazing things in this hour. And as prophets we were so excited. We just ended with a whole session on the joy of the Lord. We were so excited because God is going to change times and seasons. We are going to overturn, we are going to overtake. He will have dominion from sea to shining sea.

CANADIAN PROPHETIC COUNCIL REPORT - Decrees

As we waited on the Lord together, we decided that we would come up with five statements that we could decree over the nation of Canada. We would like to see every Christian say these over their city, over their family, over the whole nation of Canada. Or we want to see every church come together on Sunday and begin to say these things as decrees over our nation. We want to speak with one voice out of the church of Canada these things.
1. Glory: Canada is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God.
2. Unity: Canada will be one as Jesus and the Father are one.
3. Dominion: The Lord will have sovereign rule over every sphere of society in Canada.
4. Passion: Canada will burn with the enduring love of God.
5. Fear of the Lord: Canada delights in the fear of the Lord.

Copyright © ActsNewsNetwork, Inc. used by permission
for more Canadian Christian news, visit www.actsnewsnetwork.com

Governed by the Holy Spirit

.....I have been filled with the Holy Spirit for most of my life. I can point to a day and a time when I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts that accompany that Spirit baptism. That does not mean that I have always been governed by that indwelling Spirit. Now how about you? You may be filled with the Spirit but you may not be governed by the Spirit, and that explains why charismatic people, prophetic people, are some of the most carnal people you will ever meet in your life.

The Bible says we must be continually filled with the Spirit. Paul says, “Be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit”. And that word “be filled” is a verb of continual action in the Greek. It means to continuously be filled, be being filled, or be continuously filled. Same thing with eating or drinking Christ: “He who continues to eat My flesh and continues to drink My blood will have Life” He says. This isn’t a matter of having some kind of an experience at the altar or some kind of supposed manifestation of God’s presence in your flesh. It is a matter of continuous living and abiding and dwelling and continuing in Christ moment by moment. And if you will come under the government of the Holy Spirit, He will bring you back around to this principle of abiding in Christ and accepting the work of the Cross over, and over and over again. That is the path the Holy Spirit brings you back to.

Now that is the direction of the Spirit and He will work with you a good long while towards that end, but if you continually refuse that government, then the Spirit is grieved and will eventually depart. And I think that accounts for those multitudes of people who call Jesus “Lord” and do things in His name but don’t really know Who He is. If your only evidence of a Spirit-filled life is something you experienced back in 1968 in a camp meeting someplace then something is seriously wrong. A Spirit-filled person is either under the government of the Holy Spirit or is moving towards that government. Standing still or going back is not an option. Be continuously filled with the Spirit. And you can believe whatever you like about works but the bottom line is the fruit of the Spirit or the lack thereof, demonstrates whether we really are who we say we are.

Jesus said a good tree does not produce bad fruit and a bad tree does not produce good fruit and it’s by the fruit that you will know them, not by their leaves. Good or bad, for better or for worse, you’re going to produce something. So the question is not if you will produce fruit, but what kind of fruit you will produce.

So, as we place ourselves beneath the government of the Holy Spirit, it means we will try to go to some places just like the apostles did, but the Spirit will not permit it. Or, we will try to remain silent or stay in one place and be hidden, but the Spirit will compel us to say something or to take action. Or, we may seek to avoid certain people or places or things, but the Spirit will say, “Go here, and doubt nothing because I am sending you.” And He doesn’t always send you into something that looks successful! It may look like a failure. Crucifixions never look successful on the outside. But see, this is something totally different from setting some goals for yourself and saying you want to do such-and-such by such-and-such a date and you’ll go here and there and do this and that; you don’t see that in the Bible. You see them increasingly coming under the government of the Holy Spirit. And they soon learned that to obey the Spirit means Life and Peace, if not outwardly, inwardly. As long as He is doing it and He is initiating it, all is well. But the moment we lay our hand to it, we defile it. Time and time again.

So for me, that means we may, or may not, have a daily message, or a weekly webcast, or twice monthly meetings in our home, or any more workshops, or gatherings or conferences. I’m not concerned for those things any more. I am only occupied with this one thing: whether I go or stay, whether I speak or remain silent, whether I write something every day or never write anything again, whether I appear to be active or appear to be inactive, am I being governed by the Holy Spirit? Because that is the only real basis of spiritual ministry.

Now, if this concerns you at all and bears witness to your heart, you may be asking yourself: How do I know the difference? How do I know if I am led of the Spirit or led of my own self-centered nature? Well, don’t ask me, because I can’t tell you. I can’t give you the answer to that. I would play it safe and assume that I am probably more selfish than spiritual, but you’ll have to do the same thing I have to do: get before God and ask Him to search you and reveal it to you.

When you get into those hard to discern places, you are compelled to get before God and search it out and that’s how you learn. That’s part of your growth. I’ve identified a condition in Christians that I call ‘Spiritual Googleism’. Spiritual Googleism! And this means instead of getting before God, and humbling ourselves and getting answers from the Throne, we hop on the Internet, Google our problem, and try to get answers that way. Well it’s quick, it’s convenient, it’s fast and you’ll definitely get something, but I believe that offends the Spirit of the living God. Why? Because He wants you to come to Him and learn of Him and it takes time and it takes patience and that’s why most people don’t do it and that’s why most people, even for all of their searching and seeking after answers, they are still no further along than when they started. I’m not going to be led by Google, and I’m not going to be led by what Watchman Nee did, or what T. Austin-Sparks did. They served their generation well, but they’ve passed on. The issue is not “What did the Lord say to So-and-so?” That can only take us but so far. What does the Lord say to me, now? That is present truth that meets God’s need at this very moment.

I want to be continuously adjusted to God and continually governed by the Spirit of God. And in that way I can satisfy the heart of God. And it is beside the point whether or not that satisfies everyone else or even if it makes sense to everyone else. And so I invite you to join me in this journey, it begins with a willingness to be adjusted to God, embracing the principle of the Cross and being governed by the Holy Spirit. The end result is a purity that cannot be achieved through any carnal means.

I hope you will make this message and this word a matter of prayer.

Monday, June 11, 2007

What Is God Looking For?

If we know what God is looking for, and what He is waiting for, we would scrap all those theories and dates about the coming of the Lord. If we know for sure that our Lord Jesus is on the throne of glory, interceding for His people to bring them into the fulness of God’s intention... then we would be more concerned that His intention be realized than in speculating about when He is coming back. What is He waiting for? And what is He coming back for? And what is He doing about it right now? He is waiting for a family of sons and daughters in His image and likeness. He is preparing an army who will overcome “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Rev 12:11) He is building a habitation for Himself, a building made up of “living stones”, a temple “not made with hands”. He has found “a pearl of great price” a pearl that is formed from a mere grain of sand, but transformed into a gem, by marvelous grace. For it is the Spirit of God who takes the virtues of the living Christ and manifests them in His Church to bring about this precious gem. He is cleansing for Himself a Church, “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing...” And how? “With the washing of water by the word” (Eph 5:26). He looks for a Holy Bride, and John saw her in prophetic vision coming down out of heaven, and “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2; see 2 Cor 11:2). He looks for fruit from the Vine that was planted in the earth; for Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (Jn 15:5). For God is not only Architect, Builder, and Artificer... He is also Bridegroom, and Gardener. And so He tells us, “I am waiting for the precious fruit of the earth.” He is not waiting around for the clock to strike the midnight hour. He is waiting for something that will be the fulfillment of His heart’s desire, His holy Church, His spotless Bride, His Pearl of great price, His precious Fruit. And while he is waiting for that, He is diligently preparing His people for “the praise of His glory”. And because He patiently waits for that, He admonishes us... “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (Jas 5:8)

Thursday, June 07, 2007

To live by faith..not feelings

"Take away the blessings and live life to gain satisfaction of even the noblest human desires and eventually you’ll find yourself moving away from God . . . The real battle in the human soul that knows Jesus is not to find a way to feel now what we long to feel in our inmost being, whether it’s love, meaning, or the satisfaction of living an other-centered life in the service of a cause greater than oneself. The real battle is to continue on in faithfulness even when faithfulness brings no immediate experience of joy, even when it brings no prospect of felt joy until heaven. That’s what it means to live by faith. . . . the spiritual battle is between the demand for felt satisfaction and the life of faith."

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

No More Fence Sitting

1 Kings 18:21 (Amplified Bible)

21Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Revolution

If I'm here all alone, if I'm left behind. If they spit on my face
If they hate my kind, I will rise above, I will live for love
I will answer to the call.
For the bond between, for the depth unseen, for my God forsake it all.
'Cause I'm a fire, I'm a flood, I'm a revolution.
I'm a war, already won, I'm a revolution.
When the world is at war, when the grace is gone, when the hungry lay dead,
while the rich live on.
I will rise above, I will live for love, I will answer to the call. For the bond between for the depth unseen, for my God forsake it all.
(here I stand), open hands, waiting for you, I won't back down,
I'll live to speak your truth.
by Starfield