I’ve really had it on my heart since the events leading up to and following Wednesday 28th September 2011 to write a post about what the Lord has been showing me – in my own personal life – about Prophetic Intercession…
I knew most of these things in my mind before the events of the last few weeks but what has happened has really solidified it for me – practically (working through it for myself) – that the role of the Prophetic Intercessor is one where we need to stay close to God as our source of all things “good” in our lives…
Friends, if given to us by the Lord, are “good” in the sense that we can share with them and they with us the things which are on our and their hearts and to the level which we and they are enabled by the Lord to understand each other we and they are a blessing to each other…
There will always be areas where the Lord hasn’t developed understanding in either us or in our friends where understanding is not presently possible…
That is OK…
The only Person we or our friends can share with in that instance is the Lord Himself…
That is the way it is meant to be…
A direct relationship with the Lord either through others of our brothers and sisters in the Lord or direct with Him where we pour out our hearts and souls to Him for Him to do whatever is on His Heart to do and for us to understand what is going on in our lives or coming to a place where we don’t understand but just surrender and experience His Peace…
To hear His Quietening Voice or just that sense that everything is OK…
To know that we are in His Presence and that He is calming the storm around us and saying even if not audibly “Peace, be still”…
To heal us of the inner wounds and inner uncertainties which have built up in our hearts and minds on the basis of what we have believed that He has said which has not subequently come to pass…
If we were to look to our friends as the final source of understanding we are putting an expectation on them which the Lord has not designed them to carry…
We would be putting them in the place of God…
We are assigning to them a task which has not been appointed to them by God and expecting them to stand in the place of God and “understand us”…
Only God can do this…
Only the Lord understands our every need, only the Lord understands the every intent of our hearts and only the Lord can soothe the disquietened soul or spirit of one of His disquitened Children…
The child who desparately wanted to please their Father and believed that they had heard from Him but what they heard did not subsequently come to pass…
Like John the Baptist in prison who stood up boldly but then had doubts about the message which he had prophesied…
“Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”” (Luke 7:19 NASB)
Jesus was moved with John’s grief, Jesus was overwhelmed when He heard that John’s life had been taken, Jesus knows our every grief, our every pain, our every discomfort, our every uncertainty, our every doubt, our every disappointment and He knows that our hearts yearn for Him and for the truth…
Yes, He can minister to us through our friends – we have experienced this – but He can also minister to us – pour in the oil and wine – directly, one on One with Him…
Everyone in the Body has different giftings and this can add to the “potential confusion” of “confusing situations” in some senses where we each just can’t understand where each of the other members of the Body are “coming from” as we each do not share exactly the same gifts of the “manifold wisdom of God” as the Lord has given to them…
Fear of being deceived can also come in and “block” relationship between brothers and sisters in the Lord in this situation…
Only the Lord can remove the “potential confusion” of “confusing situations” and enable His Body to function in the Unity that He so desires…
Again we must think of the heart…
Are our brothers and sisters really loving the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength and with all their mind even though the situation at hand is “potentially confusing”?
If we can sense that this is the case then we need to walk with them through this situation without having an opinion as to what the Lord is endeavouring to achieve in their lives…
Job’s friends did best when they were silent for the first seven days…
Job was going through great agony and suffering of his soul and this agony was permitted by the Lord…
Job did not understand the agony and suffering which the Lord had permitted the enemy to inflict upon him and neither did his friends…
They were all in the same boat but we can all see – as we have been given the Divine perspective on what was really going on in this situation – that they – Job’s friends – didn’t really handle the situation very well…
When we come across a brother or a sister who is going through a “difficult time” and we know in our hearts that they are a brother or sister in the Lord, we need to support them…
Even if that is just an empathetic thought sent their way or a prayer lifting them up to the Lord or an email sent just to encourage them…
We can’t completely carry their burden but we can show that we care…
We have on our hearts the desire to function in Unity with every member of Christ’s Body world wide…
When one member suffers we all suffer…
Scripture tells us this…
We are members of one another…
Scripture also tells us this…
We all – deep down – believe and want to be in Unity with all our brothers and sisters world wide – we all have it – it’s in our hearts because our new hearts have been given to us by the Lord – made in His Image and Likeness – and He desires us all – His Children, His Bride – to be One…
“Love is the key to everything I do Jesus is the Source of it all” is a song which we used to sing at our Prophetic Intercessors group here in Christchurch which my wife and I used to attend…
This is the truth…
“Love covers a multitude of sins”…
Whether the sins are real or imagined if we are thinking that our brothers and sisters who love the Lord – who we have had “sweet fellowship together” with in the past – have fallen into sin, then our love for them can cover a multitude of sins and prove our love for the Lord and restore His Body whether that attack was because of sin or whether it was allowed by the Lord to strengthen His Body or whether it was a blessing in disguise which we just didn’t realise at the time, He will receive Glory as we uplift each other and carry each others burdens and seek His Glory and the edification of His Body in all things…
This is Prophetic Intercession…
When we pray into what God shows us is going to come to pass we must remember that God is a God of Mercy as well as a Jealous God and a God of Wrath and in fact Mercy triumphs over Judgement…
Even when God comes and tells us that He will surely act and “not be silent” we are to turn around to Him – even when He seems emphatic – and we are to plead with Him for His own Glory – for the sake of His own Promises – to have mercy with respect to the calamity which He has just told us He will bring…
He is above all else a God of Mercy…
He delights in Mercy, He delights to have mercy, He delights to show mercy…
He would rather relent than bring judgement…
When we receive a word from the Lord we must remember that it is not a “done deal”…
It’s not “all over rover”…
It’s not “set in stone” like the tablets of stone which God gave Moses…
It’s given to bring God’s People back to repentance…
It’s given to bring the people of the world to repentance…
His Heart is for repentance…
His Heart is that we turn back to Him and that we give to Him what He truly deserves which is the devotion of our hearts…
Our full lives are meant to be expended for Him, given to Him for Him to fill and for Him to magnify His Name in all the earth through our lives and through our service to Him…
We are living stones created in Christ Jesus to do good works and one of the good works which we have been created to do is to “pray without ceasing”…
“Always labouring for you in his prayers” as Paul said of Epaphras…
Prophetic words are given to us to avert the Judgement of God…
God will Judge if there is no Intercession…
If there is no repentance…
If there is no “standing in the gap” for the land…
Prophecy is not given to us to just sit back and say, “Oh well, God said He would Judge, I suppose there’s nothing we can do about it, Let’s just sit back and wait for it to happen”…
Words of Prophecy are given to us to fall to our knees and cry out – as Intercessors of God – for Mercy…
I was guilty – although I was praying fervently (as enabled by the Lord) – with respect to the Christchurch Earthquake Prophecies of just “sitting back” and expecting Judgement…
Yes, I was crying out for mercy – I caught myself doing this, I couldn’t help myself, it was just coming out, coming out from “deep down” in my spirit or in my heart, from the core of my being – like an “involuntary reflex” every time the Lord told me of the Judgement to come I would cry out for mercy, even if there were no words…
I know that I was guilty of believing that the Lord would still Judge and bring the Earthquake which would “destroy” the City…
I heard Him say, “I will destroy this City and Rebuild it for My Glory”…
I heard Him say this to me a few times…
When He said it I was overwhelmed and agreed with Him, agreeing that He was justified to Judge but I failed to petition Him for the sake of His Name to show Mercy…
To show Mercy to all those in His Body who would die in the event and to show Mercy to all the occupants of the City “who didn’t know their right hand from their left” and who were unprepared to meet their Maker…
I was comfortable for Him to Judge, yes, I was crying out for mercy but I was comfortable for Him to Judge…
I actually wanted judgement – I wanted the justice of judgement – I especially wanted all that was not pleasing to the Lord to be destroyed…
In part here I had the Mind of God – the Lord hates the works of the devil and was manifested to destroy the works of the devil…
“You are of your father the devil” Jesus told some of those to whom He spoke when He was on earth…
Jesus made it clear what He thought of those ones who were “of their father the devil” also…
This is the Justice of God speaking…
He is Righteous and He is Righteous to Judge…
He is upright and He hates sin…
This city has been filled with sin especially the Church in this city…
All that is true but at His Core the Lord loves Mercy, He has mercy every day the scripture tells us, His mercies are new every morning, that they are the reason why we are not consumed and that His faithfulness is great…
Abraham Interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah even though the Lord didn’t give him any indications that He would show Mercy…
It just came out of Abraham’s heart, his new heart cried out for mercy – indicating that he was a child of God…
Abraham got the number of Righteous People down to ten before he didn’t dare to speak to the Lord again…
His Reverence and Fear of the Lord outweighed the cry of mercy in his heart…
I believe with all my heart that if Abraham had have kept going down until he got to just Lot the Lord would still have had mercy – I have a witness in my heart as I type this that this is the case…
The Lord delights in Mercy…
He will only Judge when there is no Intercessor…
That is what scripture tells us…
“And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.” (Isaiah 59:16-18 NASB)…
“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD.” (Ezekiel 13:4-5 NASB)
Scripture tells us that Abraham was a Prophet…
“Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” (Genesis 20:7 NASB)
and he Interceded for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah – even though the Lord had decreed judgement – here we see the linking of the Prophetic to Intercession…
Prophetic Intercession…
Abraham was called “the friend of God”…
Moses was a Prophet…
“Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” (Deuteronomy 34:10 NASB)
and he Interceded before the Lord when the Lord told him to let Him alone so He could destroy the Children of Israel and Moses fell down on his face for 40 days and 40 nights in fasting and prayer (after he’d just spent 40 days and 40 nights in fasting and prayer receiving the tablets of stone) and petitioned the Lord to change His Mind for His Own Glory so the nations couldn’t say that He hadn’t been able to keep His Promise or His Word that He would bring them into the Promised Land… He petitioned twice – once before he left the mountain the first time at the end of his first forty day fast and then again for forty more days and nights when he went up the mountain the second time so that the Lord would go with them…
I am convicted and moved to tears by the example of Moses…
Moses was a man of God…
The Lord called Moses “the meekest man in all the earth”…
This is the Heart of God…
Hezekiah heard the Lord’s word that he would surely die…
“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'”” (Isaiah 38:1 NASB)
but he turned his face to seek the Lord and the Lord spared his life…
“Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’” (Isaiah 38:4-6 NASB)
Isaiah Prophesied empathically that Hezekiah would surely die and then the Lord told him to go back and give Hezekiah another word, one of hope and the extension of his kingdom…
This occured because Hezekiah repented, he heeded the word of the Lord…
He heeded the word of the Lord…
That is a key phrase…
On the other hand when Samuel gave the word to Eli, Eli’s response was similar to mine with respect to the Christchurch Earthquake…
He didn’t cry out for mercy he just accepted it…
“Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.”” (1 Samuel 3:16-18 NASB)
Eli was a Priest, was he a Prophet? was he an Intercessor? I don’t believe that scripture tells us he was although scripture does tell us that Samuel was a Prophet…
Jonah Prophesied destruction on the city of Ninevah but because of the repentance of the people of the city the Lord spared the city…
Did Jonah Intercede for the city of Ninevah? Scripture does not seem to record this…
In fact scripture seems to record quite the opposite…
Jonah seemed intent not to go to Ninevah because he completely understood that the Lord would probably have mercy on the city…
“He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.”” (Jonah 4:2 NASB)
His message, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” didn’t offer any mercy but yet the people repented – even though it would appear that Jonah really didn’t want them to – and the Lord relented…
It would appear to me that Jonah was more concerned about his “reputation” as a Prophet, i.e. keeping his “perfect record”, than about the following scripture…
“but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:24 NASB)
So we see that either an Intercessor can “stand in the gap” and “make up the hedge” around a city or a town or a village or a settlement or even a nation or even the whole world – if led to do so by the Lord – and can repent on behalf of that nation or city or town or village or settlement and the Lord will forgive – i.e. He will stay His Judgement and give time for repentance – or the inhabitants of the city themselves can repent and the Lord will have mercy on that city or town or village or settlement…
He will have mercy either way, either if the Intercessor (or a group of Intercessors) prays (pray) “on behalf of” the people or if the people repent directly…
This also applies within the Body of Christ with respect to the discipline process which the Lord has for His Children…
Only the Lord knows what will appease His Wrath or His Anger or His Fury in any given situation – only the Lord knows what is on His Own Heart…
“Let Me alone” is a pretty strong thing for the Lord to say…
He wanted to destroy them, His Jealousy was aroused…
His Wrath was kindled, there was a fire kindled in His Wrath…
He wanted to destroy them and rightly so because they had broken His covenant…
Moses was priviledged to remind the Lord of His Own Promises which He had made so that the Nations couldn’t falsely say that the reason the Children of Israel didn’t “make it” into the Promised Land was because the Lord was unable to fulfil His Promises…
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (Exodus 32:7-14 NASB)
The Lord relented in the case of Ninevah, the Lord relented in the case of Hezekiah, the Lord relented in the case of the Children of Israel – all these were acts of mercy and gave time for the people to repent…
There are also certain events – like what happened when the Lord extended mercy to Hezekiah and then Hezekiah’s son turned away from the Lord and subsequent generations did also, after the Lord had extended mercy – where the Lord says,
“Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!” (Jeremiah 15:1b NASB)
So Judah went into captivity but even then the Lord had mercy because He said He would bring them back…
O the depths of the wisdom and the power of Almighty God…
He is so Awesome…
His ways are beyond finding out…
He is guiding us, He is with us, He will never leave us nor forsake us…
He is the Everlasting God and He is Lord…
He is Risen from the Dead and He is Lord…
“Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25 NASB)
You are Worthy Jesus…
Do you want to seek Him with all your heart?
Know that it will be a potentially “messy business”…
Know that you will potentially lose all your friends…
Know that you will potentially be misunderstood by all who know you…
Know that you will be ridiculed…
If you want a “safe career” – i.e. free from the above – don’t seek the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind…
Don’t speak His word if you want a “safe career”…
“and you will be hated by all because of My name.” (Luke 21:17 NASB)
If you’re “scared” of “failure” or want to keep a “perfect record” don’t seek His Face or speak His word – He may change His Mind – according to His Mercy and then you’ll be left “high and dry” if you were expecting to be “vindicated” in the eyes of men…
If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and don’t mind what happens to your “reputation” or your “standing” before men then seek Him, seek His Face continually, He will speak to you and you will become His Spokesman, you will be the person to whom He delivers His messages and you will see Him “face to face” in the sense of hearing His Voice and knowing that He has spoken to you…
“Therefore, thus says the LORD, “If you return, then I will restore you– Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them.”” (Jeremiah 15:19 NASB)
At the end of the day there is nothing like hearing the Voice of the Lord…
We are all called to do it…
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” (John 10:27 NASB)
We are all called to have an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord – yes, via the scriptures first and foremost – but also by the Voice of the Holy Spirit leading us step by step and day by day into the paths of righteousness prepared for us…
The Holy Spirit spoke to the Apostle Paul and forebade him to “speak the word in Asia”…
“They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;” (Acts 16:6 NASB)
The Holy Spirit speaks to us today and we are to be led by Him…
The Apostle Paul suffered the loss of all things and so will we who speak in the Name of the Lord…
We will be led to warn – as has occured in the recent 28th September 2011 event – and sometimes our warnings will not come to pass…
We need to apologise to all concerned who have heeded our warnings from any discomfort or pain or agitation which our warnings have caused them and at the same time know that our warnings coupled with Intercession have actually saved those same people a lot more discomfort, pain, agitation and suffering than if we had have “held our tongue” and not spoken the words which the Lord gave us to speak…
We will potentially be “damned if we do and damned if we don’t”…
That’s just the way that it is…
To be a Prophetic Intercessor means that you may experience great “popularity” while “the going is good” but also means that you may experience great “rejection” when what you have brought is not accepted or understood…
You will need to accept that some will describe you as a “false prophet”…
You will also need to be prepared to “stand alone with God” and trust Him and His Voice ultimately – in accordance with His word – to settle your soul and keep you “on track”…
This is not a decision which should be made lightly…
I have chosen this life – the life of a Prophetic Intercessor – because the Lord told me that I am an Intercessor and He has also told me that this is my call – “prophetic intercession for world wide revival”…
I will not “back down” from my call…
I will not “be silent”…
I will speak when the Lord tells me to speak…
I am not afraid of men (or am becoming less so as He enables me 🙂 )…
Whether no one believes what I say or whether many believe what I say I will speak and I will not be silent…
I will speak and in everything I speak I will speak for the good of the Body of Christ throughout the entire world…
This is my desire…
Before God this is my desire…
Who will join me?
Who will join me in this potentially “messy business” of Prophetic Intercession?
Where you are Interceding with the Lord Himself to have mercy and give opportunity to the Lord to bring the Gospel to more and more people – to the entire world – before “the great and terrible day of the Lord”?
I will go with You Lord, wherever You go and however misunderstood (or understood) I may be…
I will go with You Lord…
May many who read this go with You too in the Mighty Name of Jesus as enabled by Your Holy Spirit (as I am being)…
Love in the Lord to all who read this…
May we be a Mighty Army in the Hand of the Lord in this generation…
Thank You Jesus, Thank You Father, Thank You Holy Spirit…
Glorify Your Name in all the earth…
Love in the Lord to all who love the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love…
May we be found Worthy of Him…
May the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ cover everything we say for the Glory of His Name, let It cover our lives and cover the lives of all who know Him, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, Let us be a Mighty Army in Your Hand Lord Jesus, Glorify Your Name in all the earth…
“And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32 NASB)
As His word says, May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with our spirits, Amen…
a house of prayer for the nations 
I sense that this is not just for your audience, but for you as well, as you sought the Lord to understand this thing that has perplexed you.
Now you “know” some things that before you only thought you knew.
Now you are trying to inform the Body of those things you now know.
Some of will only think we know until that great and terrbile moment when we really know.
Some of us already know in part, and will know more later.
We all journey on, having put our hands to the plow, we will not turn back and become altogether worthless.
We press forward through this dirty, difficult and divine work, the work of the lowest slave for the harvest of the most Holy Prince.
I’m all for sharing where I’m at Lisa and if this is helpful to others who can relate to this in their own lives then that is a blessing – it’s a blessing to both – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NASB) – Love in the Lord sister, The Lord is with you and with your household, He is creating order in all of our lives but sometimes to achieve this He needs to dismantle structures we’ve built in our minds which do not please Him, “we endure;” (1 Corinthians 4:12b NASB) “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:10 NASB), The beautiful thing is that He does the work as we rest in Him – Praise His Glorious Name… 🙂 Andrew
Oh hallelujah…
I have been thinking of you so much over the past couple of weeks Andrew. Tonight I found this, and the words you have written above are like a stream of life. I am deeply ministered to.
This verse has been brought up by the Lord daily when I have been made aware of you, and I’ve been hoping to share it:
Jesus said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5:4-5)
A time is coming where you will be challenged by the Lord to dare to prophesy specifically again, whether it be a certain date or whatever (you will know). It is precisely as you defy the threats to shut you up, that you will win a great victory. It will be won forever. You will walk free of fear, and your words will come to pass. People will know that God speaks through you, and they will listen. He will confirm you as His servant.
God bless you for your walk Andrew. I feel so privileged to call you my brother.
For the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Varienne
I felt very prayed for – I knew someone was praying for me – at around 10am this morning (Tuesday 11 October 2011 NZ time) – something “broke off” me – I felt it and I felt released… My wife and I had a very important meeting with the Child Care Professionals who are looking after one of our grandsons at 11:30am and this went very well, considering I felt the opposition before we entered the room and was in some trepidation about what we would strike when we entered… The Lord seemed to give us grace to be believed in this group, we shall see how things progress, Thank you for your prayers Varienne, I have needed to go through this, I’m part way through a prophetic word at the moment and have been going through this with the Lord and keeping a few brothers in the loop – I want to be accountable for what I share, i.e. share the content with those brothers before I share – but at the end of the day, after we have been accountable to those brothers or sisters to whom we feel to submit our words too, whether or not they agree or disagree we are actually responsible before the Lord – each one – to share what He tells us to share… “You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you”… This has been “grating on me” I have to say as I get used to it, I’ve been hearing the Lord speak to me and what remains of my flesh doesn’t want to bring the word which He’s telling me to bring because I can see the consequences and yet I must bring it… Amen to what you’ve been sensing, I relate to that and agree that what you’ve heard is from the Lord, I will be His Servant… That is the submission which I have come to, He will use every task He sets me to destroy in me everything which is not of Him, He will completely destroy my old self – no matter how long that may take Him – and He will live through me for His Glory… I know this… I have seen it and I rejoice… It will be painful and I will be misunderstood… but He will get the Glory in my life… God bless you sister and God bless all under your care and the daughter who is not presently with you, may you all be blessed by the Lord, may He receive the Glory from our lives – all of us who know Him – Love in the Lord, Andrew
A time is coming where you will be challenged by the Lord to dare to prophesy specifically again, whether it be a certain date or whatever (you will know). It is precisely as you defy the threats to shut you up, that you will win a great victory. It will be won forever. You will walk free of fear, and your words will come to pass. People will know that God speaks through you, and they will listen. He will confirm you as His servant.
I believe that word was fulfilled yesterday V, Praise the Lord, I have this confirmation in my heart, You heard from the Lord sister… 🙂
I have been very confused since the aftershocks which struck Christchurch on 23rd December 2011…
I have been seeking the Lord and I have been getting conflicting information coming to my spirit about how I am meant to be interceding for this city at this point in time…
I honestly believed after 28th September 2011 that the Lord had had mercy and was giving us time to repent…
The severe aftershocks of 23rd December 2011 came as a shock to me and showed me that I’d been lulled into a false sense of security having been thinking that it was “all over”…
The Spirit of Intercession was upon me like never before in my experience in the months leading up to 28th September 2011 and then after that there was “nothing” basically that whole burden left and I interpreted that to mean that there was nothing more for me to intercede for…
I interpreted that to mean that “over time” we would see the repentance and the returning to the Lord occuring that we had been praying for – I say “we” as I know that I was not alone in my prayers for this city at that point in time…
I had desired to pray together with those who prayed before 28th September 2011 but for whatever reason it did not appear that “now” (then) was “the time” it was considered “to early” and time needed to be spent “seeking the Lord” before commencing prayer for Revival…
I have been waiting for some of those – or anyone really (I know some are praying) – to “come together” so that we can continue but after having given that to the Lord (in October last year) I “let it go” and “got on” with my work which was very busy at that time…
It was like I swapped the anointing of intercession with a focus on making work “a better place” for me…
As I look back I don’t think this was a “good thing” but at the time it seemed like the “right thing” to do…
When the first 23rd December 2011 aftershock hit I started to get “jittery” – I started praying and felt to go for a walk (which is what I usually do when I want to hear from the Lord) – I sensed there would be more that day and wanted to “find out” what was “going on”…
The Lord told me – or I believed it was the Lord telling me – that He would not have mercy – I heard this quite clearly – He was angry (He didn’t say this but I could tell by the way He was speaking that He was angry) and I started to do what I describe in the initial post above – that is pleading for mercy – I refused to believe what He was telling me but He was emphatic that He would not have mercy…
The second and more terrifying (violent) aftershock occured as I was on my walk and that really “shook me up”…
We basically packed up and went away on our camping holiday that night when previously we’d intended to leave early the next morning…
I started to seek the Lord by going on walks during our family holiday and He started speaking to me…
Revival was obviously on His Mind as was “the end of me” – He seemed quite clear that I would experience “a death” and I sensed that would occur early on in the new year (2012)…
As we returned from holiday – were driving back – I was driving with Vladimir and all our gear and Nancy and the children were all driving in her car infront (actually I think they were behind by the time Vladimir stopped “chatting” to me and I was able to focus on the Lord)…
I heard clearly that He was going to make “an end” of me and that Revival would come to this city – it was an ominious trip home in the sense that I had amazing awe of the Lord and as He spoke I just sat quietly and took it in in “stunned silence”…
There was still really no sense of “how” He was going to do all this…
It was “awesome” and I had a real sense – because of the solemnity – that it was Him speaking…
He had placed it on my heart that I needed to publish the word which He’d given me in early October 2011 for Christchurch when I got home – so I did this pretty much “straight away”…
That was my obedience as when we were up on holiday there was a children’s programme there – teaching children about the Lord – which our children attended and the Lord used the stories told – the ministry really – from the stories of Noah and Jonah to convict me that I had a “call” for the city of Christchurch which I had really “gone all round the world” to “avoid” and needed to fulfil…
I felt the tears come to my eyes as I listened and said, “Yes” to the Lord to fulfil my call to the city of Christchurch…
I felt the Lord wanted me to release that word (from October last year) and then to continue to speak as He gave me words for this city…
This I have done…
He also made it clear that He would draw others – who had prayer on their hearts – to me that we could pray together – I sensed “in person” quite strongly – that He would establish a prayer gathering in Christchurch for Revival…
I have been praying – not as often as I should be possibly – that He will establish this – that He would “bring together” those who have Revival on their hearts in this city to pray together for His will to be done in this city at this point in time…
Nothing has really come of that…
To date…
But I believe it will happen…
I am getting a clear sense that He will not find repentance in the hearts of those who know Him until He brings Judgement upon this city…
The Judgement which we have seen to date is nothing like the Judgement which He will bring…
He will bring Judgement – similar to when the flood, flooded the earth – and people were not expecting it – even though it had been prophesied for quite some time previous to it’s occurrence…
Scripture tells us, “when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah”…
I have read prophecies from as early as 1952 in this nation which indicate that God has been calling – since at least that time – for us – the Church of this Nation – to repent…
That’s around 60 years to date…
He will not bring Revival until there is Repentance and I believe – sadly – that there will not be the Repentance He requires until He brings Judgement…
Scripture tells us, “If I (do such and such a calamity)… and My People… then I will…” – this is the “famous” scripture from 2 Chronicles 7…
“Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the LORD and in his palace. Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 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. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.”” (2 Chronicles 7:11-16 NASB)
I read recently that a brother in the North Island has sensed that the Lord has put it on his heart to organise “calls to prayer” to go out around the country after the next major calamity in this nation…
He explained on a video I watched that the Lord explained to him that it is biblical for repentance to follow judgement…
It is sad to me – and an indictment on our state as fallen human beings – that we need to wait for God to destroy and tear down before we will harken unto His Voice…
But this is the way we find ourselves…
I was hoping after 28th September 2011 that the mercy had been shown and that Intercession had “annulled” Judgement – I still find myself crying out for mercy even though I know that we do not deserve it – but I have felt the Lord “shaking His Head” gently but firmly saying to me, “No, I will not avert Judgement”, “I will come and I will not be silent”…
I do not sense Him angry in the passionate sort of “out of control” way which I am accustomed to (i.e. when I get angry) but more in a controlled, “I have to do this” sort of way which I am not accustomed to (when I get angry)…
It scares me all the same to see this “change” in God – a very settled, calculated, “this is what I am going to do” whereas prior to 28th September it was very much more like Jonah, “Yet 40 days and Ninevah will be destroyed” a very definite, strong, word that Judgement is imminent and there is nothing you can do about it and yet it caused me to cry out in mercy – it was as if I was welcome into the throne room to “reach out” and “touch the scepter” as in Esther (I do not feel the same way now when He speaks the certainty of Judgement to me – I don’t feel that I can “reach out” and “touch the scepter” anymore)…
This is different – it’s even more “settled” but it’s so “gentle” at the same time that it makes me even more terrified because He’s so set that He will definitely not change His Mind (I just bow my head and think “Yes Lord” – I don’t really have anything else to say, I can’t really even bring myself to cry out for mercy although I hear my heart crying out anyway but I know He has to Judge)…
I cry for mercy but find myself crying out against His will…
This is very confusing for me (that is why I am sharing it)…
He cannot have mercy – there is no other way to complete His will other than what He has planned…
He is not a “meanie” – He knows what He has to do and He will do it…
I sense this quite strongly – there is no “joy” in what He has to do but He has to do it…
My heart grieves as I type this – my heart has been grieving “on and off” since returning from our family holiday and hearing Him speak this for the “first time” since 28th September 2011 although as I look back He told me this directly after the 04th September 2010 earthquake and then I really got confused – it really “shook me up”…
I’m just “getting all this out” kind of like journalling and kind of to “clear my head” and also a record of what God has been doing in my heart – for my own learning and also for the learning of others…
As I speak I gain clarity – as I express myself some things become clearer, this is what I’m doing…
Straight after the 04th September 2010 earthquake when the Lord showed me in prayer – it was a deep inner knowing – that another earthquake would strike Christchurch and many people would perish including many who knew the Lord – in the days following the earthquake (like the next two or three days) as I was praying I got this and I cried and cried and cried – I couldn’t understand why He would let this happen to those who knew Him and He told me that He hadn’t prepared them to walk in the anointing which He was going to release upon the earth – upon the Church who remained – and that He was “taking them home”…
They will be safe in heaven, their tasks and their lives on this earth are over… I didn’t sense anger towards them it was just a removal and those that remained would complete His work…
I didn’t really understand this as it was quite different to my “theology” or “understanding” of the way the Lord “worked” – it seemed like a “change” in His “operational strategy” – or that was the way it appeared to me…
As the time went on I began to understand that He has choices in all things and that none of us who know Him have any “say” in when He decides that it’s time for us to depart planet earth – we are in His Hands, “all the days ordained for us are written in His Book before one of them came to be” as scripture tells us…
He has the “teams” which He has appointed and each of us – whether we know it or not – are in one of those “teams” and when it comes time for us to “retire” He will take us home to be with Him in Glory…
It may seem “harsh” to us that the Lord should remove in their prime (or even before their prime) those who we love and those who know Him by means of a huge earthquake which would destroy a city but I suppose scripture is clear that the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous and I suppose that – at the end of the day – to depart and be with the Lord is far better as Paul said…
He is the Lord and He can do whatever He pleases…
In terms of the wicked as Jesus said, “unless you repent you will all likewise perish”, i.e. “don’t be surprised that those eighteen people were killed when that tower collapsed but be surprised that more disasters like that are not occuring as I really have no “obligation” to keep anyone alive who does not know Me”, i.e. “It is My Mercy alone that allows any of you who do not know Me to live on this planet for any length of time without being destroyed”…
Not that He sits around thinking about how He can destroy people – He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies – but this is the reality of His Justice – speaking in Justice no one deserves to live on this planet who does not know Him and has not been covered with His Blood in forgiveness for their sins…
At the end of the day – like Jim Elliot and his friends discovered – He has the right to do with our lives whatever pleases Him – and for the greater good of those we have been called to serve…
There will be great pain for all who know Him and are left behind when He brings Judgement upon the earth and the righteous – those who know Him – are also taken (i.e. die) in the Judgement – not that the Judgement is directed at them – but they are “casualties” of the Judgement – the Lord using that “opportunity” to “bring them home” to Himself…
The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. (Isaiah 57:1 NIV)
Father You have read all that I have shared above…
You know whether I’m hearing clearly from You or whether I am not…
All I know is that I love You…
All I know is that I want to live the rest of my life for You…
All I know is that You own me and I do not belong to myself anymore…
You own me and You control me for Your Glory…
I have no right to myself…
I have no right to anything which I might think that I own…
I am not my own, I have been bought with a price therefore I will Glorify God in my body and in my spirit which belong to God…
All I know is that what I have been going through has been very confusing and painful and yet I don’t know if it is from You or not…
All I know is the word You gave me back in late 2010 that You will allow me to be deceived but You will bring great Glory from that in the death of me…
My pride will be removed and You will be seen through my failings, through my “deceptibility” (if there is such a word) and through the “pain” of hearing other voices and believing them to be Yours I will be set free into a state where I do hear Your Voice and I do know You speaking to me in a way that I just “know that I know” that I am hearing from You and that You will do what I hear You saying to me and more than that that You will do what comes out of my mouth because what comes out of my mouth will be coming directly from Your Spirit and not from myself…
All that I can say Lord is – anything on this blogsite which I have written which has not been the Spirit of the Living God – or anything which anyone has written which has not been written by Your Holy Spirit – remove from this blogsite and cleanse this blogsite and let all that remains be what You have anointed Father, what You have anointed Jesus and what You have anointed Lord Holy Spirit…
I do not want a single word on any of the pages of this blogsite – which You told me to start back in September 2010 just before I heard that the first earthquake had occured in Christchurch – to remain which has not been ordained by You and which will not bless everyone who comes here to hear from You…
You are leading people here Lord – I know this – I see the searches which people do to lead them to this blogsite and it is the hungry who are finding this blogsite – those who are seeking after You with all their hearts – let them find You here Lord – not me – not a bunch of thoughts – but You…
You Yourself…
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord, My God and My Redeemer…
O how I love You Lord You are my meditation all the day – O let this be true of me O Lord – Let You be the meditation of my heart – all day long…
Let me not think of anything else all day long but on You Yourself…
You are Altogether Lovely, Altogether Wonderful to me as the song says…
Come Lord Jesus and take Your Place…
Sweep away the cobwebs from my heart and from my mind and fill my mind and my heart with You…
Let my deepest core be filled with You…
Let the deepest core of my entire being be filled with You and with Your Glory…
Fill my deepest core with Your Glory and consume me with a passion to know You and to make You known in all the earth…
I feel it coming in to me – this passion of which I speak – and I tremble as it comes in – a desire to Glorify Your Name in all the earth…
O Jesus, fill me with Your Holy Spirit…
A sister passed this on to me this afternoon – I have been very touched by it…
Come Holy Spirit…
Glorify Your Name – the Name of Jesus – the Name of Jesus Christ the Lord – in all the earth…
Whatever that means Lord – whether we lose our lives or whether we save them – let us live out our lives for Jesus – in whatever situation we find ourselves in…
Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in let us Glorify Your Name as we “burn out” before the world…
Let them see Jesus in us – that’s it – let them see Jesus in us…
Nothing else…
Nothing less…
Just Jesus…
Just Jesus through us…
Glorify Your Name in all the earth…
Let the earth spring forth with Praise to Your Name…
Glorify Your Name in all the earth…
Let the Blood of Jesus Christ be triumphant throughout the earth in this generation – this chosen generation in the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray, Amen and Amen…
The Lord woke me up early this morning and I’ve been lying here having a conversation with the Lord regarding Prophetic Intercession…
I read through my opening post on this thread and got down to the following scripture…
“And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.” (Isaiah 59:16-18 NASB)
“And He saw that there was no man”…
As I read it and I read it a few times I suddenly saw that I didn’t want the blood of all those thousands of people on my head by “reading over” that scripture and just pretending that it didn’t exist…
What He is saying is “if there had have been a man, then I wouldn’t have needed to come in Judgement”…
Or that’s how it’s reading to me…
I began to have a conversation with the Lord about this “crying out” for Mercy for the whole world…
He showed me that in Eternity Past Jesus had stood up in exactly the same way when the topic was raised, “What will happen if they sin?” and Jesus had stood up and said, “No!” and stood between the Father – in His Wrath – His Righteous Indignation – and us – fallen humanity…
He said, “I will pay” and the Father decided then and there who to have Mercy on – He could have decided to have Mercy on all but He did not – He decided to have Mercy on whom He would have Mercy – nothing to do with the original recipients “worthiness” of Mercy as by that stage “all had sinned” through Adam and Eve…
He decided to make known to us the Vessels of Mercy the Indescribable Value of His Mercy by not showing Mercy to those others who were just as unworthy of His Mercy as us – we read this in Romans…
So Jesus stood up and offered to pay – for all – and He “went through” with this – the Father did not “give Jesus” all but only gave Him some – who He would actually have Mercy on in the sense of saving them…
Our heart is to cry out for Mercy – yes – I understand that now – and then as many as the Lord God will draw to Himself is as many as the Mercy will be shown to…
So we cry out for all – this is the biblical pattern – and the Lord chooses – at the end of the day it is the Father’s choice – how many He will have Mercy on…
He told me to blog my conversation with Him and as I’ve been typing I’ve been learning…
The Heart of God is for the Salvation of every man, woman, boy and girl on the planet – we will find ourselves “crying out” for their salvation – as I was this morning – but the Lord will choose whom He will draw to Himself from out of that “lump” of humanity…
The “lump” was marred… The Image was lost… Sin entered the world… From that placed of “marredness” the Lord has decided to have Mercy on some and to harden others…
When the Lord hardens He “gives over” to what they really want to do anyway…
They didn’t want to focus on Him in the Garden so He “gave them over” to focusing on each other…
Once they got bored with focusing on each other He “gave them over” to focusing on others of the same gender and once they got bored of focusing on those of the same gender He destroyed them – their civilizations – as per Sodom and Gomorrah and as per the Flood – and started again…
He “gives them over” that they might see the futility of living without Him as the Focus…
If they do not see this and do not cry out, He “turns up the heat” and gives them more and more misery, more and more emptiness of spirit and soul and even their bodies decay because of the sin which they are committing…
He does this because He Loves them and wants them to come back to Him…
This is the longsuffering nature of God…
Finally after all is said and done and there is no repentance – “He bore with great patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” – He brings the wrath down upon their heads and they are destroyed…
The Final Act of Wrath upon their heads is “non-redemptive” it is Retributive Justice – or Vengeance…
“I will repay, Vengeance is Mine”, declares the Lord as the Word tells us…
So where does this leave us? Where does this leave me? I “cry out” and I “stand up” and I say, “No! Lord, do not Judge, Have Mercy on the entire world and save them and bring them to Yourself” and the Lord hears me and He is pleased that He’s found someone who will “stand up” and “cry out” and someone who has heard His Heart – as this is what His Heart yearns for – and yet He decides then who He will save…
There will still be Judgement – even if every Saint “stood up” and “cried out” and “cried out” continually all the way round the world for the salvation of the entire world – He would still choose according to His will – His Purpose – whom He would save…
If Jesus “stood up” and “cried out” and “laid down His life unto death” to literally make that possible – which He did – and then only those who the Father “gives Him” will come to Him and no one can come to Him unless the Father draws them, then why do we think that we will be “any different”?
We will not be “any different” but in the act – a genuine act from our hearts – of coming to the Lord – and petitioning Him on behalf of the world – we will be “heard because of our piety” as Jesus was heard because of His piety – and we will have “exonerated” ourselves from just “sitting back” and letting God Judge…
That feeling – that ugly feeling – of “sitting back” and letting God Judge – suppressing the cry of Mercy in our hearts because our hearts have been hardened – is not a place that I want to be – if I do this then truly “their blood will be upon my head” and I don’t want that…
To be able to do something and not do it is sin – “He who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it sins” as the Word says…
Salvation is impossible for man as the Lord says but intercession and crying out for the salvation of mankind is not “impossible” for man in the sense that in the Holy Spirit we can cry out – we can’t make the final decision for the Father of who He is going to save – “Salvation belongs to the Lord” as Jonah learnt but we can “cry out” and give Him “no rest” in the expression of our heart that we “desire all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” – as we do this it protects our hearts from becoming hardened and we share His Heart…
It stops us having “the world” as our “enemies” in the sense that we “don’t like them” and “don’t want to have anything to do with them” and instead enables us to see every member of “the world” as a person whom the Lord loves and wants to save and those whom the Father draws, whom the Father chooses will be saved and join us – so it keeps us looking “out” to “the world” to receive more “from the world” whom the Father draws to Himself…
The world is not our “enemy” in that sense – the things of the world are our enemy – but the world – if we have a compassionate attitude towards them – this will keep our hearts from being hardened and then when we undergo persecution from the world, we will respond like Jesus and Stephen and others who died pleading with their attackers to repent and believe the Gospel and begging the Lord not to hold these things (which they don’t understand) against them…
At the end of the day – we are the not the Father – He has now entrusted all Judgement to the Son – we do not make those “Executive Decisions” but we are called as empowered by the Holy Spirit to “cry out” – maybe our “crying out” will “impede” the progress of Justice in the sense that the wheels of Justice will roll on “slower” giving more time for repentance – maybe we will get to a stage where our prayers for Mercy do not “impede” Justice – but we must still pray our prayers of Mercy until we get from the Lord, “Stop! I will not have Mercy, I must Judge!” and when we get to that point and we “try” and “try” and “try” but the response is settled, then we know that the Lord “will not relent” that He has “sharpened His arrows” and that He will act…
Our “responsibility” though is relinquished – our intercession is “over” – He has decided, He has “heard us” but He has decided and that when He decides – not when He changes His Mind – but when He decides – “and I swore in My Wrath that they would not enter My Rest” – that is Final…
He showed me the other day that He can change His Mind but He cannot change His Purpose…
“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves.” (Jeremiah 26:19 NASB)
“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2 NASB)
When He changes His Mind it is a “recalculation” based on His Mercy to give “more time” to repent – it is not an assurance that more Mercy will be shown than what He was going to show – but a vindication of His Character that He is a longsuffering God and would rather not “act” or “judge” or “interfer” in the affairs of men if only they would seek Him who is their Life – if only they would seek Him who is their Life He would never have had to Judge in the first place…
I’ve seen this with the Lord – He really doesn’t like Judging – He really would prefer that everything could run “smoothly” – He really would prefer that we “repent and live” as He said in the Word, “why would you die?”, “rather, repent and live”…
Rather, repent and live…
Rather, repent and live…
I really felt to share that this morning…
Love in the Lord,
Andrew
I’ve re-read through this thread again this morning and now this afternoon and feel that what the Lord has shown me is correct…
We never harden our hearts against those, even those whom the Lord has sworn in His Wrath that they will not enter His Rest…
Never…
Our hearts are to remain pure and soft and malleable before the Lord…
We are never to take their attacks on us personally…
They are not personal…
They are coming from the enemy…
He hates us and what we stand for…
Our stance – our cry for Mercy – is actually what spells destruction for him – in the laying down of our “right” to take matters – vengeance – into our own hands and allow room for the Lord to Judge – that actually spells his destruction…
There is no unforgiveness in Love…
This is what we are called to model to the world and to the watching spiritual forces…
We forgive…
God Judges…
There is only One Lawgiver and Judge the One who is able to both save and destroy…
If God happens to Judge through us – in words which come out of our mouths – so be it…
As long as is it Righteous Judgement…
I’d much prefer these Righteous Judgements to come directly out of His Mouth than mine or anyone else’s for that matter…
Don’t know why I feel that way but it’s just safer…
If He calls us to pronounce Judgement then we must be obedient to His Call…
but it is not His Heart to Judge…
He does it because He must…
He must – it is His Character to be Righteous and to Judge Unrighteousness…
He has been Patient…
No one can ever say that He has not been Patient…
Have Mercy Lord on all who will remain…
On all who will stand before You – and let them stand before You in Righteousness…
Remove wickedness, evil, from this earth…
Remove it Lord and then come again to Reign…
Let the Fire of God spread all over the earth…
Let nothing remain which is not pleasing to You…
Let Righteousness spring forth in those that remain…
Let it spring forth…
Let the Spirit of the Living God be poured out to bring life to all who remain – who remain after the Judgements of God…
Let the Judgements of God be felt and known by all who Love You – and let them be changed – by Your Judgements – the Fire of Your Judgements – let it change us…
Let us be an example for Your Glory – brightly shining in the Fire of Your Presence…
Brightly shining as living coals in Your Altar…
Let us glow with Your Presence and let us be pleasing to You in the purity of that glowing…
In the purity of that glowing – that burning – let us be pleasing to You…
Nothing of self to remain…
The Furnace, the Burning, the Coals, the Altar, the Fire of God…
Let it consume the earth…
and all who live in it…
Come Lord Jesus and take Your Place…
There has been a change, there has been a shift in the Spirit…
I know now that the Church in this city of Christchurch will become One…
After the calamities have “rolled over” this city and after the Lord has fulfilled all His words that He has spoken over this city in terms of “uprooting and tearing down, destroying and overthrowing” (Jeremiah 1:10a) then He can fulfil all His good words towards this city “to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10b)…
I sense this strongly…
I’ve basically sensed this – a restoration after the calamities – since early on this year…
What I’ve just sensed – from a few weeks ago (and continuing to this present time) – is that He is gathering us together unto Him (as the old Scripture in Song song goes)…
He is…
I see this in my own marriage…
A shift…
It was very powerful…
I see now that it’s all about revelation…
None of us see anything until we see it, i.e. until we are personally shown it by God…
Reading it in the scripture is not enough – the Holy Spirit has to reveal it to us…
The Church has been under a false yoke…
This yoke has lead them to seek satisfaction – release – in all the wrong places…
The Church has been committing spiritual adultery because they have not had the real thing…
I saw this either last week or the week before when the Lord revealed it to me and I saw that He is not holding that against His Church as He knows that they haven’t had the real thing…
The real thing is still coming…
They have not had a demonstration of His power so in their weakness and in their deprivation they’ve been vulnerable or susceptible to all manner of countfeit anointings and counterfeit movements of the “Holy Spirit” – in their desparation they’ve said, “better wild fire than no fire at all”…
He has forgiven them for this – we are talking about those who know Him who have been deceived (who have not been able to wait) – and He is coming to give them the real thing…
His very own Presence…
His very own Fire…
The Anointing which breaks the yoke…
Freedom from the bondage to sin…
Freedom through the Blood and through the Grace of Jesus…
The Fire is coming – this is what Tommy Hicks saw in his vision…
It is coming…
I know that it is coming and I know that I will experience it…
I know that everyone who the Lord’s prepared to experience it will experience it…
I was encouraged recently to meet with a man (who I knew when I used to be involved with a particular gathering here in Christchurch) who has been seeing these truths about God’s Grace in the last few years (he is no longer involved in that gathering but is looking after another gathering now)…
He is also here in Christchurch…
It really did me good to talk with him about it…
So few who I talk to (or come across) seem to understand – or as I understand it now, have been given the revelation of – God’s Grace (there is so much mixture – I understand this now)…
The flesh knows more about the Law than it does of God’s Grace…
Some people think that the flesh likes God’s Grace but this is not true…
The flesh likes the Law as it empowers it to sin…
To rebel against God…
But it is God’s Grace which transforms our lives and it is also God’s Grace which transforms our gatherings (to be gatherings together unto Him) and the spiritual climate or covering over our cities…
I see this now…
It’s all about the Blood…
It’s all about the Lord not counting their (the unbelievers) and our (the believers) tresspasses against them, yes the old needs to be removed but as the Blood covers us and as we magnify God’s Grace His Presence comes…
The sin needs to be under the Blood…
Once the sin is under the Blood it is powerless and it will “fall off”…
Yes the Law is glorious but we are told that Grace has a surpassing glory…
Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin…
I saw in the unity which I started to feel towards this man that although we disagree in some areas we are agreeing on all the important areas…
And as Paul said,
Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; (Philippians 3:15 NASB)
“God will reveal that also to you”…
Revelation…
Another friend of mine who I met with yesterday up in Auckland shared something with me last year which obviously the Lord gave him revelation on which I only “got” just yesterday at Auckland Airport as I waited for my delayed flight back to Christchurch…
Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; (2 Corinthians 5:16a NASB)
I used to think this just meant that we didn’t judge on external appearances…
I now see that although that meaning is definitely in the context I believe this friend was right that there is also a deeper meaning here…
Literally that from now on because of what Christ achieved in the surrounding verses we should treat no one (believer or unbeliever) according to their “old self” (even if that’s all they’ve got)…
Why?
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:14-21 NASB)
therefore all died…
not counting their tresspasses against them…
Those two “snippets” are applicable for unbelievers…
There’s an even stronger statement about believers…
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.…
Wow…
What this is telling us is that every person is so special to God that He died for them and that they died too when He died for them on the cross…
They are “so close” to coming to know Him – they just need to receive His free gift – repent and believe (“only believe” as the scripture says) and receive it in this repentance by faith (a handing over of their sins to the Lord for His forgiveness)…
And as they are so close and the Lord is “not counting their tresspasses against them” in a temporal sense then in a temporal sense they are under Grace (as they died) and can be released from Satan’s prison (which he guards as we know via the Law – Colossians 2:13-15) by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ…
This truly is all they need – a new heart, a new spirit, the gift of repentance and faith…
They’ve already died – so in a provisional sense – they’ve been provisionally released from the Law and we are just waiting for them to receive the free gift of Eternal Life from the Hand of God…
In that sense we should view them as “pre” brothers and sisters in the Lord – yes, they may never come to know the Lord but we shouldn’t view them from what they are in the flesh (i.e. their old self) as they died (it’s just whether they make use of it – their death – or not)…
In this way we have greater love towards them and a greater desire to win them…
(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10 NIV)
You see how close the Lord has brought them (the unbelievers)?
You see that for believers (our brothers and sisters in the Lord) that we are family – we are part of each other (“members of one another”) and also part of God (“one spirit with Him”)…
We cannot shoot each other (as believers) in the foot…
As we are not what we used to be…
We are (irrespective of our current level of practical holiness) new creations in Christ…
We are “unblameable” before God and before our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:22 KJV)
Yes, the Lord still “has this against us” (i.e. Relevation 2-3) but He is not treating us as our sins deserve – He is calling us to repentance out of our position of acceptance before Him…
And He is praying for us towards this end continually – which gives Him the right to speak – as He is speaking in Love…
We will be presented before Him holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His Sight…
Hallelujah!!!
He never gives up on us (those of us who know Him)…
We will stand before Him in glory…
They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion. (Psalm 84:7 NASB)
The Church in this city (every single person who believes in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ) is safe – whether we live or die we (our new selves) live unto the Lord…
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. (Romans 14:8 KJV)
No matter what happens around us – in the physical – we are safe – in the spiritual…
Our eternal destiny is secure…
And this is all we need…
A secure eternal destiny in Christ…
He loved us, He saved us, He completes us…
We work together with Him to bring Him glory on this earth as He draws us together and into each other to be One in Him…
Love in the Lord,
Andrew
I just want to say “Amen” to the spirit of this thread…
I felt the Lord again told me to read this thread as I came home from work for the last time this year this afternoon…
Yay, I’m on holiday… 🙂
But seriously, I felt a word coming…
I felt that the Lord would give me a word…
He is taking notice of the deep roots of sin in our lives…
There are some of us who have now understood His Grace…
Or are gaining a deeper understanding of His Grace…
Deepening…
And He wants to take us – those who are gaining this deepening understanding – to the ends of ourselves…
Earlier in the thread I said I felt that the Lord was going to make an end of me and I felt that that would happen early on in the year…
Well it has been happening…
It’s been happening all year…
And it’s continuing…
He’s taking me deeper and deeper and deeper into Him and the thing which frees me to embrace this death is the knowledge that He accepts me completely in my new self – “just as I am” – as my new self is perfect…
The Blood has availed for me…
And is availing…
We are forgiven and are being forgiven…
The Blood has cleansed me and is continuing to cleanse me…
I took communion at our Prophetic Intercessors group here in Christchurch (which I re-connected with around the middle of this year) last Friday night (at our prayer meeting) and the Lord gave me a revelation of that word in 1 John, “and the Blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin” – often when preparing for communion I’ve found a striving sense coming over me, “Oh, oh, I must repent of…” like I’m trying to conjure up something for the Lord to cleanse me from…
I haven’t had a peace about that, on Friday as we took communion He said to me, “Has and is” (or words to that effect) meaning that the Blood of Jesus has purified me from all sin and is purifying me from all sin – has in the sense of my position and is in the sense of practically removing sin from me which I feel is happening continuously (although I don’t always perceive it)…
There is nothing for me to strive for as I approach the communion table…
On Sunday at the gathering which I felt the Lord wanted me to attend led by the man I mentioned in one of the posts above, he (the man) felt that we were to “toast” the Lord in terms of taking communion remembering Him – like giving Him the honour for what He had already accomplished in our behalf – I liked this – I did this – we did this and then Glorified Him with a loud shout of praise or singing or rejoicing or dancing or whatever else He placed on our hearts to complete…
As I approach the communion table I am aware that He could bring up any sin in my life as something which He really wants to deal with – I can’t help Him…
I can be surrendered (as He’s enabled me to be) for Him to bring anything up which He wants to…
In the Presence of His Love we are transformed into His Image…
I was blessed by the worship on Sunday morning at this gathering…
We are gathering together unto Him (as I mentioned in one of my posts above) – as we gather together unto Him, exalting in what He has done – what He has done for us – the Finished Work which He has completed in our lives – He comes – kind of like in agreement with us agreeing with Him and we (as a whole – as a whole community) are blessed by His Presence – this is what happened on Sunday at this gathering – perfect freedom – to Love Him and give ourselves to Him – nothing of striving – and the Joy of the Lord was present – Praise You Jesus…
I see a shift in the spirit – He is gathering us together unto Him – showing us His Grace – dealing with the deep roots of sin in our lives (in our old selves) and bringing in the Fire of His Presence to burn out that dross so we can be all for Him – He is Loving us and His Love for us is refining – He is a Refiner’s Fire…
But it goes deeper than that…
That is cause for rejoicing but I see deeper than that…
There is no end that He will go to to remove wickedness from us – especially when we are in that place of acceptance – knowing the Grace of God in our lives – I can see Him taking a whole group of us – who He is showing that revelation – to the place of unconditional surrender where we will literally offer our bodies to Him and our entire lives to do whatever He tells us to do – to come to a place of absolute surrender where we have no control, no plans, no interest in whatever it is that He is going to request us to do – but we will obey – we will follow His wishes because we love Him…
Our lives are on the altar and we love Him and together we will move in accordance with His bidding and great blessing will be released on all…
This is what I want to be a part of…
I see huge improvement this year in the sense of this becoming a reality – there are more people who I am yet to be “linked with” but I know that the Lord will stop at nothing to go to the root in our lives – He truly is a Consuming Fire – and the place of Grace is truly the place of Transformation and the place of the Fire of God…
That revelation welcomes the Fire – you cannot pour new wine into old wineskins…
The revelation of Grace – the new self, the acceptance, the forgiveness, the right standing with God – the covering of our sin – the new creation – is the new wineskin into which the Lord can pour His Holy Fire…
The Fire is His Love for us experienced by us and compelling us to go “to the death” so that He can be “all in all” in us…
So that He can consume us and live through us…
Christ in me the hope of Glory…
Christ living through me…
He doesn’t pretend “sin within us” doesn’t exist but in our surrender knowing its all forgiven and is not us – in our admission of this and not trying to hide our sin anymore but bringing it out into the Light of His Presence – in this place He is free to heal us…
In the presence of others who have had this revelation if the Lord leads us to confess we can confess and have no fear of condemnation – we are free in Him…
Cover us with Your Blood, Thank You Jesus, Thank You Father, Thank You Holy Spirit, Thank You Lord, and let Your work in this city be successful (as I know it will be 🙂 – because it’s Your work – Praise You Jesus)…
Love in the Lord,
Andrew