How To Fight Fear and Push Through To Intimacy With God

I thought you might appreciate this article from John Paul Jackson.

He sent it out in last weeks's newsleter. iI you'd like to see more of his work or sign up for the newsletter, visit

http://www.streamsministries.com/index.php?cat_id=27&page_id=62

Fighting Fear

By John Paul Jackson

Truthful and forthright people will tell you that when they are angry, they hear very little from God; when they are fearful, they hear very little from God.

The more emotional we are, the less consistently we hear — or we begin to “hear” things that go against what we know God is or what He has told us in the past. So we need help in removing hindrances to our hearing from God.

When we begin to remove rejection, insecurities and these types of things, automatically our gifts are going to start looking a whole lot stronger than they ever did. They didn’t get stronger; we just removed the things that were hindering them.

What’s the best way to remove fear, insecurity, shame and other hindrances to our gifts? Intimacy with God.

Letting Go of Fear

Just by being with God, we are asking Him to remove our walls. We are asking Him to align our soul with His. We are asking to become one spirit with Him. We are asking to be made holy, which is to be made like Him. All of these happen when we spend time with Him.

But the process can be difficult, especially because one of the things we want to remove actively works to keep us from doing so. Fear is the chief barrier that blocks us from real intimacy with God. It keeps us from completely surrendering our lives to Him and being able to walk fully into our destiny.

Hiding from God — Fear's First Step

Fear is not just the enemy of intimacy; it is the assassin. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve committed the first sin in human history, they hid themselves because they felt ashamed; they were afraid to let God see them. How many times do we do that same thing? We’re afraid of what He might say when He sees us, the judgment He may pass on us, if we allow Him to say what’s on His heart.

Because Adam and Eve were responding out of fear, the first thing they did was erect small walls in the form of clothing to keep God at a distance — to keep Him from seeing who they really were. They put up barriers that yelled, "Keep away! We don't know if we can trust You anymore." But obviously, it wasn’t God who had changed in those few moments.

What You Need to Remember

Here's the thing we need to remember about fear: It will lie to us and distort everything we feel. If we allow it to do so, it will convince us that self-protection is more important than releasing our heart, including every hidden thing, to God and being romanced by Him.

Fear will attempt to tell us whatever it can in order to keep us from letting go of the things we are convinced God does not want to know. But we shouldn’t be afraid of God. His intent is not to kill us. It is to have us.

During this Christmas season, remember His heart for you. Remember that He sent His Son to save the world, not to condemn the world — that means you. While you were deep in sin, He loved you enough to come to Earth and be born for you; He loved you enough to die for you.

Could He love you any less now? NO! Don’t let the enemy push you around anymore! Know the truth. Embrace it, and it will set you free.

Something to encourage your heart

God has an appointment with you - It's Time to Seek the Lord.

The Love God has for us is staggering. God has treasures and gifts for us. Zephaniah 2:3 tells us to "Seek righteousness, seek HUMILITY." God has some things to tell us and show us. He is waiting on us to get quiet before Him and let Him talk to us. When we quiet our hearts and spend "quality time" with God, we learn to hear His voice, and He will define the next chapter of our lives for us. There is much ahead and there are things He desires to adjust, add, remove and reveal.

A teachable heart helps us to embrace something we have not seen before. It's not new to God, just to us. Psalm 119 is full of "teach me" Scriptures. It is important that we guard ourselves from bringing to conclusion what God has only shown us in part. We don't have the whole picture yet, only God does. It hasn't been revealed to us. He is teaching us to trust Him, rely on Him, listen to Him and do things His way. Humble, teachable, uncritical hearts attract Heaven because that is the DNA of Jesus, Himself.

Double Doors are Opening as We Have a Tight Grip on His Hand

Isaiah 45:1-3, "Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held--to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: 'I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.'"

Zechariah 9:12, "Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you."

Things are happening in a hurry. God is causing us to inherit even more than we dreamed or thought possible. It is His good pleasure to give good gifts to His kids. When God is holding our hand, we are positioned for God to lead us where He wants to take us. We cease to operate in our own wisdom and strength, and God goes before us to remove obstacles and impossible situations for us. For us to take possession of the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places, we must take a tight grip on God's hand. He MUST remain in charge and we cannot place things or people ahead of Him.

He is leading us into places to accomplish His plan and purpose for this earth. We cannot go alone or in our own strength. There are people in places of darkness and deception who are getting ready to be rescued and set free and God is sending us to them. When we have full dependency on Him, He will show us things, move barriers out of the way, usher us into places we never dreamed of, and His power will flow through us as we allow the Holy Spirit to rule.

In the past year, I have run into more people who are pregnant with twins and even triplets. There is a definite increase and multiplied evidence of life. It is a sign that God, the Giver of life--is accelerating things. When God increases us after coming out of a dry and desert season, we find new strength, new perspective, new direction and a greater awe and respect for God and His government. Change happens around us and transition happens in us. When we transition, we find new strength, new revelation and new assignments to embrace.

We have a promise in Isaiah 41:10, "Don't panic. I'm with you. There's no need to fear for I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you. I'll hold you steady, keeping a firm grip on you. "

We Have Been Gaining Strength to Engage the Future

When we go through unusually long and pressured seasons, it makes us ready to receive more than what it cost us. This time of difficulty and pressure has only caused us to press into God and take a tighter grip on His hand. Refining times are necessary for strength to come. For example, I was climbing a mountain with a friend of mine who is a personal trainer. When I reached a place in our ascent, I felt like I couldn't breathe. She began to coach me in my climbing. She told me that I needed to use different muscle groups and that I was actually gaining strength in this difficult climb.

Her following words were, "True strength is only developed when met with resistance." These words were like gold to me. I considered this statement in every difficult season I have had since that time. WE ARE GAINING STRENGTH TO ENGAGE THE FUTURE. Every promise He has made to us and every prophetic word we have received that is truly from Him, God fully intends to accomplish in us, with us, and for us.

It's the Season for Life, Healing and Restoration

We are designed by God the way we are for a reason. In times of "aloneness" with God, He will define us--to us. He will tell us why we are put together the way we are and how we are to function. In His light, we see light and things become clearer. It is in these times of being "alone with God," that we discover Him in a new way and discover ourselves in a new way. We experience healing of life wounds and emotional trauma as the Comforter applies His healing balm to our broken hearts, minds, emotions and bodies. His prescription is restoration and healing. Knowing what we have walked through, He makes us new again and brings life to dead places. An infusion of LIFE is available to us when we get before Him and delight ourselves in the Lord.

The God of all hope, comfort, joy, love, strength, power, healing, counsel, light and restoration wants us to come and spend time with Him--AND WE WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.

Bless you,

Cindy McGill
Hope for the Harvest Ministries
http://www.hopefortheharvest.com

Declare War On Grumbling

Declare War on Ungratefulness and Grumbling With a Heart of THANKFULNESS

"The thankful heart sees the best part of every situation."

From my earliest Christian years I've heard questions about Jesus' comment concerning Judas Iscariot: "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?" (John 6:70)

What did Jesus mean? Was Judas genetically a devil and not a man? (Jesus didn't say Judas had a devil, He said he was a devil). Can a devil actually live among people as a human?

While I am no scholar in ancient Greek, I think truth is better served reading the literal translation of this verse. The word translated as "devil," diabolos, is the same word translated elsewhere in the New Testament as "slanderer" or "malicious gossip" (see 1 Timothy 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:3).

When Jesus says that Judas is a devil, He is saying one of you is a "false accuser," a "slanderer," a "malicious gossip." Judas could not keep his negative perspective to himself.

Remember, just before Judas delivered Jesus to the Pharisees, he was offended that Jesus allowed an expensive ointment to be lavished on His hair. Judas indignantly complained: "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to poor people?" (John 12:5). His words spread strife among the other apostles as well (Matthew 26:8). Judas said, in effect, "Who permitted this thoughtless luxury?"

Well, it was Jesus. The woman had anointed Him for His burial. Yet, to Judas this was an extravagance that Jesus shouldn't have taken. In the angry mind of Judas Iscariot, here was justification to go to the chief priests. He had grounds to break ranks with Christ (Matthew 26:14-15).

God Has a Problem With Grumblers

Betrayal is never a sudden thing; rather, it is an accumulative response to the unresolved anger and disappointment one feels toward another. The offenses we do not transfer to God in surrendered prayer inevitably decay and become a venom we transfer to others through gossip. In the process, we embrace slander, but we feel justified. We become malicious gossips, but in our minds we're only communicating a "truth," a character flaw, that we self-righteously
"discerned."

To understand Judas' betrayal of Christ, we must unearth its source: Judas Iscariot was a grumbler. When we lose sight of the many things for which we should be thankful, we become murmurers and complainers, increasingly darkened by a thought-life engendered by hell.

Beware when your anger toward another Christian has led you to gossip about him or her, especially if you are embittered and are now sowing criticisms about him to others. Yes, beware: you are no longer being conformed to Christ, but are actually becoming more like Judas than Jesus.

Grumblers Everywhere

Of course, this grumbling attitude was not isolated to Judas' betrayal of Jesus. Many would-be disciples and Jewish leaders were also infected with murmuring. Consider: there were miracles everywhere, Christ had just fed the 5,000 when a very large crowd of His disciples began to find fault. Yet, even though Jesus warned, "Do not grumble among yourselves" (John 6:43), still the crowd persisted. Remember, these were Christ's disciples, and they were not grumbling at a sinner, but the only sinless man who ever lived.

"But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this," asked, 'Does this cause you to stumble?'" (John 6:61). And then, the grumbling spirit continued until "...many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore" (John 6:66).

Grumbling caused people to stop seeing and appreciating miracles. It caused disciples to be offended by Jesus' teaching and they stopped walking with Him.

As it was then, so it is today. Grumbling will ultimately cause you to stop walking with Jesus. It is a killer. You see, incredibly, not just the Pharisees and Judas Iscariot found fault with Jesus, even His disciples grumbled at times. Heaven was manifest in their midst and all they were focused on was what they perceived was wrong. That's what a grumbling attitude can do.

This poison of ingratitude is prevalent in the Church today. Paul warned that, "...in the last days...men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips" ( see 2 Timothy 3:1-9).

You get the point: "men will be...malicious gossips" or devils. They will be given to destroying one another with their words.

The Thankful Heart

Personally, I've declared war on grumbling. An unthankful heart is an enemy to God's will. Can you join me with this? Can you crucify a murmuring spirit? We have received too much from God to allow ourselves opportunities for ingratitude and unbelief! We have received too many gifts and privileges to allow grumbling to disqualify us of our destiny.

The thankful heart sees the best part of every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities and struggles as refining tools. My prayer is for each of us to possess the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. I want to drive that little, ugly, grumbling demon away from our hearts, and replace it with a living awareness of the goodness of God!

Paul warned,"Nor let us...grumble, as (Israel) did, and were destroyed by the destroyer" (1 Corinthians 10:9-10). The moment we open ourselves to grumbling, we simultaneously open up to destruction.

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable...is right, whatever is pure...lovely...of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

Remember, Paul was writing to people in the ancient Roman world. It was full of evil, full of injustice, full of reasons to grumble and be upset; but instead, God calls His people to a higher realm, where we dwell on the things that are above.

You say, "Who then will point out all the things that are wrong with life?" Oh, there are plenty of volunteers for that task. Better to ask, "How can I attain the blessed life Jesus came to give me?"

You say, "But the world is wicked. We need to decry and defeat evil." Yes, and I totally agree, I often decry evil myself. But I must live and offer a better life if I am going to defeat evil. God doesn't want His people to be grumbling about the difficult conditions of existence. He wants us to be mercy-motivated, redemption-orientated, prayer-empowered ambassadors of Heaven.

If we are merely complaining about what's wrong with the people around us, we should beware: we may actually be more like followers of Judas rather than Jesus.

Francis Frangipane www.frangipane.org

Defeating Anxiety and Establishing Your Mind on Your Target

I am praying that you sing a NEW song. Do not stop singing until you get to the end of your song. The enemy tries to stop your song from coming to the end. He brings circumstances and discouragement to get you out of your place so you cannot hear the completion of the song. I am praying for the Body of Christ to have strength to go the extra mile.

I decree that you will not fall short, but will have new energy, stamina and strength to press through for the extra mile.

Isaiah 26 says, "Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You."

I pray that your heart and mind will get fixed and aligned in a new way. May your mind not be pulled in a thousand directions but stay focused on that thing that will keep you in perfect peace. I break the power of anything coming against you that is pulling you so that your heart is divided. We decree that your mind will be whole and in perfect peace.

I decree that we will hit the mark. Sin will not pull us to the right or to the left. Things that are causing us to be anxious will let go of us. We will hear clearly - we will not be drawn out or robbed of strength so that we miss the mark.

The Lord says, "Be willing to step up, for I will give you strength in that place where you have strained to get, a higher place where you can stand, for vision to come forth. I will give you new strength to lift you up. If you will worship Me today, the power of 'lift' will come on you."

If you do not understand the power of lift, there is a section on it in The Worship Warrior. The power of lift will bring you into that place where you can stand and take aim on your mark that God has for you. Lord, let the power of lift hit the Body of Christ today.

Thank the Lord for the Spirit and the Blood. His Spirit is dwelling mightily in you and His Blood is flowing through your veins. Decree that the Spirit of God will energize you and cause you to praise. Ask God for the new word - the new revelation you need to come down and lift you out of the pit that is trying to hold you.

This is a month to develop your warfare strategies. You must have prophetic revelation for the warfare that is swirling around you. This is a time to enter into a new level of trust and rest.

This is also the month of "SAMEKH" - with trust, confidence and support coming full circle in your life.

In a season of coming full circle, this is a time to gain new confidence over your future and see your new beginning in a new way. Be sure to "take the night" or get up when He calls you during the night. This is a month of night visions and a month of dreams.

The Lord is determined to reveal to you, and align you for your future. Let the Lord stir the depths of your womb or river in your belly so you can receive the ability to understand your next measure. This is a month to shoot straight and move quickly.

I bless you abundantly,
Chuck D. Pierce Glory of Zion Ministries

http://www.gloryofzion.org/outmail/11-15-07_WeeklyEmailerOnline.htm

Visions and Impartations - Catherine Brown

Flying with a Golden Eagle

Visions and Impartations in the Night Season

Catherine Brown

Solomon Receives Impartation While Dreaming

Did you know that God can impart a supernatural gift to you during your sleep? It's true! We are blessed to read of such an impartation of "wisdom and discernment" given to King Solomon during a dream (1 Kings 3). Wisdom is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit (read 1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

I Kings 3:5-9, "At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, 'Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.'"

Solomon answered,

"You have shown great kindness to Your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to You and righteous and upright in heart. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count in number. So give Your servant a discerning heart to govern Your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?"

The Lord was pleased that Solomon asked Him for wisdom and discernment and the Lord said to him in Verses 10-15,

"'Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for - both riches and honor - so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in My ways and obey My statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.'Then Solomon awoke - and he realized it had been a dream."

Solomon returned to Jerusalem and offered sacrificial offerings before the Lord and then gave a feast for all in his court. Shortly after this, two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him asking him to judge between who was the true mother of a baby child. One of the women's sons had died and only one child remained alive. Solomon had to execute a wise ruling and choose the authentic mother. Ultimately, Solomon's words and actions revealed the true mother's heart in verse 26,

"The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son, and said to the king, 'Please my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!'"

And in verse 28 we read,

"When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice."

The entire Israelite community affirmed that their king had received a gift from God. We are privileged to study the Scriptures and understand that this wisdom and gift of discernment was imparted to Solomon during a dream!

There is no reason why we too, cannot exercise faith in a similar manner and have an expectation to receive instruction, wisdom and much more from the Lord during our sleeping (and waking).

Flying with the Golden Eagle

Before going on a mission trip to California in early 2006, I had two significant dreams/night visions, one of which I will share with you here. In my dream, I was flying over the streets of California late at night. I was aware that I was being carried along by the Spirit of the Lord. As I swooped through the streets, it was a most exhilarating experience. Suddenly, I became aware of a magnificent golden eagle that was flying ahead of me. I caught glimpses of the golden glory of the eagle from time-to-time as we sped along through the night.

In a split second or pre-emptive discernment, I realized that I was about to collide with the golden eagle. I turned the corner in my dream and did just that - I collided with the beautiful Heavenly being in a face-to-face encounter; and at the same time, I felt a rush of God's glory fill my entire being. I knew right away that I had received an impartation from the Lord. I had complete peace in my heart and awoke to feel the effects of the glory of God in my human frame. (Prophet Daniel describes this, "After that, in my vision at night" in Daniel 7:7.)

My spiritual father, Hugh Black, who has now gone home to be with the Lord, co-labored with the Reverend Duncan Campbell in the Lewis Revivals of the 20th century (1939 and 1949). He often spoke to me of the angels appearing in the Hebridean Islands and how the glory of the Lord was evident on the earth for days after such an encounter - it could be felt in both the body and also seen with the human eye in the earth's atmosphere.

Lifted By the Spirit of God

It is occasionally difficult to find accurate words to convey supernatural experiences. However, we can look to God's Word to find a holy foundation. Prophet Ezekiel writes of his experience of being raised up by the Spirit in various locations, providing us with a solid Biblical perspective of such an occurrence. My description of "flying" with the Lord is simply an alternative way of speaking about being lifted by the Spirit of the Lord and correlates with the experience of Ezekiel in relation to encountering God's glory. Ezekiel 11:1,

"Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the houses of the Lord that face east."

Ezekiel 11:24-25,

"Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me, and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me."

Revelation of Glory and in California

Furthermore, my description of the glory experience is also part of Ezekiel's revelatory encounter too. On several occasions, Ezekiel links being lifted in the Spirit (as in verse 24 above) with receiving a fresh revelation of the glory of God.

Ezekiel 11:22-23,

"Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it."

Since we have a Biblical blueprint for receiving an impartation during a dream (as Solomon did), I also have no problem in exercising faith that God truly imparted a measure of His glory to me during the dream experience.

You may well ask, "What is the purpose of such an encounter?" I believe this particular glory impartation was for serving Him in California. Every genuine glory encounter with the Lord births a worship-filled response in our hearts along with a desire to shower His love on others.

So what happened during my trip to California? The dream depicted me on the streets, and whilst much of my time was spent ministering in churches to God's beloved children, I was also privileged to go out onto the streets with good friends to minister with the homeless of Northern California.

It was here that we saw the Glory of God manifest in anointed preaching as two more precious souls gave their lives in commitment to Christ; it was here that we saw God's glory poured out in healing miracles and precious words of Christ's life-giving prophecy.

It was on the streets that Jesus healed the darkness of depression that held a dear one bound; it was here that the Lord healed the dislocated shoulder of a young homeless man, whose body was covered with huge spider bites. It was here that Jesus came with tenderness and ministered to a young couple about to be married, pouring out words of healing and hope.

Thus the glory impartation had been for a divine purpose - to minister Christ's miracle working love to those to whom I had been sent.

The Living Creatures

Perhaps the only fully unanswered question remains in the interpretation of the "golden eagle." Some interpret eagles as symbolic of the prophetic ministry; others interpret them as part of apostolic ministry. Prophet Ezekiel describes the living creatures as having a face like an eagle in Ezekiel 10:14, "Each of the cherubim had four faces: one face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle" (see also Ezekiel 1:10).

The Book of Revelation describes the four living creatures that worship around the throne of the Lamb in this way in Revelation 4:7-8,

"The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around even under the wings. Day and night they never stop saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come.'"

I cannot say with absolute accuracy whether I encountered a living creature or not. I do know that the angelic being was Heaven sent and imparted a measure of the glory of the Lord to me in the vision/dream experience. I also believe that in sharing the dream, the believers of California were encouraged and moved to faith-filled responses. As a people of faith, we are called to exercise faith and discernment. I interpreted the dream as a sign of God's glory given for worship and for mission. A sign with interpretation translates into prophetic understanding. Prophetic understanding births further faith in our hearts and releases destiny as we respond to the glory of God in our lives.

Interpreting Dreams

In the life of the prophet, Daniel, we are able to see interesting interactions with revelations he perceived in the Heavenly realms. In Daniel 10:1 we read, "...a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war." The Scriptures clearly stated Daniel received "revelation," however, verse 1 continues, "The understanding of the message came to him in a vision." In other words, the "revelation" and the "understanding" about the revelation did not come at the same time, but one followed the other.
At a different time, Daniel was praying and repenting for sins in his nation when the angel Gabriel came to speak with him. Daniel 9:21-22,

"...while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.'"

God sent an angel to help His servant gain insight and understanding. The angel Gabriel instructed Daniel in respect to the revelation, even though God had given Daniel and his three associates,

"...knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." Daniel 1:17

It is humbling and helpful to see that the mighty man of God, anointed and appointed, still needed help at times with interpretation. It is faith building to know that our Father in Heaven releases angels to instruct and assist His children with revelation and revelatory experiences!

Seven - A Sign of Completion

Before leaving California, the Lord drew my attention to "seven magnificent eagles" flying together in the air, just as I was approaching my final preaching destination. This was not a vision, but seven "real" eagles that hovered overhead. The Bibles teaches us that God rested on the seventh day and we may safely interpret the number seven as perfection and completion. I left California with God's perfect peace in my heart and a feeling of having completed my Kingdom assignment.

May the God of Israel grant you faith and favor as you pursue His dream for your life and explore the wonderful world of dreams and visions with the Holy Spirit and the angels.

To God be the glory.

Catherine Brown Gatekeepers Global MinistriesEmail: admin@gatekeepers.org.uk
As posted on teh Elijah list

http://www.elijahlist.com/

A Face To Face Encounter

I hope today's post will make up for the lack of posts in the last few weeks.

In Part One of this two-part teaching entitled: A Face to Face Encounter, Todd Bentley defines supernatural encounters and experiences based on specific biblical evidence. Then, as he shares his face to face encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul, your belief-grid concerning heavenly experiences is sure to be both broadened and challenged.

In Part Two, as Todd releases meaty portions of what the apostle Paul taught him, (in the context that Jesus Christ is the door to every heavenly encounter) you’ll be inspired to press in for your own face to face encounter with the Lord.

A FACE TO FACE ENCOUNTER

by Revivalist Todd Bentley - [as edited by Kathy Thorne]Part 1 of 2

To come face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ is to come face to face with the goodness and glory of God! Oh to be a friend of God like Abraham and Moses were; for out of their intimate friendship with the Lord they had a face to face encounter with Him (Gen. 17:1; Ex. 33:11).

Listen. Today, for a deeper understanding of the apostolic, we need to note that every apostle in the Bible had been with the Lord. Not only were they friends of God who had face to face encounters with Him, they also had supernatural encounters and prophetic experiences. In fact, what made Paul an apostle was that he was taken up into the third heaven where he saw the Lord (1 Cor. 9:1; 2 Cor. 12: 2-4). That’s where his apostleship came from because he wasn't yet a disciple or an apostle when Jesus was physically on earth.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER

Now I want to ask an important question. Can Paul's experience also be ours today? The answer is "yes" and I say this because Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday when Paul was on earth, and He's the same forever (Heb. 13:8).

Now consider this: Jesus' healing virtue is still released through His trusted servants today and that means that He heals people today just like He did two thousand years ago.

What a great promise when it comes to healing, but why not for the supernatural? If He's the same today, then why can't He visit me like He visited Abraham? If He's the same today, why can't He visit me like He visited Daniel? Why can't He visit me like He visited John? Why can't He visit me like He visited Isaiah? How about Ezekiel?

Yes, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that makes what's available in "Bible days" available today. It's not just about healing and laying hands on the sick and seeing miracles, as great as these are, but it's also about supernatural encounters with God.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead and over five hundred people saw Him for forty days in His resurrected body (1 Cor. 15:6)? Do you believe supernatural things can take place today?

I'm asking this because we're okay with angels showing up and speaking to Mary and Joseph, but we're not okay with angels showing up and speaking to us. We're okay with Paul being taken into heaven, or what he called the third heaven - caught up into a place called paradise. We're okay with that. It's good for Paul, or it's good for Elijah. Yet both Paul and Elijah were men just like we are, and as you know, they're both in heaven today. So are Abraham and Isaiah.

They aren't on earth anymore for God to interact with. But God, by His very nature, wants to interact with somebody supernaturally. My question is: Why not you? Why should anyon's experience in Christianity today be any different from what people experienced in Bible days?

Take Peter. He was in prison (See Acts 12:1–17). While an all night prayer meeting took place (on his behalf in someone’s house) an angel of the Lord came to Peter in his cell and his chains miraculously fell off his hands. Then he was led by the angel out of jail into the city. Peter made his way to the prayer meeting and when he arrived and knocked on the door they didn't really believe that he was at the door! They said (paraphrased): "Ah, it's not Peter, it's his angel."

My point is this. As God pours out His greater glory, we're going to hear about supernatural encounters and prophetic experiences, and they're going to be based on the way God moved supernaturally, in ancient times, for people in the Bible.

ENCOUNTERS AND PROPHETIC EXPERIENCES ARE INTENTIONAL

What's the purpose for supernatural encounters and prophetic experiences? You might be thinking: We've got the Bible and that's enough! For me, it's about intimacy, but not just that. It's: Why wait for your inheritance? When you get to heaven what do you think you're going to see? What do you expect it to be like in heaven? After all, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the kingdom of God is within you, so why wait?

I'm hungry now. I've got an inheritance, I'm a joint heir, I don't have to wait for: One day I'm going to be in heaven. Thank God that'll be fullness. I'll be in eternity. What's more, we don't only need greater faith, we also need a greater expectation that God wants to impart something to us. We need an expectation that He is going to touch us; He is going to speak to us; He is going to visit us.

Look. Heaven is real; it's tangible, and the glory of heaven is real. It changes everything it touches. Furthermore, God wants the reality of heaven to be made known to His friends. For Jesus told His disciples - after He established the fact they were His friends if they did what He commanded - "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).

God is looking for true friends with whom He can reveal His glory. There is a purpose for this desire. For instance, as God has revealed different aspects of His glory to me this year I've gained a deeper friendship with God. This has helped me to keep pressing in for all the fullness of God that I can contain, not just for my satisfaction, but ultimately so that He can work through me and cause others to know Him and be saved.

Now I want to share about an amazing prophetic experience concerning God's glory that I had in a meeting in Redding, California this year. Here we go!

JESUS CHRIST IS THE GATE, THE DOOR, AND THE LADDER

In that meeting, about an hour before I was due to speak, I was suddenly overcome by the Holy Spirit. Feeling somewhat weak, as if I was going to go into a trance (a biblical trance like the apostle Peter had - Acts 10:9, 10), I asked my team to take me to a nearby place called "The Green Room."

Sitting down on the couch I could feel a strong overwhelming sense of the presence of God and I knew I was going to fall into a trance. I was going to have a supernatural encounter. Then, in the chair, with my eyes open, I had an open vision. Jesus appeared right in front of me. It was as though He stepped right out of heaven, the Lord Jesus Himself, and stood before me as a Man.

I saw that behind the Lord, almost like a projection, a vision of heaven shone from the back of His body; a trail of heaven followed Him, it was projected behind him. It was as though a window was open and I could look right into heaven itself. But heaven had come from the Lord. In fact, heaven is the Lord.

Out of the Lord came beams of white and golden light. Such brightness! From out of the white, golden, light came other brilliant colors - blue, purple, green, red and pink were the main ones -like rainbows.

Pink prophetically represents love and emotions. I saw what looked to be ten rainbows coming from the Lord, Himself. It reminded me of the description of the throne room in Ezekiel 1:28 -"Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD." I even saw rivers of oil, rivers of honey, and I saw bridges.

Then the Lord did two things to me. He walked up to me and He put His hand inside my belly and He gave me a supernatural enablement to live through what was about to take place. He was establishing me so I wouldn't die. I say that because when I saw heaven I wanted to pass the Lord and go right in. But the Lord said, "If you pass Me right now, you will die. Todd, you are not just having a vision, you are in heaven and this is real." The Lord said, "I am the gate, I am the door, I am the ladder. There is no heaven without Me."

He said, if you pass Me, you will die. Something sustained me. He put His hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes and said, "Peace I give you, not as the world gives," and a great peace came over me like a vibration and my whole body trembled while I received the peace of God.

Then the vision faded. Yet I was so overcome by the glory of God I just laid on the floor in the Green Room and as I was lying there, unexpectedly I was caught up instantly into the spirit. I was no longer aware that I was in a conference setting. All of a sudden I was standing on a grassy hill and I saw still waters. I saw a river flowing between its banks. It was like Psalm 23, green pastures, and I was looking down.

I thought the (flowing) river was going to be pure, living water but as I looked I saw that it was a river of oil and honey. Next the colors changed from pink and rainbows, white light and the color of gold, to orangey red. Everywhere I looked was the appearance of amber. Everywhere, it was like a sunrise or a sunset, red or ruby or orangey red.

I looked up to my left and there was a bridge, and my first thought was: What a secret place. Still waters, I am in Paradise, this is Psalm 23. Look at that beautiful bridge! I just want to sit up on the bridge. That's what I was thinking. The butterflies were flying by and I felt the peace of God; I was overcome by the shalom. Wow. I thought: Look at that bridge.

Now, when you think something in heaven, you are there, so although I don't actually remember moving, the next thing I knew I was actually sitting on the bridge. While in this heavenly experience sitting up on the bridge I saw someone walking toward me. I knew in my spirit it was Paul the apostle. He walked right onto the bridge and he sat down next to me. He had this blank scroll in his hand and he started writing with a pen (which was more like a feather with ink).

When he started writing it looked like Hebrew and he would say, "Eat this." He continued writing on the scroll, saying "Eat this" again and again. But when I realized I was eating, I noticed that I wasn't eating by my mouth, I was eating by my belly. He was stuffing his writings inside my spirit right past by head, putting some kind of divine revelation right into my spirit.

Then Paul spoke to me about the message of the hour for the Church and much more. Yet, it would be best to hold his inspiring message and the other heavenly adventures in connection with Paul until Part Two next week.

Website: www.freshfire.ca

I encourage you to seek to discover more of our wonderful, supernatural God. There is muich more to our life in God than we already know.

Creating An Opening For God's Presence

My prayer is that this message from Jim Goll will encourage you to press in and seek God's presence. You can find more from James Goll at http://www.encountersnetwork.com/

BLOWING THE ROOF OFF YOUR HOUSE

Making Jesus At Home In Your House

Read Mark 2:1- 5 slowly as a parable. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring personal applications to your life.

1. Mark 2:1 - Is Jesus at “Home” in your house - family - congregation- city? What would you need to do to have Him be more than the “honored guest” who occasionally shows up
2. Mark 2:2 - When Jesus is “in His temple” - people will gather and revelation will rest on the word of God. May God’s house be full to overflowing and may the crowds gather once again to hear the word of the Lord!
3. Mark 2:3 - Some became dissatisfied with the crowds as they were. Four men became desperate for a “break through” on another level. Through the heat of the day, they carried their paralytic friend on a stretcher to the house where Jesus was. They worked hard to carry this “dead weight” possibly at a distance. It cost them something to get him there, but they wanted more!
4. Mark 2:4 - They could not get near to Jesus due to the crowds. They could have given up, but instead - they moved from the natural into the supernatural to find their solution. Then hope came. We will tear the roof off the house. So they proceeded upon the roof to tear it open with their hands. Through great effort - they dug a big hole in the roof (opened heavens) and lowered their friend into the presence of the living Messiah.
5. Mark 2:5 - Jesus saw “their faith.” Whose faith? All their faith together! Then he spoke to the paralytic - “Your sins are forgiven.” This results in healing the body. May these words echo through our lives today and the sick Body of Christ be raised up to “wholeness.”

Examples of Opened Heavens in Scripture

1. Like in Genesis 28:16-17, we need the gates of heaven opened over our cities, churches and families. (For more on this subject see the lesson “Gatekeepers of His Presence” in my Revival Breakthrough Study Guide.)
2. Like in Mark 2:1-5, we need to “Blow the Roof Off” our thinking, concepts and believe the Lord for extraordinary works of grace. Desperate times take desperate measures. We need desperate laborers to arise who are not content with life as is to tear the roof off in order to lower another into the presence of Jesus!

THREE KEYS NEEDED

Prayer Opens The Way!

Testimony of the Hebrides Island Revival in 1952.

Two desperate women - Peggy & Christina Smith - 84 & 82 years old - were desperate for a revival on their island off of Scotland. They began praying from Isaiah 44:3,

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants.”

They reminded God of His word. Then they began to claim Isaiah 64:1

"O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Thy presence. . .”

The oldest sister was blind, but she received a vision and proclaimed, “He’s coming! He’s coming! He’s already here!”

The Spirit of God fell in a barn that night where seven young men were praying from Isaiah 62:6,7 where it tells us,

"On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; And give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Sure enough God came. This began the great Hebrides Revival under the preaching of Duncan Campbell. A spiritual radiation zone was created and many souls were saved!

Testimony of Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival of 1904.

At the age of 13 young Evan began to seek the Lord. At the age of 26 Revival came to his home town. He taught the people to pray two simple prayers. “Send the Spirit now for Jesus Christ sake.” The second prayer was similar. “Send the Spirit now more powerfully for Jesus Christ sake.”

Indeed, God’s Spirit came down and 100,000 souls were swept up into God’s Kingdom. Today, a cry is arising - “More Lord!” Yes, there must be a youth revolution come as it was with Evan Roberts. We must have a “transgernerational anointing” as it was with Peggy & Christina Smith. It is time for prayer to arise and to blow the roof off the house!

The Key of the Prophetic

The prophetic becomes a powerful took to open closed minds, closed doors and closed situations. Seek God, get His word, put the key in the door & turn it! Read the following scriptures.

1. Deut. 8:3 - man lives by God’s Word.
2. Matt. 4:4 - by every Word that proceeds.
3. Eph. 6:17 - the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
4. Luk. 11:52 - we must use the key and not hinder others.

The Key of His Presence

We need His presence more than anything in this life! The one outstanding distinguishing characteristic of God’s people is to be His presence among us!

1. Exodus 33:12-23 - God gave Moses his request and revealed His glorious Presence to Him.
2. Exodus 25:30 - the bread of His Presence (or shewbread) used by the priest in ministering to the Lord.

WHEN WE CARE FOR HIS PRESENCE

I want to tell you a dream that has recently gripped my soul. In January, 1999 while I was having some forced rest due to a hernia surgery - the Lord visited me with a piercing dream that is helping to set my course of direction right now and I believe is a clear word to His people.

In this dream, I was holding long loaves of bread each wrapped in their own individual napkin. I was holding these loaves of bread close to my chest right over my heart. Then I got our youngest child's (Rachel's) blanket she has had since birth. I now wrapped these loaves of bread in her dear baby blanket. I held the bread close to my heart and just kind of rocked the bread as you would a new born child. Then I heard the words,

"When My people will care for, cherish, nurture and love the "Bread of My Presence" like a parent does it's new born child - then revival will come."

I then found my self awakened out of the dream only to find my arms were held out as though holding and rocking something. I then heard myself prophesying out loud in the bedroom the same words I had just heard in the dream as the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit was lingering over my body. The Lord was emphasizing these words by having them be repeated twice!

This I know - He wants us to cherish and care for His Presence. Pray for His presence. Love His presence. Nurture His presence - after all - isn't this what you have longed for all your life? Isn't this what you were made laborers to arise who are not content with life as is to tear the roof off in order to lower another into the presence of Jesus!

Go for it in Jesus Name! You can have an open heaven over your heart and life and carry it with you wherever you go! Just love His presence!

BLESSINGS TO YOU!

James W. Goll www.enountersnetwork.com

I encourage you to set time aside to dwell in God's presence. There's no better place to be.

Rest in God

Daily Words:Upwords from the "Logos" (written Word of God) and "Rhema" Words (spoken Words) meant to build up, to exhort or comfort

Heb 4:10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. NKJV

A message from Jesus

The Most Productive People ...

Discern the most spiritually productive people of all time and you will find their first priority was to linger in communion with Me for hours. You will know when you are truly abiding in Me because the more you are pressured to worry or to "do," the more you must "abide" in Me - listening - journaling - praising me ahead of time. Yes, you will do your part, like march around Jericho in silent faith, until the day I release you to shout. But, you will know that your battles are really won as you worship Me ahead of time and have quiet confidence in My strength.

Become more sensitive to your tendency to transfer your faith from Me back to yourself. When you feel that urgency to leave communion with Me because you must get up and "get something done," it will be wood, hay and stubble. True productivity (silver, gold and precious stones) comes when you are clear that apart from Me, you can do nothing. You will reproduce reproducers who are what 'you are' - not 'what you do.'

Try it; actively put your faith in what I alone can do.

I AM the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent One.

You Can Know God's Thoughts

Your life of faith is a response to God's power... 1 Corinthians 2:5

Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God - except that he not only knows what he's thinking, but he lets us in on it. 1 Corinthians 2:11 - 12

Spirit can be known only by spirit - God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing ... Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. 1Corinthains 2:14-16

God speaks to you through your spirit. God has given you His Spirit so that you can know all that He has given you. If you are in Christ, you have the mind of Christ!

God lets you in on what He's thinking. He communcates with you spirit to Spirit. When you are spiritually alive you have access to what God's Spirit is doing.

Christ knows what God is doing and you have Christ's Spirit, so you can know God's thoughts. It's simply a matter of waking up your spirit and learning to communicate spirit to Spirit.

God shares His thought with you through Jesus whose Spirit lives in you. The Bible tells you that His sheep know His voice. If you are a follower of Jesus then you can hear the voice of God.

If you want to learn to communicate spirit to Spirit ask Jesus to show you how. Quiet yourself in His presence and ask Him to lead you.

Jesus, I am so sorry for not living as though you live within me and for forgetting that I have access to the Father's thoughts through you. Forgive me for neglecting to spend time with you. Forgive me for neglecting to wait and listen for your Spirit communicating with me.

Help me to get to know you more and to live each day aware of your presence with me. I want to know you more.

The truth of your love and your presence is so easily snatched away. Let that be no more. Draw me closer to you, open my spritual eyes and my spiritual ears and help me to hear your voice.

Authority In The Name Of Jesus

As a believer and follower of Jesus you have power in His name.

Authority in the Name of Jesus

"Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them?" James 2:19

We have it on good authoity that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. Everything is subject to Jesus' powerful name. His name is powerful! His name is greater than disability, greater than cancer, greater than divorce, greater than depression, greater than anything you can name. When we stand clothed in Jesus' righteousness and use the authority that we have been given He sees to it that the words we utter do not return to us empty.

The Power of the Word of God

"The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God can be used to break every stronghold. The Word of God is living and active and it is powerful. When combined with faith it is lethal to the enemy.

I encourage you to read Epesians 6 and put on the full armor of God every single day so that you are prepared ahead of time to face the battles and withstand the enemy.

• Seek the Kingdom first
• Remember that you are seated in heavenly places
• Take hold of the your authority you have been given
• Submit yourself to God
• Resist the devil
• Cover yourself with the blood of Jesus
• Renew your mind with the word of God
• Declare the promises of His Word and
• Face each day prepared.

The battle is the Lord's and it is already won. I encourage you to speak out the victory you have in Jesus. Refuse to be defeated. Rise up and be who you are in Christ.

If you follow the links you'll find Scriptures to remind you who you are in Christ and to help to build your faith

A Powerful Prayer of Blessing

This prayer originated with TD Jakes and has been circulating as a powerpoint.

I hope you'll pray as you read. Be blessed.

Father in the name of Jesus, bless me and mine even while I'm reading this prayer. Open supernatural doors in our lives today and give us a double portion of Your Spirit as we take back everything that the enemy has stolen.

• Emotional health
• Physical health
• Finance
• Relationships
• Children
• Jobs
• Homes
• Marriages

I cancel every plot, plan and scheme the enemy has devised against us in the matchless name of Jesus. And I declare that no weapon formed against us will prosper.

I speak life into every dead situation. And I thank you that nothing is over until you say it's over! I speak prophetically into our lives and situations:

• Our households are blessed
• Our health is blessed
• Our marriages are blessed
• Our finances are blessed
• Our businesses are blessed
• Our jobs are blessed
• Our children are blessed
• Our grandchildren are blessed
• Are parents are blessed
• Our ministries are blessed
• Husbands are on the way
• Wives are on the way
• Mortgages are paid
• Debts are cancelled

Our heart's desires are on the way; according to Your perfect plan for our lives.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

I hope you prayed this prayer with me and that you'll send people here to pray it too.

Have a much blessed day,

Lynne

How Are You Responding To Life's Trials?

Is life a struggle right now?

"Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through - all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.

It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?

We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it! "

I hope you'll be encouraged by this article from Kathi Pelton:

LIFE IS ALL ABOUT HOW WE RESPOND TO ITS TRIALS

A Travel Trial and Encounter

It had been one of those days that it seems nothing goes right; actually it had been one of those years! I travel a lot and things were not going well financially. I was broke. It was the last day of another long trip away from my family and all I could think about was being in the midst of their love and warmth. I just had a call from my husband who told me that he and the kids had cleaned the house, were going to make a special dinner for me, and we could all sit around a warm fire together after I got home from another plane ride in the dead of winter. That was how my mood felt that day - like the dead of winter.

I didn't take a taxi to the airport because some acquaintances offered to drive me (over an hour away) since it was on their way home. I gladly accepted the offer, thinking that the company would be nice. They were late in picking me up and then informed me they had a stop to make along the way. I reminded them of my flight times and they assured me that I would have plenty of time to make my flight. As it went, their stop wasn't brief, but time consuming.

I looked at my watch as it ticked the minutes by and my concern about making my flight was increasing. Then the man driving me asked again, "What time is your flight?" I reminded him, and now concern filled his face. It was a half hour before the departure of my flight and we still weren't quite to the airport...I could feel my heart sinking! I felt sick inside at the thought of spending another winters night sleeping in an airport (because I couldn't afford a hotel) but worse yet, another long night away from the comfort of my husband and kids...and that wonderful fire that they had waiting for me to curl up in front of.

As we arrived at the airport, I knew that it was too late to make my flight. I hoped against all hope that maybe there was a delay due to the snow. I ran into the terminal and had to wait in a long line of other weary passengers. Finally, I made it to the front of the line only to hear that my plane had already closed its doors (I missed getting on by about ten minutes) and the next flight wasn't till the next day.

I felt sick inside, home sick and heart sick. I couldn't bear the thought of sitting up all night in the airport. I was hungry and exhausted, and missing dinner and a fire with my family. When my friends realized that I had missed my flight, they offered to drive me to the nearest hotel. I was embarrassed to tell them that I didn't have any money to get a hotel. I said, "I'll just stay here at the airport." Finally, they insisted that they would not only drive me to a hotel, but pay for it too. I wanted to say no (because I was feeling quite sorry for myself and didn't want a "hand out"), but they would not take no for an answer.

After driving me to a nice hotel nearby and checking me in, we said our good-byes. I was feeling so incredibly sad and I was having quite the "pity party" as I got on the elevator to go to my room, asking God, "Why does this have to happen to me when I'm so tired and homesick? And I was ministering for You! Can't there be some help for me?" As I got on the elevator, I noticed a man who was already in it. We were on the ground floor and he had come down from the upper floor so I expected him to get off. I waited for him to exit before I piled in with all of my baggage, but he didn't exit. I asked him if he was getting off and he said, "No, I'm going up." I got on the elevator and stood there feeling agitated, wanting to be alone. The man turned to me and said, "Having a hard day?"

I surely didn't want to talk to this stranger about my day so I just politely nodded. He said, "Life is all about how we respond to its trials. That's how we grow." Right then the elevator arrived at my floor (the top floor) and I stepped off. As the doors closed behind me I realized that the man was still in the elevator. He had gone through all the floors and had not gotten off any of them...but he had given me an important message from the Lord and I needed to respond.

God Questions Me

I felt the tears filling my eyes and quickly entered my room and before I could even set my luggage down, the Spirit of the Lord filled the room and God's voice began to speak to me in questions like He had asked Job thousands of years before in Job 38:3-18:

"Brace yourself like a man (or woman); I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this."

His voice was not angry, but intensely passionate. It was like a parent would talk to their child if they were being irrational and about to stray from their care. If God can sound "hurt," His voice in my spirit almost felt as though I had brought pain to Him through my lack of trust and the accusations in my heart of not being cared for by Him. I wanted the comfort and warmth of my family and He wanted to be my Comforter and my warmth. But first, He had to deal with my wandering heart that had left the place of "daughter" and had taken a posture of "forsaken bride." I had made demands for particular signs of ease and provision when God just wanted my dependence and intimacy, but I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. He had brought provision through my friends - but I wanted independence...not dependence.

Moving From Independence to Dependence

How often do we set up preconceived notions about how God should act with us? I can be very quick to correct my teenagers when they want to decide how and when my husband and I should do something. There were times we had surprises planned for them which were meant to bring them great joy, but their demand for "knowing our plans and purposes" almost aborted a great blessing from coming their way. I had done the same thing with God during that winter day. God had hidden surprises all along the way of my life, but I wanted the provision to come in a way that was predictable and sure. I looked at His surprises as if they were humiliating. I was embarrassed to depend upon others.

We often speak about it, pray for it, but do we really want dependency? Dependency requires a laying down of independence and a taking up of absolute trust.

Many read the story of Job and say, "That wasn't fair. How could God do that to a faithful man?" I felt the same way about my life! I had been faithful in His service. I gave and gave and felt that God was not treating me fairly. But God was jealous for something much deeper than my external provision, He was jealous for me to trust Him and to truly depend on Him. My "American" independence felt like a right that I had, but my independence had become a demand and a wall between a deeper place of intimacy. God wanted time with one of His beloved, and I was demanding some sort of contract to "what His part would look like to me."

Returning To First Love

Let us return to the place of trust and dependence. This is true intimacy. Love is not self-seeking, it is not demanding, it is not easily angered and it does not keep record of wrongs (or perceived wrongs either). I had strayed from first love and was demanding and independent with God.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does
not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and
always perseveres. Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

May we return to the beauty and freedom of First Love once again...

Revelation 2:1-7, "These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found
them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for My name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."

All My Love,

Kathi Pelton - Choose Life - Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net

As posted on The Elijah List http://www.elijahlist.com/

A Word Of Encouragement - Have Confidence In God

"Do Not Fear! Lean Back on My All-Sufficient Power"

"Confidence is an internal state that is made up of perceiving the risk, experiencing he fear, and overcoming the fear in order to take action."

I trust you are all persevering in the faith. While some of you may be sailing smoothly, many are in a season of warfare contending for a breakthrough. It is with that in mind that I wanted to send you a little word of encouragement. I have been reminded of late that it is Christ in us who fights the battle. Wigglesworth and Dr. Charles Price are both quoted as having said something close to this: "When my faith comes to an end, His is just beginning!" It is impossible to have intimacy with Christ without encounters with the powers of darkness.

While we have no desire to pay undue attention to the enemy, C. S. Lewis reminds us of the two extremes that the enemy seeks to purport on the children of God, being that we either pay too much attention to him or pay no attention at all. There are some seasons where I never even give a thought to spiritual warfare, and there are other seasons I am reminded by virtue of the tests, adversities and strange occurrences that I experience and endure while there is a war going on--this is one of those seasons.

For what it is worth, during these kinds of seasons you have to remember Paul's admonition:

"Having done all STAND."

When that kind of season is one you are enduring, you have to remember to get plenty of rest, and make sure you are adequately nourished, and stay in a place of internal quietness and confidence according to Isaiah 30:15,

"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

You also have to remember:

"Do not throw away your CONFIDENCE which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have DONE the will of God you may receive what was promised" (Hebrews 10:35-36).

The rest of this chapter is all about possessing your soul by faith in seasons of endurance through adversity:

"FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE,HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH;AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul" (Hebrews 10:37-39).

Overcoming Fear with Courage

Here is a thought: ever wonder what was going on in the lives of the apostles when they were called to write what they were writing? We see men of strength, the giants of the faith, incredible exploits of power, yet what was going on in them during those incredible seasons? Don't be fooled by the world's idea of how success and courage manifest. Courage requires an ingredient we talk little about: FEAR.

Paul says to the Corinthian Church that at a certain season in his life, he was with them "in weakness, and in FEAR, and in much trembling." He also speaks in another place of "fightings without, AND fears within." This is the same apostle who tells us that "God has not given us a spirit of fear!" Is he contradicting himself? Never! He is talking about how he learns to master fear and turn it into courage!

Courage is a form of CONSTRUCTIVE COPING! Courage travels with CONFIDENCE. Confidence comes from the Latin "con fideo," which means "with faith." We are most vulnerable to the enemy when we are lacking confidence (lacking the "with faith" factor). Courage travels with confidence because courage requires a number of components: fear, risk, purpose and ACTION (when you have DONE the will of God...Hebrews 10:36).

It would seem that the writer to the Hebrews is telling us that confidence (which requires courage, and we are commanded to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS) is an internal state that is made up of perceiving the risk, experiencing the fear, and overcoming the fear in order to take action. When you throw away your confidence - think in self-ebilitating ways; when you hold fast your confidence and your confession - think in self-nhancing ways that strengthen your experience in Christ.

Just remember that in Christ - faith begins where yours ends. And He is the HOPE of GLORY within you. That means that the higher your level of hope in the acting out of courage, the lower your fear goes. Hope shows you that your success is on the pathway of faith.

God will give you what you need. In Christ's faith you already possess all the necessary resources, skills, abilities, the will (for it is Him doing His Father's will through you), and the pathway to overcoming (He is THE WAY or the pathway), and you have what it takes to overcome any setbacks you may be facing.

When the enemy comes, there is a standard in you that God raises up. See yourself succeeding and discover that as Kingdom success is your goal (which is basically being faithful to The Father), you will regulate your actions in the face of opposition from the enemy while he is threatening to undermine your existence.

Your perseverance will be for the possessing and the restoring of your soul!

A Prophetic Word of Encouragement

Here is a fresh prophetic word that the Lord gave me for you:

"For in this season of turmoil, do not fear! Lean back on My Power, My All-sufficient Power. For I am not unaware of your troubles or the assails of the enemy. I have seen his foolishness in thinking he can persuade you to give in. This is only a season for the perfecting of My faith in YOU. I have conquered what you are facing already. I AM WITH YOU, I AM IN YOU. I WAR FOR YOU, I WAR THROUGH YOU. Let My faith be released against your enemy. He fears Me and therefore He fears you.

This will be a decisive season in your maturity for My Kingdom, and I will prevail through you. I will protect you in your going out and your coming in. Your tears will be tears of release and tears of joy, I will also restore your soul. Goodness and Mercy are following you, remind yourself of these things. This temporary affliction will pass in spite of the lies of the prince of darkness. Let your heart be strong and take courage, soon there is a new level of enlargement coming your way.

For every clash between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness, I will release My Spiritual Titans in this season! The wars of the Lord will be fought against the gates of hell and the Warriors of the Lord will prevail. And for every fight there will be a new kind of split decision! Not a split decision as to whether the enemy won or My people won, rather the enemies of My people will be split on whether I defeated them or My People defeated them. For these will be days when the enemy will not be able to distinguish between Me and My people for there is a new level of the manifestation of unity between Heaven and earth. Hell is in confusion for the saints are rising in this day of warfare!

While there are tempests and trials, there is a deep underlying assurance I have given to My people in this hour. The people of God are on the brink of a great surge of the release of My power and My irresistible PEACE!For My Peace will crush the enemy under your feet in the days of battle.

And know that there are hidden factors lying in the secret places of the hearts of My people that will come into play in these days. Even as John the Baptist was in hiding in the wilderness before the days of his public appearing, there are hidden factors in My people that have been hidden for a season and for a time that will now be made manifest for the purpose of Kingdom advancement.

Rejoice My People, for these are days when things long-waited for will begin to emerge from the deep places in your hearts. The secrets of your hearts are being revealed. War with Me for sweet victory lies just ahead!"

Much love,

Mark J. Chironna Mark Chironna Ministries
Email: markchironna@markchironna.com
as posted on www.elijahlist.com

When You Fail You Simply Learn A Way NOT To Do Something - You Have Not Blown It When You Fail

Be encouraged to see apparent failures as stepping stones. When you fail you've simply learned how not to do something. Pick yourself up and try another way.

I hope this article by Robert Riccardelli will encourage you to dust yourself down and have another go.

THAT'LL PLAY! YOU HAVE NOT BLOWN IT WHEN YOU HAVE FAILED

There is a golf term that is used often after a player has hit the ball in the direction of the green. The ball may have not landed in the desired location (the place you were aiming), yet, there is still hope to get the next shot one step closer to the mark. An encouraging phrase that is sometimes used is, "That'll play," which means, "You have not blown it." You are still in the game and can believe for a better shot on your next swing.

A friend of ours was recently playing golf with his son. His son is grown, has a family, and has experienced success and failure along the path of life. On one of the fairways, the son hit a wayward shot that would normally frustrate the average golfer. The father said, "Son, that'll play." The son reflected on the many times his father had encouraged him with this phrase on the golf course, but also, how many more times this expression had encouraged him as a principle for life. His Dad had always been there to remind him that no matter how many times he blew it--it was okay. He knew his dad was proud of him, and had felt continual love and encouragement to trust the Lord's abounding grace in every situation.

What a wonderful picture of a father who loves and encourages his son no matter how many times he misses the mark in his life. This is a tremendous example of the Father's love for us when we have failed. He is always saying, "My dear children, in Me and through Me--that'll play."

What a comfort to know that we do not have to worry about our past. The Father is saying, "It does not matter, take another swing towards the upward calling I have for you." So, if you have hooked your life into the deep, rough, and have sliced your life onto the fairway of failure, that'll play--just readjust your aim, lean into the wind of the Holy Spirit, allowing His presence to guide you, swing again, and continue to walk the course the Lord has set for you.

Get Back Into the Game

Some helpful reminders in getting back into the game of Spirit-led, Kingdom living:

Start Where You Are: No matter where you have been, you can start now by turning away from unfruitful living. Repent and the Lord will forgive you and not hold your past against you. Begin where you are. Where you are is good enough for our God as you give the rest of your life to Him today, this very moment.

Use What You Have: The Father has created you in His image with incredible potential inside of you just waiting to be released. You have gifts and talents beyond what you realize and they can be used today. Do not be deceived in thinking you do not have enough to give to this world. You have everything you need and you have the Father to fill in the gaps along the way.

Do What You Can: You do not need to hit "a hole in one." You only need to stay in the game and do the best that you can as the Holy Spirit navigates your steps. All you can do is truly--all you can do. So, be at peace and rest in Him.

Love, Love, Love: Love is the answer. God is love, so Jesus and love are the answer. Love God with all of your heart and love yourself, because God loves you and created you with greatness in mind. As you build from the foundation of love, you can love those around you and even your enemies. Watch as His Presence in you begins to extend from your life to impact others and even transform the spiritual climate, wherever He leads you. This is all to the glory of God as you begin walking anew this day.

Pull Out That Driver: So you have blown it like every other human being. Maybe you hit the rough more times than others. In the agape love of our wonderful Savior, it does not matter. It matters that you do not give up. It matters that you get on the course again, put the ball on the tee, pull out that driver, and rip it down the fairway of your new life.
Do not fear as you give it a go, because whether you hook, slice, or hit the mark, in Jesus--"That'll play."

Robert Ricciardelli Vision Advancement Strategies Email: info@vision2advance.com

As posted on the Elijah List www.elijahlist.com email: info@elijahlist.net

We Are A People Who Will Do Great Exploits

Consider This

You are a child of God and were born again in order to do great exploits. In the Old Testament these exploits were perhaps more exciting and visible as the mighty men of David killed hundreds and thousands of enemies for God.

You were born again not so that you could wait and enjoy the God-life upon your death and entrance into heaven. No, you were born again so that you could experience the God-life (the abundant life) right now; right here where you live, work, and play regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in.

You may not free a nation thru miraculous signs and wonders, you may not slay a Goliath in front of a multitude of men, and maybe you will not get promoted from menial housekeeper to ruler over the land. But, then again, maybe you will!

Consider this: YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD and were created to do great exploits.

Great Exploits = Defeating the works of the enemy
Great Exploits = Expanding God's dominion of love and grace

You can be this person. You are this person of great exploits. God says it about you and I believe it. Believe it with me!

Your great exploit may be praying and slaying a co-worker's giant of cancer. It could be standing in the gap for a family that is going thru a financial catastrophe. It may look like a smile and an encouraging word each and every day you walk into work.

It could be stepping up to the plate and leading a needed ministry and providing a service in your community. It might mean being a dad or a mom and providing for someone without family.

Maybe it looks normal to you and you are already naturally doing it. Look at it again and do it as unto God and it will produce supernatural fruit.
Learn to THINK BIG, BELIEVE BIG and BE BIG; not for your selfish gain but for the sake of the rest of the world around you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Les_Herron

A Year of New Beginnings

This is a long post but well worth the read. I hope it will inspire you to look for more and raise your expectations.

May the Lord cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace.

"Embracing the Year 5768

Be Simple and Let this be the Year of the New Beginning!"

Introduction by by Jessica L. Miller:

Many years ago, when I was in my early thirties, I had a profound prophetic dream that filled me with unquenchable longing for revival (the manifest sustaining presence of God). The dream was long and detailed, the following is a small piece of it:

I was walking up a green hill carrying a hard bound book. I reached the top of the hill and stood under a huge majestic oak tree. I realized I was middle aged (which is about now in real time - the dream being 14 years ago). I looked at the book in my hands and saw that it was bound in beautiful elegant cream colored paper. Embossed on the cover in gold was an enormous oak tree (similar to the one I was standing under). In a circle around the oak tree were the words, "The Full Circle of Life," also in gold.

I opened the book and read about my life, about my future and about the greatest revival of all time (a revival with a beginning but with no end). One of the hallmarks of the revival that stood out was "creative miracles" - not just blind eyes opening - but eyes forming where there had been none, and much, much more. I wept as I read the account of the impact that the miraculous would have on the world, and the mind boggling masses of people who would become born again lovers of Jesus as a result.

In all the years that have followed, that dream has never been far from my heart or mind.
As publications manager here at the ElijahList, one of the great things I get to do is chase down prophetic authors for articles. While working on a recent project, I realized we were entering into the time frame of the Jewish New Year 5768. We asked Chuck Pierce for the prophetic meaning of the year 5768, which begins at sundown September 13th. You can imagine my surprise and thrill when he told us this:

"The Year of Samekh Chet...The Year of the Full Circle of Life...A New Beginning Is Yours."
jmiller@elijahlist.net

Chuck D. Pierce: Embracing the Year 5768 - Be Simple and Let this be the Year of the New Beginning!

For years, I have taken the Hebrew calendar and looked at the meaning of the numbers and prayed for my year to reflect His year! When we are serving the Lord and seeking His Kingdom plan, I believe each year brings new challenges and new joys for each of us. The Hebrew number system has always helped me as I focus each year on decreeing the "best" the Lord has for me and my family and those connected with me.

I do not think you have to understand the Hebrew year to know the will of God. However, in Hebrew, numbers have word meanings, which have picture meanings, which have sounds. This brings a fuller perspective than just saying we have entered the year 2008. The Hebraic year 5768, which will encompass the Gregorian calendar's, Year of the Lord 2008 A.D., is the "The Year of Samekh Chet!" That means we are coming into "The Year of the Full Circle of Life - A New Beginning Is Yours!"

Time is an interesting concept. God is not in time as we are in time. Our Father has access to every moment in our lives from beginning to end as though they were the present. By the Holy Spirit, we can actually access those times in our pasts when we felt abandoned, abused, betrayed, fearful, happy, fulfilled, or any other emotion or condition. Not only can the believer be forgiven for the past, they can also travel back in time with God, see Him as "a very present help" in the past, and redeem those past times that the enemy wanted to use for evil.

Stepping Into Time

Imagine for a moment that all of eternity is represented by a large piece of paper. This is where God is: unlimited by time and space. Now draw a line on that piece of paper that represents time with a beginning and an end. This line begins when God instituted time at creation, and it will end when God says, "Time's up!" Man lives on the line, while God can step in and out of time according to His purposes and plans. God sees all of time at once and doesn't have to wait for anything to happen; all is present for Him. This is a simplified explanation of a complex idea, but it works.

We, however, must learn to respond to Him within time. We are called to represent Him as ambassadors in our generation. The decisions and actions we take now affect three generations ahead. Therefore, when we know how the Lord wants us to respond and we do so, His glory infiltrates the earth and we see Him change our atmosphere and environment. Because of God's position relative to time, He can - and often does - seem to answer our prayers before they have been uttered!

God has chosen us as the necessary link to bring His will from Heaven to earth. He wants us to commune with Him, listen carefully to His voice, gain prophetic revelation, and decree that revelation into the earth. This will unlock miracles and release His blessings. Once we hear God, we can intercede. We can also prophesy. Prophecy is declaring His mind and His heart. When we receive prophetic revelation, we need to decree the prophetic revelation and then the atmosphere into which we decree goes on "Heaven's time" instead of "earth time."

A Season Of War!

Issachar was the tribe that knew how to move into the new. They were a tribe that understood times and seasons. Consequently, I have tried to present that tribe in the earth today so God's children would know the times we are living in and what we should do to ready ourselves to advance in the earth. We entered a new season of war in the Hebraic year 5762.

Before I share on the year ahead, I felt the necessity of reviewing the last several years. This will give you a good record of how we have gotten to where we are today. By looking at the Hebraic numbers, we can perceive the revelation we need to decree a new thing. Once we decree a thing, we then watch to see God's will manifest. Revelation builds! Revelation overcomes the gates of hell! Revelation gives us the keys to the Kingdom.

Because I could foresee the war season ahead of its onset, I wrote "The Future War of the Church" to help God's people get prepared with the mindset of the season. This season is very real to most of us now. Here is a summary from a Hebraic perspective of the season we have been living in:

5762/2001-2002: The Beginning of Wars for 7 Years. This was ushered in with the tragedy of September 11, when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorist activities. This war over God's covenant plan in the earth began. The war over passing the mantle to the next generation began.

5763/2002-2003: A Sabbath Day Rest Year - A time of increasing faith; a year to ride the bull. Changing economic structures began and will fully manifest over the next five years.

5764/2003-2004: The Year of Samekh Hei! A year filled with secrets, mysteries and surprises; a year to run with the horses, gain new strength and roar louder than the roaring lion.

5765/2004-2005: A Year to Circle, Surround and Plunder the Enemy's Camp. A year of violent praise! A year of hurricanes! A time the wind of Heaven brought change in the earth.

5766/2005-2006: The Year of Samekh Vav! A year of staking your claim in the midst of the whirlwind. A time to overthrow old mindsets that have held you captive!

5767/2006-2007: The Year of Samekh Zayin! The year of seven is always a year of completion and fulfillment. This was a time to finish strong. The number seven, Zayin, is a sword with a crown. How you have overcome in the past season causes you to receive favor for your future! The sword is the Word so we are living in a time of the prophetic decrees!

Hebrews equate the passage of time as the life cycle. The Hebrews saw man as participating in two time dimensions. One "age" of time was temporal. We were placed in nature and we interact with the laws of science around us. The other dimension of time was an age to come. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 says,

"However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

Wisdom is available that God has stored for a time such as this. We can get to a place to gain wisdom that no enemy of hell has access to. From a Hebraic mindset, events that occurred through life created smaller styles of review of a bigger picture of life. When one summed up all of these smaller temporal cycles, the finite age was determined. We are living in a year of "summing up." We are not just living from year to year, but when you look at the season as a whole, you see the Lord doing something in our generation. He is preparing us to move more quickly and advance in Kingdom purpose in days ahead.

The Kingdom Of God Is Moving Forward!

"The Kingdom is ruled by grace and love--not by rules, regulations and laws."

Kingdom life in the earth realm was used to help individuals understand the Kingdom of God. There are two terms throughout the Bible that we must embrace and understand: the "Kingdom of God" and the "Kingdom of Heaven." Anyone who willingly subjects themselves to the sovereign rule of a Holy God is aligned with Kingdom Principles.

The "Kingdom of Heaven" represents the rule that God asserts on the earth at any given period in time. This is what links Kingdom understanding to time. John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles all announced that the Kingdom of God was "at hand." As a matter of fact, the Lord said, "the Kingdom of God is within you." If this is so, then when the King moves, we must move with Him.

The manifested rule of God on the earth is ever-maturing. The Kingdom of God represents God's rule in the earth realm. The King is moving us from "just going to church" to understanding His Kingdom in our territory. He is bringing us into a place of dominion, occupation, and ruling with Him in the spheres and places He has assigned us. Jesus taught so much on the Kingdom.

The Kingdom is GOOD NEWS! Kingdom life was proclaimed throughout the three years that we have record of Jesus ministering in the earth realm, with His authority.

The Kingdom is NOT based on needs, since "the poor will always be with us." Jesus gave us a responsibility to work with the poor, orphans, and widows, but on the other hand, He also showed us the necessity to lavishly worship Him as Mary did in John 10.

The Kingdom cannot be controlled by civil government. Through the ages, civil government has made the attempt to govern and rule God's government in the earth. However, the Kingdom is not based on worldly patterns. Another important fact that we must all recognize is that we cannot comprehend the Kingdom by our natural mind. The mind is at enmity with God and longs to be conformed to the world around it. However, as we renew our minds, we break out of worldly conformity and move into seeing Kingdom life in the midst of the societal structures that are molding us.

The Kingdom cannot be obtained by ambition. The exciting thing about the Kingdom is that it cannot be POSTPONED! The Kingdom is filled with power. Over these last two decades, we have seen Kingdom government for the next season of God in the earth realm.

A Kingdom people understand Kingdom grace. The Kingdom is ruled by grace and love - not by rules, regulations and laws. God has appointed Kingdom administrators for every age. We find those gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11-14.

We Are Moving From Glory To Glory - The Year 5768

You are being positioned to make a transition into the next realm of glory. Here are eight key issues that we can look forward to as we enter the Hebraic year 5768 and mature through the year ahead! First of all, the last two years actually come together to form this year's momentum. The two symbols of Vav and Zayin come together to form the symbol for Chet. In other words, the staking your claim and the sword with a crown actually join together to produce your new beginning.

You will begin something new! Even if you refused to shift into a visible new dimension, your present state is your new state. With God, He will meet you where you are and cause you to start new if you yield! You can catch up quickly and gain momentum even if you have resisted change. If you do not yield, your new place will be your old cycle with the old structures reinforced seven times.

The number eight is always linked with "new beginnings!" This Hebrew word is linked with life and being hot! We are entering into a year where we must choose to be hot, filled with passion, so we conceive our future! Choose the fire and the zeal of God!

1. This is a year of manifestation! There will be a physical manifestation of what you have been watching and waiting to see!
2. You can supernaturally transcend your limitations and begin your new era.
3. The land and the Heavens align to create a new Divine Presence in your atmosphere.
4. "Dominion" will be the key word for this year! Rule where you have been positioned. Rule or watch the "wild beasts" gain ground in your land.
5. This is a year that God's people will have great authority over their enemies. The nations against you can be driven out of your land! All squatters must go from your inheritance or they gain "squatters rights" and their encroachment will remain another season. Land is equated to the state of our mind. Therefore, this is the year to transform the mind so we have a new victory mentality in the war season we are living in.
6. Subdue your "animal impulses." Find your place of deliverance and do not let any wild beast enter your highway. Be aggressive to overthrow all poverty mentality! "A lion is on the road, I will hide myself," should not be your theme. Stand firm and face any transgression so you can move down your path! Isaiah 35 is a key for us this year.
7. Exodus 23 is also key this year. God forms His covenant with us to advance into our future destiny. This applies to families, regions and nations. If we have forgotten and rejected His covenant in areas, that will not be a part of our future. We must return and review our covenant roots and realign now!
8. Fasten yourself to the Lord. Don't let the enemy's hook drag you off the stage of your future! Break your orphan spirit! Return to a place of innocence! The secret place calls you forth. Stay in the secret place so you can be sent forth on key missions. The book of John and all of his Epistles are key for our transition this year.

I am writing this article earlier than usual. However, I started thinking of the year ahead at Passover time this past year. I left early one morning and came to the office to seek the Lord. While I was meditating on where we had come from since September 2001 and the year of seven, and looking at various Biblical words linked with the number eight, my wife, Pam, called to share a dream.

You should first know that Pam's favorite Scripture passage is Ephesians 5:8-16,

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.' See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

To redeem means to "buy back" or "to be released from prison." We have been in a buying - back season. This year we must receive the prize of our battles!

This is the dream she shared: "I woke up slowly this morning, to the sound of singing birds, and it was as though I was walking through a curtain that divided the dream world from the waking world. As I lay there, I began remembering my dream: 'I was with a group of travelers, none of whom I recognized, but I knew they were important to me. We were told we had to take a trip, but we had no luggage, tickets or itinerary. We were standing in a hallway similar to one you might see in an airport, waiting for our departure.

Suddenly, this strong wind began to blow down the hallway (wind tunnel) and push us toward the open end of the corridor. As we got closer to the end of the corridor, some kind of portal opened up, but it wasn't like what you see in the science fiction show, Stargate! The light was warm, and as we entered the portal area, we were disembodied and transported to another place. Strangely, the other place didn't look any different than the place we had just been. However, it was not the same place. We were inside a building, made mostly of glass.

We all knew we had to fly to get where we needed to go. Well, none of us knew how to fly, but we just took off and started flying around the lobby. The people in the lobby were amazed and started reaching for us, saying they wanted to fly, too. We knew we needed more momentum to get to where we needed to be, so we landed softly, turned around, and got a running start before launching ourselves from a mini trampoline in the cafe area of the lobby. Instantly, we were outside the building, in a country setting, and we knew our mission: rescue a captive in the nearby village and bring him/her back with us.

The mission itself is still vague, but I remember what happened when we were ready to return. One of the villagers wanted to go with us but knew it wasn't possible, so he gave each of us a tiny jewel case. Mine was a small, gold case encrusted with pearls. Inside the case were bits and pieces of broken jewelry: pearls, gold beads, crystals. Each case had a word on it. The word on the outside of mine was "Simplify." We thanked the one who gave us the gifts, then turned to launch back into the sky for the return trip. That's when the birds woke me up."

5768 Will Be A Year Of Momentum!

The year ahead will not only be a year to begin a fresh season in your life, but 5768 will be a year when the Body of Christ gains momentum. An object with momentum is difficult to stop. To stop such an object, it is necessary to apply a force against its motion for a given period of time. The more momentum which an object has, the less likely to stop its forward motion. Thus, it would require a greater amount of force or a longer amount of time (or both) to bring an object with more momentum to a halt.

As the force acts upon the object for a given amount of time, the object's "velocity" is changed. When a force acts for a given amount of time, an object's "momentum" changes. If the force acts opposite of the object's motion, it slows the object down. If a force acts in the same direction as the object's motion, then the force speeds the object up. Either way, a force will change the velocity of an object.

This will be a year when forces vie for momentum. God will be moving on us! Will we respond to Him? The enemy forces that we have not resisted will be moving with force to slow down a Kingdom that is advancing in the earth realm. We must bind the strongman's operation and gain access to the spoils. We must start moving as the people of God did when they left Egypt and keep moving until we reach the manifested Promise for this generation. We must not allow the voices of fear, unbelief and doubt to stop us from advancing. There will be three 40-day periods when we overthrow major strongholds that are holding treasures captive.

5768 Will Be A Year Of Impulse!

In physics, force when multiplied by time equals the mass multiplied by the change in velocity. This is known as impulse. Impulse is one body, individual or kingdom working against another. Impulse is the effect of force being communicated. This results in motion. Once things get in motion, they are hard to stop. The Body of Christ will advance with great momentum in the year ahead!

Impulse can be very negative. We must know what is driving us. The Holy Spirit must be preeminent in our lives. The year of 5768/2008 will be the year that we are driven to accomplish our desires. This will be a year that supernatural power has access to mankind. We must stay under the influence of the Holy Spirit or else other spirits will drive us to agree with the plans of darkness in the earth.

The violent are taking the Kingdom of Heaven by force. There are certain changes in the earth that have occurred in the last seven years and have created motion that cannot be stopped. The kingdom of darkness must give way to the Kingdom of God that is advancing with new strength. The supernatural power of God being released on His people is creating much motion and change in the earth.

We are under the impulsion or driving force of a King who wants to see change in the world today. We must gain momentum now! As we learn to move in our proper spheres of authority in the earth realm, we will harness God's power and then release that power. The year ahead will be a transforming year for God's people. Once we are transformed, we will see cities, regions and nations changed. Harvest fields that are ripe will be entered with great enthusiasm. Do not let carnal impulses guide you!

God will visit you in time. Be expectant to watch for His coming visitation in your life. We are a people on the move. God has a Kingdom that is within us. The Kingdom of God is advancing. We are moving from fellowship into war. We are moving from praise to jubilation as we see a manifestation of His promises in our life cycle. This is a year of transcending and taking back what has been held in captivity. However, remember Pam's word, "Simplify," to go back and forth with ease until the new is established.

To summarize, this will be the year to "Go through the eye of needle!" Remove all and get through your narrow place and into the new!

Chuck D. Pierce Glory of Zion Ministries
As posted on the Elijah list http://www.elijahlist.com/ info@elijahlist.net

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