A weak and foolish one God uses to confound the worldly wise. Purpose commissioned from the Throne: To speak encouragement to leaders, to speak clarity to those in influence, to speak of things to come, to speak clearly against those who would others and to reveal the Heart of a Matter when it causes confusion. Sometimes interpreted by some to be a "Troubler of Israel". I only say what God says, that which I hear from the Throne
Friday, April 5, 2013
Give Up Your Efforts - Nathan. Berry
Have you noticed how well I have taken care of nature, says the Lord. The plants and animals of the earth, the birds of the sky and the creatures of the sea are all fed and taken care of.
Each one trust that water will come, food will be found and sun or shade will be given. So, why do you not trust that I will take care of you my child? If I take such good care of the earth, then how much more will I take care of you?
Yet, you are striving and pressing in your own strength to water yourself or nourish yourself. Do you not trust in me? Do you not believe that I will send you water when you are thirsty and bread when you are hungry?
I have promised you in my Word that if you ask for bread, my child, I will not give you a stone. If you ask for a fish, I will not give you a serpent. I have promised you that I would supply all of your needs according to my riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
I have promised you that whatever you ask for, in my name, I will give it to you so that your joy may be full. I have told you that I will withhold no good thing from you. I have even said that if a mountain stands in your way that you can cast it into the sea.
Therefore, my child, why do you waver in your faith? Why do you still think that I will not step in and come through for you?
The reason you do not see my promises coming to pass in your life is not because I do not desire to bless you, but rather because you have not put your faith in me, says the Lord. For without faith it is impossible to please me.
From this day forward, my child, put your faith in me. Know that you stand on a solid rock that will not fall away or fail you. Have faith that in me you will find refuge and strength. Trust in my power and my abilities to reach you just as I reach nature.
If your life is not built by and upon me, then you are laboring in vain. So give up your own efforts. Trust and believe in me, my child. For it is in me that you will find hope for the future and reach the expected end that I have in store for you, says the Lord.
We don't need a revival for a dead man
No longer am I hearing calls for revival from spiritual leaders. Revival requires that something was once VIVE (alive). We have a spiritually dead culture. We need to speak LIFE to the corrupting (decaying) corpse presented to us as a culture. Life... “Talitha koum!” means WAKE UP. That's what is needed today. No more honor or lament for the dead culture around us. Lift up your eyes to a higher plane. We need to enter into the Life given us and cast off the grave clothes that the culture placed on us. This was the world Jesus came into, it is the world we are in today. Time to call out LIFE to that which is dead. Not revival... Wake awake.
Victoria Boyson: A Vision: Heaven's Call to Awaken!
Heaven's TriumphI heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." Revelation 21:3-4
My mother died in 1984 when I was sixteen. I loved her very much and we were very close. Even though she is no longer with me in this earthly realm, at times, I feel her strength with me. I feel her strength most when I am closest to the Father, since it is His strength that fills us both.
More recently, however, I have felt something else when I think of her; it is not like a memory or even a strong recollection of what she was like in her life on earth. I sense her as I have seen her only in my dreams, a woman filled with great power and with the purpose of the Kingdom she belongs to. It is as though she is, and with her the entire Heavenly Kingdom, urging me to remain wide awake – faithful to my focused earthly purpose and keep watchful for the tricks that can dull the senses in this world.
This is something new and different than I have ever felt before. I feel shaken by the true reality of her realm. It's as though the Lord has allowed her just one moment to speak to me of something of such eternal importance and her urgency is alarming.
Recently, I saw a vision of her and was instantly gripped by the feeling of awakening, when Heaven opened up in my spirit. I saw flashes of Heaven burst in my spirit and was captivated by an intense feeling of Heaven's determined triumph.
I saw wheels of chariots, horses and people moving determinedly in preparation for something of great magnitude. Most importantly, I felt Heaven was preparing for something.
Heaven was preparing to invade earth!
The Prince
For some time, I have felt Heaven moving closer to earth and
consequently on earth spiritual walls were being demolished, idols were
crumbling and veils were ripped as it grows nearer and nearer to us.
Heaven is moving closer to us with one purpose and one destination – the
restoration of earth (Revelation 21:5).What we are about to experience and what we will see in the future is the expressed authority of a Prince! THE Prince!
You will see the Son of Heaven roar into the atmosphere and kingdoms will crumble, idols will shatter and the radiance of our dear HOLY Spirit will pervade and destroy the strongholds in the minds of men. Unbelievable doors will be opened and an entire kingdom of earthly priests will suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, arise!
I hear the word IMPENDING booming in my spirit. We have an impending destiny in the near future – an imminent meeting with the heavenlies.
Such is the call of our dearest Savior. His Kingdom will arise on this earth and His power will be made manifest – will you ride? We have to let go of fear and trust Him again!
The Father says, "Do not fear the enemies around you, look to Me – look to My throne, follow My every thought. Trust Me – I will be your EVERYTHING!"
Heaven Moving
A while back on occasion I would hear a sound outside my home in the
atmosphere and it alarmed me. I was gripped by the sheer mystery of the
sound because it seemed to be unearthly. I went outside and tried to
think of what could possibly be making the noise. I decided I just
didn't know and shrugged it off, until it happened again a few weeks
later. This time my curiosity really got to me. I went outside and just sat and listened, but this time with my heart and not my head. Suddenly I could see all of Heaven screaming in rapturous praise as loud as they possibly could. They seemed to be caught up in such incredible, overwhelming JOY as though they had become one mighty throng of glorious noise to our God.
It shook me.
It was as if God had said something to them, something they had been waiting to hear and their response was overwhelming elation. Then, I knew, Heaven was approaching earth!
In Revelation 19:6-8, we are reminded of the joyous day when our Father's dream will be realized.
"Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: 'Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His Bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.'"
Heaven is moving closer to earth and every moment we feel more intensely the radiant breath of Heaven as it opens our eyes and melts hearts. For we are promised His return, He will come in grand splendor dressed in a robe of Blood, crowned with many crowns and eyes of radiant fire. In great power, He and "the armies of Heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen," will follow Him on pure white horses (see Revelation 19:12-14).
The Prince of Peace will make war and vanquish our accuser – he and all his cohorts. That is our end or should I say simply... our beginning. For He says, "Look, I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:5).
Once again, we will dwell with our Father here on earth as He had intended for us all along. And He will wipe away our tears (Revelation 21:4) as, "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).
"He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon!' Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's holy people" EVERYWHERE! (Revelation 22:20-21)
Victoria Boyson
Speaking Life Ministries
Email: victoria@boyson.org
Website: victoriaboyson.com
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Clean and Unclean Living
I am not patient with Christian Senior Leaders (any of the five fold) who insist in living way outside their members lifestyle. I could start naming names, but the news is constantly helping out by pointing out the excesses. God's washing machine Jesse Duplantis called it long ago. I don't believe for a second that a spiritual leader should live in poverty, lack or want.
I also don't believe that a spiritual leader should become so ostentatious that the world sees them and in turn us as bad stewards, con men, rip off artists, PT Barnum-ish looking for that sucker born every minute. We do nothing for the cause of Christ by our behavior. Paul, the Apostle talked a lot about things that are lawful, but not profitable. About eating meat sacrificed to Idols.. in view of those weaker. Not being a stumbling block. I can't accurately judge what is or is not excess..
I have known and know many men and women of God who went there and a few years later stumbled badly. Bankruptcy followed. The list is long. You can only keep up that scam (in the worlds eyes) so long. The problem is many people who are now in ministry bought into this. They grew up poor. Never had money. Never understood money. Became entranced by the lifestyle. AND THEN..... with money flowing thru their hands were trapped by the deceitfulness of riches and thought it was right (deceived) to purloin those earthly riches into a life that spoke of success and not service. That comes mostly from people who never had money and never learned to resist the temptation of Money flowing thru their hands.
I have known too many very good and prosperous ministries who use the money they have to help those in need inside their own fellowship. It is the scriptural thing to do.
A few years ago I was given a revelation of the Heavenly trust fund that is laid up for all of us for provision and for our protection. It has guided my thinking in this area. The capacity to handle money in a Godly manner is an act of righteousness. Generosity and Righteousness are inextricably linked in Scripture by GOD.
I know this, God is dealing with those who misuse what God places in their hands. It is making some shriek. That is not a shock. Shrieking always happens when uncleanness is exposed. I no longer call things right and wrong, good or bad, sin or sinlessness. I'll let the word of God deal with that. I believe that as a prophet I am called to declare that which is clean and unclean. Ezekiel 44:23 "They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean". That's the commission for the sons of Zadok. That's what we are to do. I just did.
I also don't believe that a spiritual leader should become so ostentatious that the world sees them and in turn us as bad stewards, con men, rip off artists, PT Barnum-ish looking for that sucker born every minute. We do nothing for the cause of Christ by our behavior. Paul, the Apostle talked a lot about things that are lawful, but not profitable. About eating meat sacrificed to Idols.. in view of those weaker. Not being a stumbling block. I can't accurately judge what is or is not excess..
I have known and know many men and women of God who went there and a few years later stumbled badly. Bankruptcy followed. The list is long. You can only keep up that scam (in the worlds eyes) so long. The problem is many people who are now in ministry bought into this. They grew up poor. Never had money. Never understood money. Became entranced by the lifestyle. AND THEN..... with money flowing thru their hands were trapped by the deceitfulness of riches and thought it was right (deceived) to purloin those earthly riches into a life that spoke of success and not service. That comes mostly from people who never had money and never learned to resist the temptation of Money flowing thru their hands.
I have known too many very good and prosperous ministries who use the money they have to help those in need inside their own fellowship. It is the scriptural thing to do.
A few years ago I was given a revelation of the Heavenly trust fund that is laid up for all of us for provision and for our protection. It has guided my thinking in this area. The capacity to handle money in a Godly manner is an act of righteousness. Generosity and Righteousness are inextricably linked in Scripture by GOD.
I know this, God is dealing with those who misuse what God places in their hands. It is making some shriek. That is not a shock. Shrieking always happens when uncleanness is exposed. I no longer call things right and wrong, good or bad, sin or sinlessness. I'll let the word of God deal with that. I believe that as a prophet I am called to declare that which is clean and unclean. Ezekiel 44:23 "They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean". That's the commission for the sons of Zadok. That's what we are to do. I just did.
On the Horizon
In the form of headlines... a method of prophetic release
I don't know when... just what.
The current government of North Korea fails after weakness is demonstrated by bluster over Nuclear attacks. Re Unification talks commence.
President Obama stumbles badly.. lacking in many areas. Policies are questioned and revised.
Economy sinks lower, poverty increases.
Supreme court tilts left.
I don't know when... just what.
The current government of North Korea fails after weakness is demonstrated by bluster over Nuclear attacks. Re Unification talks commence.
President Obama stumbles badly.. lacking in many areas. Policies are questioned and revised.
Economy sinks lower, poverty increases.
Supreme court tilts left.
The Mountain and the Classroom by Bob Hartley
As I looked around, I saw other people I would never have considered worthy to be inducted into this heavenly school – they were a motley bunch! Each person was presenting his/her application form to a Man sitting at the registration table in front of the door to the classroom. It was Jesus Himself. I had been thinking to myself, "Lord, these people do not seem qualified to enter this classroom." Then He replied to my thoughts with joy, "They are qualified, because they are willing!" And He was stamping on their papers, "ACCEPTED."
When
I entered the back of the room, I instantly realized that I too could
not have come to this place without the prayers and support of many
others– saints and friends in both Heaven and earth. I then saw the five
rows of chairs. These were "rows of hope" that we were to learn about
through this heavenly curriculum (I have also seen them in the Spirit as
"pillars of hope").We were being called to engage each lesson of hope, be challenged, tested and proven, cultivate the virtue of hope in the process of life circumstances, and then "graduate" progressively from one row to the next. The first row was "hope in God." The second was "hope in people." The third was "hope in the next generation." Then fourth, "hope in prayer." Finally, there was "hope in cities and nations." Here I heard and learned that "Hope is not measured by a day or a season, but by a lifetime." (Often when I share this testimony, it comes alive in the moment and I will know the names of and/or various situations confronting people who are hearing me and then also know where they are or have been in their classroom "journey.")
It is important at this point to address a potential misunderstanding or misapplication of our hope reformation message. Our hope is in God Himself, not what He does or intends to do He is the ultimate source and focal point of Biblical hope. Therefore, all these other aspects of hope flow from and are grounded in our hope in the Person of God. Still, it is important to say that He does desire to reveal His hopeful purposes and promises regarding people, answers to prayer, and whole cities and nations. We see this throughout all of Scripture. Furthermore, He often calls His anointed partners to prophesy and declare these temporal promises into such arenas. Hopeful and confident declarations are a mighty tool in the spiritual arsenal of God's Kingdom that can thwart and trump the demonic and human resistance to God's intentions on earth when they are properly employed.
Ultimately, "hope does not disappoint" because of our present and genuine experience with the love of God – for Him, for people, and for the planet (see Romans 5:5). As we prophesy, let us truly walk in the love of the Father and leave room for people and groups of people to work out with Him these promises of greater potential. Let us be very careful and discerning to not impose our own humanly generated expectations into the mix of their spiritual journeys and mysterious interactive relationship with God. Human choices can short-circuit or delay divine intentions, but we must also remember that He is the God of second, third, fourth...and beyond chances! And our unwavering hope for these situations can affect the whole spiritual climate around the people we love for good and grant them the best chance possible to see God's will accomplished.
Once we all graduated the course (no one could fail), we would only repeat the unlearned lessons, and we were then outfitted with advanced prophetic tools. We were given high-tech glasses, hearing aids, and body armor so that we could return to the mountain and succeed in ascending to the summit. I have recently seen this mountain again in several dreams and visions. It is Mount Everest – "ever-rest" which is a word play related to a new operating system for life and ministry that abides in the "rest of Christ." Also, the Lord's re-equipped hope reformers are presently being roped together in new configurations in order to reach the goal. There will be an amazing "acceleration by association" as we discover the proper relational arrangements for this new era in our Father's unfolding Kingdom purposes for the earth.
Since this classroom visitation of 2010, the Holy Spirit has provided some more specifics on the nature of the lessons and testings which take place at each "row of hope" so that genuine hope can be cultivated and embedded in our hearts throughout our spiritual development. He showed me in the past that hope is a divine force based in the confidence that He is good and that He intends to do good things in us, for us and through us – today, tomorrow, this month, this year, and in the days to come. There is no darkness or evil in Him, and He intends to trump all pessimism, doubt, fear, and negativity with the exercise and manifestation of His goodness. He also told me that He "hates this misery Christianity" that is prominent in our world and that He intends to overthrow it in the coming days (see our December 2012 Elijah List article).
There are four hope challenges we typically face and surmount at each of the five rows of hope before we graduate to the next row. I saw these clearly in a visitation in the night, which has since been repeated on several occasions. The first is "hope for the unseen." The second is "hope against hope." The third is "carefree hope." And the final one is "childlike hope."
The Spirit of God also revealed to me the four snakes that the enemy dispatches to attempt to negate the cultivation of each kind of hope. The devil is truly threatened by sons and daughters of God who are filled with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 15:13).
1. Hope For the Unseen
God's hope reformers see the invisible, hear the inaudible, and touch
the intangible. They get their cues for living and loving well on the
earth from their connectivity to the unseen realm of highest Heaven. They live from Heaven to earth,
not from earth to Heaven. They are constantly conscious that they are
seated with Christ in heavenly places and that they are with Him where
He is to share in His glory, even in this age. This dynamic is meant to
impact this world in order to provide it with a quality of witness yet
to be seen on a global scale. (See John 12:26; Ephesians 2:6.)The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world. John 17:22-24
Hope for the unseen was pictured to me in a dream through the contrast between Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. The angel Gabriel came to them both with the sure promise of a miracle that was yet to manifest. Whereas Mary opened her heart widely to the message, Zechariah doubted the angelic testimony. Mary found her prophetic voice and freely spoke of invisible realities and glories. However, Zechariah's voice was silenced for a season and his ability to testify of God's greatness was delayed (see Luke 1).
The Lord showed me a snake that seeks to attack our throat – our voice of hope – that has been made to boldly declare the unseen promises of God's intention to manifest His power and might. If we allow this enemy room to roam on the heels of a revelation from the Holy Spirit, the graceful tone and tenor of our prophetic voice can be distorted and the perfect divine timing of that word can be hijacked.
2. Hope Against Hope
Romans 4:18 speaks of Abraham "hoping against hope"
that Sarah and he would have a son through whom the entire world would
be blessed. This phrase seems so odd. We often speak of people "hoping
against all odds," but "hoping against hope" – what is that? It refers
to a deep spiritual challenge and testing ground that all of God's
people face at one time or another in their journey. Once we grasp it,
we see it in Biblical narratives of virtually every hero of the faith –
Job, Moses, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, Jesus, and Peter, just to name a
few.Hope against hope has to do with how a clear, divine promise seems to fail to come to pass, at least in the time and manner that the recipients imagine. At the crisis points, it feels to them like a betrayal by God Himself, though it is not. Yet at the very time that the first hope is apparently dissolving, the Spirit of God is communicating a second hope that confirms, but displaces, supersedes and trumps the original one. (One of Michael Sullivant's major prophetic encounters was all about this "hope against hope," and I have since also dreamed about what he shares on this theme out of Isaiah.)
He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid me; He made me a polished arrow; in His quiver He hid me away. And He said to me, "You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." But I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God." Isaiah 49:2-4
Abraham had two major experiences with "hope against hope" that even the New Testament writers draw attention to. God promised that Sarah would conceive a son through whom all nations would be blessed. However, Sarah was barren throughout all her childbearing years. To her it seemed that God's promise for her to bear a son (the first hope) had actually disintegrated. She even suggested that Abraham conceive his heir through a concubine. When Abraham did so, he asked that God would allow Ishmael to be this child of promise. Ishmael was their attempt to make God's promise come to pass in their own wisdom and strength. But God was not finished with His essential promise yet. He visited them and again promised that an heir would come through Sarah, though she was past the age of childbearing – it would be a supernatural birth! (the second hope). Though Sarah laughed at the promise, God had the last laugh and Isaac (literally means "he laughs") was born a year later.
Abraham's next related, but different, experience with "hope against hope" reveals how deeply he came to understand and cooperate with this rather strange way of God with His servants. It has also been tagged "death of a vision" by Bible teachers. Some years after Isaac's birth, God now required Abraham to offer his supernaturally born heir (the first hope) as a sacrifice. However, God stayed Abraham's hand and provided a ram to offer instead. Abraham, for his part, was convinced that God would raise Isaac from the dead (the second hope) if need be. That's how confident he had become in God's power and faithfulness. It seems God wanted a very clear foreshadowing of His relationship with His Son Jesus, and His death and resurrection to be played out in the prophetic drama of Abraham's life.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Hebrews 11:17-19
In my dream, in close association with this hope challenge, I saw a snake that seeks to wrap itself around the feet and legs of God's children to keep them from advancing in hope. Though this demonic strategy is extremely common, far too few of those called to be God's hope reformers cast off this assault and, as a result, they become paralyzed and stuck. If we open our eyes to this spiritual test and understand the purpose of the challenge, we can actually use it against the enemy to propel us forward in the Spirit. Just being mindful of and exposing this satanic scheme is more than half of winning the battle.
3. Carefree Hope
The third challenge to hope in my dream was for us to find the
delight of a carefree hope. This is the kind of buoyant spirit that
engages life in the way that Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount
in Matthew 6:25-33. He spoke of birds of the air and lilies of the field
and God's care for them.
This
implies our material provision from the Father and our enjoyment of the
beauty of His bountiful creation. He spoke about how much more valuable
we are as human beings in the sight of God compared to the rest of His
grand creation.He spoke of the Father's commitment to ensure that we are fed and clothed. He spoke of the freedom from anxiety and fear of want and how counterproductive those cruel and haunting thoughts are to the abundant heavenly/earthly life in His Kingdom. We are empowered to live carefree when we are confident and full of hope in our Father's care for us.
I also saw the snake that seeks to attack this expression of hope. It was wrapped around the torso and bit the heart. The Spirit gave me the passage from Luke 21:34 in which Jesus warns, "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with...the anxieties of life." This assault was all about filling our hearts and minds with anxiety, worry, and fretting over things both big and small. It is about the trap of being oppressed by the enemy so that we react to life's circumstances rather than respond in partnership with God to every situation we face.
How would we live, and be, and think, and do if we really believed at our core that Jesus is fully present to us, truly for us, effectively praying for us, pre-arranging provisions for us, committed to our success and actually interested in the smallest details of our lives? What if we discovered that we are even more imperfect, insecure, intimidated, restless, tattered, and torn than we know, but that we are also more loved, more accepted, more forgiven, more secured, more significant, more cherished, and more inhabited by Him than we could ever conceive on our own?
4. Childlike Hope
Though it may seem indistinguishable from carefree hope, in my
experience this childlike hope was focused on the qualities of openness,
simplicity, relational sensitivity, and vulnerability that children
exhibit before the God of all of life. Jesus welcomed the children to be
with Him when the very "businesslike" adults tried to keep them
distanced from Him. Instead, He corrected the grown-ups (see Matthew
19:13-15).In another place and time, He cried out in great celebration and joy that our Father has "hidden these things from the wise and intelligent" but has "revealed them to babes." Here He was referring to our grasping the deep mystery of enjoying a true union with God as our Papa. Jesus was also pointing to the outcome of walking with Him in the "easy yoke" of true spirituality versus the heaviness of our man-made effort and performance-based religion. (See Luke 10:21 with Matthew 11:25-30.)
The snake I saw that was pitted against childlike hope was one that was wrapped around the waist and bit the liver. This represented how a demonic "gall of bitterness" can take over the human heart and mind as we live in both a despairing world and a prevalent pessimistic and rationalistic "churchianity." If the first doesn't kill our dreams, then the second will certainly try its hardest to finish the job!
Little children haven't generally lived enough life to become bitter and cynical, but as we grow older (not automatically more spiritually mature!) it is easy for our hopes and dreams to be dimmed through our reactions to disappointments and pain. In these times, the evil one is always lurking nearby eager to hand us a poisoned arrow dipped in bitterness and resentment. He entices us to pierce our own childlike and tender hearts whenever our hopes are temporarily dashed by negative circumstances, failures, or embarrassing situations. He even tries to manipulate us to feel ashamed of our deepest God-given hopes and longings. Nothing will hinder our friendship and open communion with God faster or more effectively than bitterness.
Conclusion
God is encouraging us through this revelation to open our
eyes to what both He and our enemy are doing in the midst of our
pilgrimage in life. Let us be awake and alert and seize every
opportunity to respond to our Father and grow in the virtue of hope
through a godly response to any attacks or temptations of the enemy. Any assault on our hope only serves in the end to add more mass to our hope muscles!
Opposition to hope is to be expected, but the Lord will play His trump
cards to reverse, often suddenly, the fortunes of His dear sons and
daughters.Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
And what is this perfect result where we lack nothing? Paul says it is hope!
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Even since we began to write this report, the Lord has shown me a vision of how He intends to restore hope to and renovate our hearts. He is calling us to reach inside and take out our wounded hearts, bitten, bruised and torn, and place them into His capable and faithful hands. It will require great vulnerability and trust in His goodness on our part to do this. We must lay down any blame toward God we have hidden away or denied that follows on the heels of asking "why" He, if He is truly good, allowed us to experience such opposition and disappointments in our journeys. And, He is promising that it will all work out and together for good if we love Him (see Romans 8:28).
In this vision He also showed me that the kind of spiritual maturity that will result from such fine-tuning is what will take God's hope reformers beyond being merely "prophetic" vessels who can reveal knowledge, to being "hope patriarchs" and "hope matriarchs" who have learned to love and who process spiritual knowledge, even foresight, and events through hope lenses (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Father, help our hearers to see beyond their present trials to the golden hopes that You are promising to embed within them. Will You show them where they are right now in the process of graduating from row to row of hope? Reveal to them how the evil one might be seeking to thwart their divine hope promises and give them grace to resist him, firm in their faith, and be catapulted forward in Your plans.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19
When the hope reformers graduated from this "classroom of useful information," not only did they return to conquer the mountain, they were enabled to seed clouds with their hope.
Then
it rained down hope on whole cities and nations and the various
"mountains" (the spheres of influence of many cultures and societies) of
the earth. These mountains had been polluted with a dark mist of
despair, but they were washed and cleansed by the power of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and the strong hope for the whole earth encoded within it.It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths." Micah 4:1-2
Bob Hartley, scribed by Michael Sullivant
Deeper Waters Ministry
Email: deeperwatersofhope@gmail.com
Website: bobhartley.org
Bob Hartley is the founder of Hartley Institute/Deeper Waters Ministry in Kansas City, Missouri. Bob served as a pastor at Metro Christian Fellowship with Mike Bickle before entering the marketplace in 1983, with a vision to see the marketplace redeemed and cities established that value and love the person of Jesus. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Hartley Group, a "Hope Center" for the marketplace, consisting of Hartley's Executive Cleaning, Swift Chemicals & Supply, Prize Properties and H&H Management in Kansas City, Missouri. Bob is a frequent speaker to youth, churches, businesses, and national leaders throughout America and the world. His quest has been to bring the Kingdom of God into every arena of life and give spiritual tools and equipping to those seeking to know and love God in the midst of their everyday lives. Currently, Bob resides in Kansas City with his wife and four children.
with Michael Sullivant
Radius Group
Email: info@radius-group.org
Website: radius-group.org
Michael Sullivant
resides in the Kansas City area, has been married to Terri since 1977,
and is a father of five adult children. Their lives have been marked and
shaped by a naturally-supernatural relationship with God as unashamed
followers of Jesus Christ. Terri and Michael have been involved in
active ministry since their days at Miami University in Ohio. They have
given themselves to planting communities of faith in several U.S.
states, pastoring, teaching, writing, coaching, building leaders, and
traveling to offer ministry in many nations. Michael is the author of Prophetic Etiquette, Your Kingdom Come, and a devotional commentary called, The Romance of Romans: God's Big God-Story (2011). Michael and Terri are co-founders of Radius – an equipping ministry that reaches out to many people.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Two Steps to Awakening in America
1. DEATH: The pagan ungodly trajectory of our nation must die. Dead die. This will take a tragedy or a radical shaking. Unless this dies there will be always an attempt to let there be compromise evil and good. Evil must once again be identified as evil. Shame must return to our culture. 50 years ago if you were pregnant and not married, you got married or went away and a baby became available for adoption. Abortion was very rare... and illegal. No Homosexual ever came out of the closet. Some were..but they didn't flout it. The military didn't tolerate open homosexuality. God's name was revered even if not honored. Sexual sin wasn't open. It existed. Shame kept people from being licentious. Being unemployed or on welfare while necessary for some was considered nor normal. Many were, but they didn't flaunt it. The fear of God and the fear of shame by your fellow man kept people from open rebellion. This rebellion must die... Dead. There can be no rebirth unless the old is dead. God will do this...but the further down we go... the harder it will be.
2. TRUST in GOD. A replacement of our trust of Government and what can YOU do for ME must be replaced by a new radical trust in God. We no longer trust anyone. We don't trust because people have become untrustworthy. When the collapse comes... we will once again learn to trust in the Jehovah who provides.
Both of these will be painful, but there is not incremental return to Godliness, the recognition of Sin and Trust in God as it says on our coinage... IS IMPOSSIBLE. This will be a ripping. A tearing. We are too far gone to come back without it. It will be easier to at least in your own life to learn to Trust God and not man, to learn shame once again and become the person God called you to be..
Or be torn asunder by the coming shaking.
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