This is the TERROR of every Prophet

A Quote from Collin van Rooyen

A prophet, even though he is hearing God accurately, can still be blind...blinded by his cultural environment...blinded by the zeitgeist of the era he is living in...blinded by his own ego...blinded by an opportunistic spirit, materialism and various other philosophies and world-views that hold him in a carnal, earth-bound mode, rendering the sound that he is releasing, incapable of executing the purposes of God....keeping him confined to pandering to the whims and fancies of carnal and materialistic mindsets.

God NEVER intended you to Prosper without the Prophetic

I had a strong word come to me today. God's pattern for your success requires that you hear the Word of the Lord...FOR YOU.

Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone" Matthew 4:4

That is not just physical bread you eat, that is THE bread. Psalms 104:15 Matthew 6:11
Bread that is deliverance, salvation, healing, The children's bread. Matthew 15:26-28
Bread that is JESUS, I AM the bread of Life. John 6:33-35
Bread that is his Body for the remission of sin and healing Matthew 26:26

YET, people can be whole, healthy, saved, going to heaven, established in their God and still be without success. Millions of people will go to church this morning, sit down, hear a sermon, sing some songs, greet each other, give an offering and even take communion. All good things. ALL BREAD. No word from God.

I have seen it. So have you. Solid saints who live good lives but live them in poverty, difficulty and struggle. Established in God but without Success.

YET, that is NOT the Pattern God intended for his people. Jesus after he said Man shall not live by bread alone followed up with, BUT by EVERY WORD that PROCEEDS from the MOUTH of GOD!

People think that is the Bible and Teaching. Certainly you CAN hear the word of God in teaching, preaching and reading the Bible. BUT that isn't the MOUTH of GOD. God has MOUTHPIECES on the planet. They have been with us a long time. We will prosper if we hear them. The pattern is 2 Chronicles 20:20 "...Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”

IF you are established, solid in God, but you are STUCK, you need a word from GOD. I can't get a word for myself even though I am a prophet. I need other prophets to speak a word over me. Yes, I can console myself like David did, but any Five Fold minister that thinks they can operate without a sound prophet in their circle, one who is fearless, one who will speak truth to them, they are established but on a track to failure. I have seen it hundreds of times. Who you hear from, a Prophet or a board, a counselor, an elder, it matters. It's OK to have these structures in place, but if you choose to listen to your own prophetic word in place of a Prophet who speaks to you, you are committing spiritual incest. Like all inbreeding it will result in distortion and stillborn vision. When people say, "I'm waiting to hear from God in this" and are actually seeking a voice in their own head. They are open to deception. YOU CAN hear from God for yourself, but it's MUCH better if you hear it from HIS own mouth.

Jesus wasn't kidding, you must LIVE and PROSPER by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the Mouth of God. Find his Mouthpiece and you are halfway there.

Hear the word of the Lord from the Prophets and have Success. Ignore the Prophets and you will still get to heaven if you know Jesus, you will just leave your destiny dormant in your grave.

THIS is the WORD OF THE LORD!!

Less is more - A prophetic word for our time - Rev Heather Butler

I Don't KNOW this prophetess, but she has touched a key to Provision and Protection. Read this word:

Stop seeing things from your own perspective, come up higher and see from my vantage point. Less is more during this season, it’s a season of great upheaval and change in many ways, and particularly in the way that the body of Christ perceives the circumstance surrounding them, and how they perceive me.

How do you think the disciples felt when I told them to take the fish and the bread into the crowds ? There were thousands gathered, and there was not enough in the natural way of things to go around, but I AM a supernatural God, and do not see things with your eyes, or act according to your limited knowledge and understanding of who I truly am, rather I see things from the fullness of who I AM , and am able to continually bless you during times of famine.

See with the eyes of faith this year, knowing not hoping, but knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that I am capable of conquering every act of the enemy raised up against you.

My kingdom dwells within you, the Spirit of God invested within you to do mighty exploits in my name.

How much oil did the widow have, only a little, and yet she had more than enough, so much that it was overflowing. I AM the same God yesterday today and forever, why do you doubt me! If I could do many things through those who followed my Son, so it is also a reality in your life now today.

Less is more, the less you have the more I am able to glorify myself in you, as I make provision far and beyond all that you can think or imagine. I know how to prosper you in every facet of your nature, and your life, so that you are able to share from the abundance of my love and my heart concerning those around you who are living in chaos and darkness.

This is a year for giving when in the natural you do not have much to give, but give of all that I require of you, share what you have in your hand even though it doesn’t seem like much at all, not just monetary, but of your time, your life serving Me and serving the people around you, see how I multiply it out amongst those I am sending you too.

You are to shine the light of Christ into the darkest moments of peoples circumstances so that they are able to see the way forward. Many are trapped, many are bound, many are sick and ill with worry and anxiousness, many are ill in their bodies, and in their minds, what have I placed within your hands to enable you to lead them out into the light out of bondage into freedom.

I know that you feel inadequate and small, but in that place of weakness I come and enable you to do far more in my name than you could ever have done before in your own strength, less is more, the little you have I will bless and enable you to find others who will place what little they have into your hands and so on until your basket it full of fresh bread everyday to feed a nation.

Don’t question how, simply know that I desire to meet faith with provision.

You have the answers to the cry of the heart of the people around you, you have the hope the faith the love and the truth to make a real difference in the towns and villages that you lives in. Its time to take hold of my truth, I say to you now “you go feed them!” You know that when you go I will indeed feed the hungry on every level of their lives.

Less is more, Lazarus had no breath in him, he lay dead in the tomb, as I reached into the grave and called him forth by the authority of My voice, I know what it took to raise him from the dead, and so it is with you, you don’t need to know how, only that I can and I will if you are willing to take me at my word.

Many watched, eyes wide open as Lazarus came forth, who could deny the truth of who I Am when he was raised up. And so it is with your word of testimony, you have a wonderful story to tell of how I saved you and set you free, your story powerful, its real, and it will reach into the depths of broken hurting lives and bring hope and deliverance from the hell they are living in. I AM.

Take the small voice that you hear in your heart, take what I say and act upon it, it may only be a still small voice but its powerful enough to shake the lives of those around you so that the grave clothes fall off and shackles are broken, and they come running out of the darkness of lives that were killing them, and leading them away from the truth. I AM the WAY The TRUTH the LIFE and know man comes to the Father but through ME.

Its time to re evaluate the way you think, the way you act, the way you talk, the way you see things around you, the way you react to those around you everyday.

Its time to understand what I'm really saying and speaking into your heart.

I don’t just want you to listen, I need you to HEAR my voice more clearly now than ever before. Take what I give you willingly, but do not store it up for yourself, rather release every provision to those around you. Learn to give, learn to share, learn to take responsibility for the household of the Father on the earth. Family matters, when you come together to give it is enough. Pray for all you need, and I will answer your prayers.

The Next Move of God by Nicki Pfeifer

One of the biggest dangers Christians face is thinking inside the proverbial religious box. When we talk about “a great move of God” or “revival” we often contextualize it inside a church building. We get visions of people coming to a facility, worshipping God, hearing a fiery evangelist and flooding the altar for prayer.

Even when we take it “to the streets” it still looks a lot like it does inside the church walls. We speak to people using the same language and pray for them just like we do in church, except that the setting has changed.

We preach with Bibles in our hands or set up stages and play the same music we sing on Sundays. We bring church outside the walls of the auditorium but continue ministering in the same old wineskin we’ve used for decades.

If people are not interested in experiencing it inside the church, then why do we think they want to experience it outside the church? Trying to invoke a move of God this way does not recognize ways that God is already moving in people’s lives apart from the traditional activities of the church.

The New Testament church was different. They had an advantage. The fact that they had no buildings or traditions to protect provided them with a wide-open field of thinking. They had no box. For them, envisioning a move of God or describing what revival looks like wasn't hindered by preconceived ideas. They were able to see the world in a whole new light, one that exposed the close-mindedness of the Jewish ideas regarding the work of God among the gentile people.

Like those first century Jewish leaders, Christians today can become extremely close-minded about God's activity outside our circles. After a span of 2,000 years, maybe we've developed the tendency to believe that God thinks like us, acts like us, votes like us, talks like us and enjoys hanging with us.

This was especially true with Paul until Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus. That one conversation with Jesus obliterated every preconceived idea and paradigm Paul ever had. Nothing was the same for him after that. Everything in the world had changed for him. He had to reconstruct his entire religious, social, cultural and political worldviews.

Mental deconstruction is usually harder than construction. This is why it was about 14 years between Paul’s conversion and the time he and Barnabas were sent out in Acts 13. He needed time to rethink everything.

After completing his first missionary journey—one that saw more gentiles coming to Christ than Jews—Paul chose Silas and went out again (see Acts 16). With some experience under his belt, Paul and his entourage traversed the length of Asia Minor until they were at Troas on the Aegean Sea. From there, they crossed over to Macedonia and started the Grecian campaign.

At Mars Hill, Paul presented a remarkable and brilliant perspective on the move of God outside the walls of the church. What he said would stun anyone who believe that God moves only in certain ways, with certain people and in certain places (you know—people like us!).

Paul said that God had been revealing Himself in various ways with various cultures from the beginning; that God loves all human beings and is active in bringing them into a relationship with Him through various means (see Acts 17:22-31).

While walking the streets of Athens, Paul saw many idols that the Greeks worshipped. Among them was a statue dedicated to "The Unknown God." The Athenians knew there was a God out there somewhere who couldn't be named in their pantheon yet deserved to be worshipped. Regarding this God and their worship of Him, Paul said, “Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23).

Did you get that?

Paul affirms that the Athenians had been ignorantly worshipping the God of the Jews—Yahweh. They simply had not known His name and did not have the full revelation of His ways and desires for mankind.

It didn’t mean they were in covenant with God.

It didn’t mean they were born again.

But it did testify to the fact that God was working in their hearts, having placed in them a desire to know Him. Somewhere during their history, the Greeks had come to believe that there was a God whose name they didn't know but who deserved their worship.

God may be moving outside the walls of the church more than we can imagine!

Paul was able to discern God's work in that culture and align his message with that move of God and speak to the Athenians in practical, relevant ways.

After assuring them that God is bigger than buildings and even bigger than our imaginations or abilities to worship Him (Acts 17:24-25), he says God “has determined [nations'] pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (Acts 17:26). That is, it is God who is responsible for the rise and fall of nations, and He establishes their boundaries.

Then Paul adds something else. He says God works among the people of the earth for one reason: “That they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:27).

Paul is admitting that God has been working all along the course of human history in the nations of the earth. While He was preparing Israel to be a blessing to the other people of the earth, He was also preparing the nations to receive this good news and accept His Word. While Israel was being groomed to be a blessing, God was not far from the other people groups of the earth, grooming them as well to join this community He was blessing.

Human history hasn't stopped moving. So why would we think God has stopped moving? To this day, we must affirm that God is working in our neighborhoods, cities and nations just as much as He is working in the church. If we limit our definition of a "move of God" or a "revival" only to religious services in a building somewhere, then we will miss what God is really doing on the earth.

This is why it is my belief that we cannot define the next move of God by the last move of God. It is not wise for us, as Christians, to try to recreate past revivals and moves of God. We must have an open mind and look outside our religious box to see where God is going.

It may surprise many believers to know that God is speaking to people outside the church. Some people may even believe it is impossible for God to give revelation to a “heathen.” But Paul didn’t. In Acts 17:28 he affirmed that Greek poets had spoken the truth about God! He said: “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”

Not only were the people of Athens worshipping the God of the Bible but their poets also were actually receiving revelation about Him and His desire to have a relationship with all people. This is quite an amazing observation and admission for a devout Jew who formerly believed the rabbinical saying that gentiles were created to “fuel the fires of hell.”

Jesus said in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit will come to “convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgment to come” (emphasis added). We should not think it strange that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on “all flesh” (Acts 2:16-21) people outside the church would receive bits and pieces of revelation that could ultimately lead them to Christ.

Paul also said in Romans 1:19 that “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them” (emphasis added). This verse asserts that God is working inside the hearts of people all over the world, revealing truth to them.

Besides speaking internally to them, God also speaks to them eternally through nature, as Paul acknowledges: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).

I have to admit—most of the time I’m looking outside the walls of the church these days to find the move of God.

If we can discern God in the culture the way Paul did, then we will be able to see how to bring in the harvest. The harvest tells you when it’s time to reap; you reap on the harvest’s terms, not your own!

What I see God doing in the culture is exciting. More and more people are looking for what’s real. They are nauseated by what’s fake and phony. Slick productions are being replaced by reality TV. People value participation. They would rather upload their own video on You Tube than watch one on television.

People want to connect with each other. The global community is getting smaller as combinations of technology drive everything from the global economy to the uprisings of the so-called Arab Spring.

Can you see it?

Like Paul, do you see God in all this?

About the author: Nicki Pfeifer is co-founder with her husband, Mark, of Open Door Ministries in Chillicothe, Ohio (opendoorohio.com), where they serve as senior pastors. They are also the founders of Mark and Nicki Pfiefer Ministries (markandnicki.com), and Nicki is the founder of the Fire School of Prophetic Training, which has locations throughout the U.S., Asia and Africa. A recognized prophetic voice, Nicki is in demand as a speaker at conferences in the United States and other countries.

Curt Landry: Entering into a New Season - Foundations for the Next 10 Years

As we cross over the threshold of time and enter into a new season – the Hebraic year 5772 – I find myself echoing the Lord as He asks the Church this question, "Will you come up higher still?"

The Lord is calling for His Church to rise up in this hour, far beyond the reaches of familiarity, and begin to assume her rightful position within His Kingdom.

5772/2012 will be marked as a year of numerous catastrophic events throughout the world, from natural disasters, to financial distresses, wars and rumors of wars – everything that can and has been shaken will be shaken.

However, there is good news! If the Church will hearken unto the Word of the Lord and remain true to His instruction, we will find ourselves witness to the greatest corporate awakening the Church has ever seen as she rises up into a season of unprecedented power and authority, assuming her rightful position in His Kingdom – the Kingdom of our God!

Weather Extremes are Coming

This year, 5772/2012, the United States will witness numerous severe and record-breaking weather extremes. We will experience unparalleled droughts and floods of epic proportions. I believe that these storms are on the horizon as the world has, both literally and spiritually, been shifted off of its axis.

This warning comes to the Church, not to bring fear and panic, but in order that we can prepare and begin to learn to take dominion over the atmosphere – over our circumstances. We will no longer have the luxury of placing the responsibility of dealing with these issues upon the shoulders of other apostolic and intercessory groups (the forerunners). Instead, we need to rise up and learn to pray and prophesy to the wind and the weather – to take dominion and authority over our own circumstances!

"… For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" Luke 8:25

The Transfer of Wealth is Coming

The world's economies will worsen in 5772. Consequently, for those in ministries who rely on financial support from familiar sources, things will have to change.

God will remove many familiar sources of financial provision during this season, however, if we watch carefully, another source of money will begin to rise up – a new source flowing from the hands of Believers who are found patiently waiting upon the Lord for this coming transfer of wealth! When this begins to happen, it may appear to those without the knowledge of God as if the Body of Christ is suffering. However, this is far from the truth! The remnant Church will not suffer if she listens and obeys His word.

As this transfer of wealth begins to unfold, those who were not millionaires will become millionaires. Those who were millionaires will become multi-millionaires. And those who were multi-millionaires will become billionaires. This will be the new generation who will help facilitate a harvest the size the world has never before seen. It's coming!

"'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'If I will not open for you the windows of Heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.'" Malachi 3:10

Earthquakes are Coming

There will be an increase in worldwide earthquake activity in 5772 – with a high probability of a serious earthquake occurring within the boundaries of the United States. While many have put their trust in the government to provide for them in these coming crises, it will be unable to do so. But this is all part of God's design to prepare His Bride! He is asking us to prophesy and speak unto the mountain. He is asking us to rise up in faith, exercising our authority over the land!

"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." Mark 11:23

The Lord will always reveal His secrets to His servants in order that we can prepare for that which is to come. I am sharing this with you today so that you can be prepared. It is wise for you to be aware of the fact that possible food and supply shortages may be coming our way as a result of these earthquakes and extreme weather. On a practical level we should all have a disaster relief program in-place in our homes, in our businesses, and in our churches. We should have enough food, water, and enough money (cash on-hand) so that if something does happen, we are prepared to go through a 30-day window of dysfunction. However, we need not panic: remember, this is not yet the time of "Armageddon," but we do need to be prepared with a practical action-plan.

Wars and Rumors of Wars are Coming

In 5772, wars and rumors of wars will continue throughout the world as we draw closer to the prophetic times Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:6:

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Israel will frequently make front-page news as she experiences increased political and military unrest in 5772/2012. Her borders will remain in constant turmoil, with peace no longer on the horizon. Therefore, the Church must stand up in support of Israel. She must, as never before, rise up and position herself on her knees in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces.'" Psalm 122:6-7

It's Time, Church! - The Prophetic Word is Coming

"THE ONE WHO DOES NOT REMEMBER HISTORY IS BOUND TO LIVE THROUGH IT AGAIN." (By the famous philosopher, George Santayana, inscribed on a plaque found within the walls of the Auschwitz concentration camp.)

In 5772/2012 the Church is going to need to not only embrace the prophetic, but also to understand and activate the principles of the prophetic word with greater authority so as not to repeat history. For that reason, we must always look to Scripture as our guide to the prophetic in these trying times.

One of the best examples on the fundamentals of prophecy can be found in Ezekiel 37. There, in verse 3, we find the Lord asking of Ezekiel, during his vision in the valley of dry bones, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And then in subsequent verses, the Lord instructs Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones – telling them to come together; and then to prophesy to the breath; and then to the sinew and skin; and finally to take full authority and prophesy unto the land. Do you see the process?

Pastor John Kilpatrick, of the Church of His Presence, described the prophetic process best when he explained that God typically prophesies from mountain-top to mountain-top, never giving you the valleys. Until this time, the Church has not correctly understood how to deal with prophecy – it does not fully understand that you must go forward after you have gone through the valley of the shadow of death!

The cause for confusion over how to prophesy in the Church often occurs when the Lord asks her, "Can this great thing happen?" We then respond and answer, "Yes, Lord, You know!" We are all in agreement, and the bones begin to come together, which is great! But then after the great commotion of bones flying around and coming together, we never seem to get to the place where we actually put lungs into it, or put skin on it, or even begin to position ourselves to prophesy to the land – to take authority and dominion over it!

It's Time to Wage the Good Warfare

Paul spoke these words to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 1:18-19, "This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare..."

Pastor Kilpatrick has continued on to reveal how the Church must be taught how to wage the good warfare with the prophecies that have been spoken over their lives. For these prophesies to come to pass, we have to be able to see the dry bones coming together! We have to be healed. We have to be found living in the land. And, we have to battle until our prophecies come to pass! We no longer have the time to merely stop because we cannot find the lungs and the breath to put into it! We must continue to war for our prophecies! Therefore our prophecies must become our focus!

As we read the remainder of verse 19, Paul reveals the fate of those who lose faith concerning their prophecies:

"...Having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck."

This is what subsequently happens as you begin to drift away from the prophetic word spoken over your life. If you lack the faith to continue to push it forward, you will shipwreck! So you must contend for the prophecies that were spoken over you!

It's Time to Take Authority

There is an anointing to awaken to a third-day in 5772. This is very important, because you cannot change things with the abundance of yesterday's knowledge and activity! You will need to carry a new revelation into the third-day.

Revelation 1:6 says, "and [He] has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

This speaks of the renewal of hope! This Scripture tells us that He has made us kings and priests! Who are you waiting for to prophesy unto your mountain? You must rise up as a king and a priest, and speak to the issues in your life. You must obtain the revelation and awaken to the Kingdom in this third-day! It is about "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done!" The Kingdom is for kings and priests!

In order to activate our authority, hope needs to be renewed. Otherwise, we will always look to others to pray for us and to speak for us. We must speak forth dominion over our own prophetic word – over what we are each called to do.

My own personal job is to do everything I can in order for the Gentile Church and Israel to come together and open up the gates. I have been prophesying into this vision for 22 years – and I know that I will see it! I will either see it as one coming back, or I will literally see it – but I will see it. I have prophesied this so much that I believe it – I know that I am a king and a priest! It doesn't make any difference if others don't believe – it is about what I believe when I speak it. This is all about knowing exactly who you are in Yeshua the Messiah!

It's Time to Prophesy with Breath

Deuteronomy 11:26 says, "Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse."

5772 is about prophesying breath. Are you going to prophesy for the four-winds to come? Are you going to believe? You must begin to walk with your lungs full of the four-winds, declaring, "I have a choice; blessing or cursing!" This is your choice – you must choose, because God will always give you a choice!

Many people tend to fight against their prophetic word with excuses. But you can choose to say, "No! I am born-again and washed in the Blood of Jesus who died to bless me!" You must say, "I choose blessing because I am blessed of the Lord!" And when you do, the skeletal system will begin to come together; the ribcage and lungs will begin to operate, and breath will begin to come out. Your prophecy will begin to come to life!

It's Time to be Released into Your Destiny

Isaiah 40:31 says, "But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Many in the Church today are perplexed as to why they have been held back, many have battled rejection, and many have had several false starts. There have been many with big plans that have suddenly ground to a halt. These plans were stopped because it was not yet your time! But the Lord wants me to prophesy this to you for 5772/2012: "It's time to be released into your destiny!"

For this to happen you must be clothed spiritually – you need to put on your new identity. You need to put on that covenant relationship and know that your God loves you. You are not second-rate – you have not been grafted-in as an afterthought. God knew what He was doing from the foundations of the Earth, and He is ready to release you into your destiny!

It's Time to Walk in Authority

"'I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,' says the LORD." Ezekiel 37:14

A part of this new release involves the transfer of land. This is exactly what the battle over Israel is for. More than ever in 5772 the battle for Zion is going to be fought over her land. What the Lord is about to do in Israel will be miraculous! There will be prophets who go into Israel this year who will speak to the dry bones from the mountains of Zion. They will release the breath – the Ruach HaKodesh of God (the Holy Spirit). They will speak to the sinew – the strength.

And the Jewish people in the land of Israel will rise up, not as I.D.F. soldiers, but in the spirit of Elisha! They will rise up in power. They will rise up in the dominion that they were called to. They will turn from caterpillars into butterflies. They are going to come out of their cocoons this year! They are going to operate in power and speak unto their land. And when they do this, the LION of the TRIBE of JUDAH will ROAR!

We, as the Church, have been standing in the gap interceding for many years, and prophesying unto the mountains of Israel. But now the Lord will raise up His own indigenous Sabra – Jewish prophets – Jewish Believers who will rise up and begin to speak unto the land. As these satanic ley lines are broken, you are going to start seeing ley lines broken in your own properties – in your land – and over the United States of America. So I speak release into the land – into the ley lines of God!

Yes, 5772/2012 will indeed be the beginning of a new season. A season when the Church begins to emerge out from the familiar and step into the third-day revelation of our LORD! A year when the Church rises up to take dominion and possession of her rightful inheritance in His Kingdom – the Kingdom of God!

Curt Landry
Founder, Curt Landry Ministries
Email: info@curtlandry.com

Curt Landry is the CEO of Curt Landry Ministries and House of David Ministries. House of David hosts bi-weekly services and annually celebrates the feasts of the Lord with special services. Curt is also the CEO of My Olive Tree U.S.A. Curt Landry is also a member of the ICA and participants with the Oklahoma Apostolic Network and the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network. Curt and his wife Christie travel worldwide speaking on the power of covenant restoration, healing signs and miracles, Israel and the Church, and the revelation of the One New Man spoken of in Ephesians 2. The Landrys currently reside in Grove, Oklahoma along with their daughter and son-in-law.

Money Influence is not just the Love Of--

I am in Pennsylvania. I am seeing all permutations of money. Some fear losing money. Some want to MAKE money. Some are in terror of having no money. Some are tormented by a lack of enough money. Some are driven one way or another by money.

Money is a deceiver. The deceitfulness of riches or lack of has brought this nation to it's knees. I have been so grieved by this I decided to do some looking around. I ran across this:

The deceitfulness of wealth

Many of us Christians live either unproductive Christian lives or minimally productive Christian lives. In speaking of a productive Christian life, I am speaking of living in devotion to God and neighbor, keeping our treasures in heaven, in accord with Jesus' teachings. In the parable of the sower, Jesus cites one reason for this unproductive lifestyle as "the deceitfulness of wealth." The deceitfulness of wealth, of course, is not only for the wealthy; we don't have to have money to be deceived by it.

Of all the temptations Jesus warned us about, one of the most prominent was wealth. Many destructive temptations -- lying, drunkenness, sexual immorality -- are at least in some measure disrespectable. But wealth has so many good possibilities that we even respect the open pursuit of it. It is possible to get wealth honestly; that is not too unusual. It is possible to use it benevolently and generously, though that is a little more unusual. I've been intrigued for awhile with Jesus' mention of wealth's deceitfulness, and have started to mull over ways in which wealth is deceitful.

Idolatry
Wealth has set itself up as a major idol of our culture. So pervasive is its hold that few of its seekers question if they are on the right path, and its finders tend to be startled and disillusioned that happiness does not come with wealth. Few other pursuits in life are accepted as unquestioningly as the pursuit of wealth, while most other quests in life are held suspect. It becomes the focus of our lives, the center of our hopes, the bedrock of our security. In all these things, it usurps the place of God. The pursuit of wealth distracts us from the question whether our goal is wealth or service. As Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters" when he was discussing God and riches. Do we put riches above God? Does that cause us to put our job or our boss above God as well?

Empty Promises
Wealth makes promises it cannot keep. It promises security, but can be lost. It promises happiness, but cannot deliver lasting satisfaction. It promises that it will serve us in whatever we want, but instead becomes what we want and makes us forget the other things we once wanted as we spend our time seeking it. It tells us that if we become rich we will want to give away that money to serve others, though it insists we avoid serving them until becoming rich. This means that we love the money better than the people that we postponed serving for its sake and who, we must know, we will never serve by much of that wealth. It promises that we can attain our financial goal, but it tempts us to increase that goal so that we remain in its pursuit. We imagine that we can master it, only to find ourselves seduced by it. It promises leisure but prevents us from other uses of our time. It becomes a mirage that we are always pursuing but never obtaining. We spend all our time in that pursuit, which we suppose excuses us from other pursuits. As it has been said, "How well I know temptation came because I wanted it." The easiest lie to believe is the one we want to believe.

Procrastinated Service to God
If we insist on reaching financial goals before we even begin our service, then we postpone our service to God. How many procrastinated projects are never finished because they are never started?

Conditional Service to God
If we say, "I will serve God when my finances are better", does that not mean, "I will not serve God unless my finances are better"? Have we added a condition to our service of God? Do we insist on prosperity first? An extreme example of this may be the "lottery ministry": praying to win the lottery so we can start our dream ministry, and reasoning that, if God really wanted us to do it, we would win the lottery. Our chances of serving God in a devoted way are then roughly 1 in 10,000,000. Based on the prevalence of Mother Theresa's compared to the lukewarm crowd, that sounds about right. Mother Theresa had a secret: she didn't have to win the lottery to serve God. Maybe God wants us to learn how to serve him with what we have before he entrusts us with more. Maybe we have enough, or more than enough, already.

Substitute for Involvement
I hope no one imagines that using money for a good purpose is a bad thing. But I am considering wealth's deceitfulness, how even that can be turned to bad effect. Working excessive overtime and avoiding the family can be passed off as doing something for the family. For husbands and wives, parents and children, financial support can be used as a substitute for love; but love is not an optional exercise that can be skipped. With parents and children, this is not just a temptation for absentee parents with a situation of child support after a divorce. It is also a temptation for those whose patience is sorely tried by parenting, or whose time is overcommitted, or who are emotionally unfocused on their families. "Spoiling" the child materially can be used as a compensation for neglecting the child personally; after all, if the child is spoiled she can't be neglected ... can she? Of course she can, and the money spent becomes a smokescreen hiding a broken family life.

Outside the home, contributions to charitable causes can seem a substitute for love of the lost and broken; it is a safe way of helping people which does not call for any devotion of our lives, tempts us to use it as a buyoff to excuse us from direct personal involvement. We deaden our conscience when we send money to a missionary but duck the question a neighbor or coworker asks about our faith, or send money to some program but overlook the people we know.

Deceiving Ourselves and Others
When we want the good things in life, wealth tempts us to look at it for solutions. We deceive ourselves if we imagine that something expensive will satisfy us. It is even more tragic if someone spends irresponsibly to get some material thing to cheer him, only to find that the irresponsibility -- and finding that the material thing was empty and could not satisfy -- made him feel worse instead of better. Credit cards give the temptation to imagine our means are greater than they are, or to pretend they are until it catches up. Money can be used to give an air of success, to gain respect, admiration, and praise. But such respect is only available from those who measure success in terms of money. It is not even the wealthy person that they admire, but the wealth.

I hope the author of this blog won't be offended. I tried to parse this but it was so well written I posted the whole thing with attribution. Bless you sir or mam.

Confronting the Queen of Heaven

"The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven" (Jer 7:18).

If you want to change the spiritual climate of your city you must address the principalities that rule that city. Such was the case for the apostle Paul when he went to the city of Ephesus. There was a territorial principality that was worshipped by the people of Ephesus named Diana of the Ephesians (also known by her Greek name, Artemis). The people gave money to this false god and it strongly influenced the economy because of this. The city was also the center for magic and the occult.

Her temple in Ephesus was listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - the most outstanding and opulent example of architecture in the whole city. Her followers called her "magnificent," "great goddess," "savior," and "Queen of Heaven."

Paul preached in Asia for two years and had great success confronting this territorial principality. Paul began to neutralize the Queen of Heaven's power so much by the gospel that the common people began to notice. They not only stopped worshiping and sacrificing to her, the silversmith's who were manufacturing idols were going out of business, so they staged a public riot. They filled the huge amphitheater and shouted for two hours, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" (Acts 19:34).

Many who were converted burned all of the idols and magic books. "When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power" (Acts 19:20). Based on the U.S. economy today, the pile of magic paraphernalia that was burned would have been worth four million dollars!*

In order for you to impact your city you must identify and break down the ruling principalities that may be hindering the gospel there. The more common principalities in the western world would include the religious spirit, the spirit of mammon, pride, and freemasonry to name a few.

Ask God for wisdom and discernment as you prepare to deal with your local and regional principalities.

Adapted from Confronting the Queen of Heaven, C. Peter Wagner, Wagner Books, 11005 N. Highway 83, Colorado Springs, CO p. 14-17 2001

Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.