Friends, Dwell in the Living Spirit

"Friends, Dwell in the Living Spirit, and quench not the motion of it in yourselves, nor the movings of it in others; though many have run out and gone beyond their measures, yet many more have quenched the measure of the Spirit of God; and have become dead and dull  and have questioned through a false fear; so there has been hurt both ways. Therefore, be obedient to the power of the Lord  and His Spirit; war with the Philistine that would stop up your well and your springs." --George Fox, Quaker, 1683

photo taken of morning mist on Lake Quantabacook, Searsmont, ME

Here is the Patience of the Saints: a prophetic word

The lives of mankind ebb and flow across history,
but these are hours, yes, an hour is upon you,
when things destined for My Son override
the histories of individual lives.

Always I know and care for your individual
circumstances and your lives as individuals,
but do not lose sight of the fact that you,
as one individual, are but a small part of
the corporate Body. All is coming to an eternally
destined moment for Christ and His bridal inheritance,
to whom and for whom all earth's history culminates.

Look about you. Think you that all this is created
for your small life alone? No, it is part of a
great mystery--I have purposed it for My Son and
all those TOGETHER that shall be His inheritance.

Always I am with you and for you but there are times,
of such now is, that the designs of a larger picture,
My eternal purpose, take precedent over the individual
events of what you see as your specific destiny.

If you know and understand this you will be able
to abandon yourself to My purpose more fully, and
more happily. You are like a drop of water in a small
tributary finally reaching the water of a large
river, which in turn finally reaches the ocean.
Does the drop of water that you are diminish
as it loses itself in a larger body?--not from
My perspective, but there is a certain abandonment
needed so that it is FELT from your perspective.
You are flowing toward a great ocean that is an
eternal sea of life in Christ. Be unto Me and
for Me.

You are IN Christ so know you are safe but it is
not about you but about things greater than
you know. Let your perspective be changed and
the view you have of what life is and where your
life stands in it all.

Your life is surely hid with Christ in God.
The pages of human history are surely moving
toward the ordered destiny I have willed: he that is
prudent let him hear. As Peter was bound and
taken to where he did not choose for himself
to go, so your individual lives are bound
up in My will and eternal purpose. This
does not diminish your life but you need to
abandon yourself to Me entirely to feel
the same joy that Jesus did when He abandoned
all to Me. "In the volume of the book it
is written: I have come to do Thy will, O God.
He taketh away the first that He might establish
the second."

Be about my business. Be unto Me and for
Me. He who loses his life shall surely
gain it. "If any man have an ear,
let him hear, he that leads people into
captivity shall go into captivity, he that
kills by the sword must be killed by the
sword. Here is the patience and the
faith of the saints (Rev. 13: 9 & 10).

Here is the patience of the saints: here
are they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus. (Rev 14:12).

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still,
and he which is filthy let him be filthy
still, and that is righteous, let him be
righteous still, and that is HOLY, let him
be Holy still. And behold, I come quickly
and my reward is with me to give every
man according as his work shall be
(Rev 22: 11 & 12).

If you have ears, listen and obey.

Is Our Gospel Pure?

"...keep that which is committed to
thy trust...which some professing
have erred concerning the faith"
1 Timothy 6:20,21).

Part of our call as Christians is to to
faithfully hold and live out the faith
that has been passed onto us. Each
generation has a commission to carry
the faith for the time they are given
on earth.

Within each generation many things will
happen. Wars arise, technology changes,
worldviews evolve, opinions rage, values
shift, religious furvor rises and falls.
And yet, the gospel, and the job of
carrying forth the gospel, remain.

The question we must ask ourselves in
this hour is, "How pure is our gospel?"
For right now it is this generation's
charge to carry it forward in truth. Are
we being faithful to the Lord in its
proclamation? Untold millions have given
their lives to deliver the gospel,
rightly divided, to us" now it is our turn.

Each generation has had to wrestle with the
demons of compromise, false doctrine, complacency
and the spirit of antichrist. Attacks on
the gospel are nothing new.

We need to ask ourselves, "What is currently
attacking the gospel?" Some earmarks of
our age, especially in America, is an
extreme emphasis on the individual and
his or her right to think and choose for
themselves. Amen to freedom! But too
much "freedom" can lead to "every man doing
what seems right in his own eyes" (Judges
17:6).

In the Book of Judges, we read of the
burial of Joshua, one of only two original
men of faith, that God allowed into
the Promised Land. Joshua is buried
and with his passing an era of faith comes
to an end.

It then says, "and also all that
generation were gathered unto their
fathers: and there arose another generation
after them, which knew not the Lord, nor
yet the works which he had done for Israel,
and the children of Israel did evil in
the sight of the Lord." (Judges 2: 8-11).
The passing forward of the knowledge of the
Lord had failed. People did as they pleased.
They did not know God.

Israel entered into a time when people
just free-wheeled: they did as they
saw fit. What was the problem with
that? One of the main problems is
that there was no ultimate standard,
each person would make decisions based
on whatever components informed his morals
and whims.

Human nature being what it is, caused
things to quickly deteriorate. Israel
no longer thought in terms of being in
covenant with God, or being in submission
to Him, she just went ahead and did
whatever suited her.

As we look at our responsibility to
be stewards of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, we must ask ourselves if
we are sure we know what the gospel is,
and if what is being put forward matches
that which Jesus entrusted to His Church.
Then we must ask ourselves if we are
carrying that message forward in the
purest way we know how to.

It seems apparent that there is
serious lack on both counts. One of
the attacks on the gospel is caused by
a serious lack of understanding of
even the most basic revelation of
God as revealed to us in Scripture.
Knowing who God is cuts the slack
out of a lot of error. If the church
does not know who God is, then how
can the world?

Should not everyone be free to
read the scripture and interpret it
as they see fit? Yes, and no.
Each person is thankfully free to read the
Scripture, but we cannot think
that any one individual, or even
one sector of the Church, has the
whole mind of God or the whole
counsel of God. At least up
until now, there has been general
consensus that the Scriptures are an
essential, primary, component
for measuring the purity of whatever
gospel is preached and bringing it back
to purity.

But what if there is a further shift
to "everyone doing as they see fit?"
What if we are only nominally
informed by Scripture or not
informed at all? What if we feel
that we can trust our experience
and our interpretation of our
experience apart from the Word? What
if we refuse to honor that which
has been passed down to us and
decide to do with it whatever we
will? What if we change the gospel
and don't even recognize that we've
changed it? Worse yet, what if we do
change it because we think that it
needs to be changed?

Throughout church history there
have always been reform movements
when things get out of balance.
The reforms that come from God
lead us back to God. The reforms
that come from man lead to death
and a perversion of the truth.
The old-fashioned word for that
is "heresy." Although folks can
try, there, at this point, is
nothing really knew under the
sun. Most current "new revelations"
are old heresies reappearing. If would
be a shame if we failed to
recognize that because we haven't
been doing our scriptural, historical,
and devotional homework.

God has already given us what we
need to know, and that will keep
us pretty busy. Even this much
of it is a full time job:
"Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul and mind,
and love thy neighbor as thyself."
(Matthew 22-37-40).

We are stewards of the gospel
of God and we need to be found
faithful to it. Let us be people
who seek God, people who pray much,
people who love much, people who
read the Word of God and take
heed to it, people who love the
truth, so that the next generation
and the world around us, receive
from us the gospel of God in its
purest possible state.

We need to look at the gospel or
gospels that are circulating and
we need to make our commitment
to preaching the gospel in purity,
simplicity, and boldness lest "another
gospel" overtake us and cause us to fall
short of our call and allow many to
perish. The days are frought with
change and the danger of falling away
from a simple, unhindered devotion to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Submit all that
you perceive the gospel to be to the
Lord. Allow Him to judge it, allow
Scripture to judge it. Aim for
a pure gospel. Begin with a pure
heart.

preaching the gospel
the gospel
heresy
American Christianity
doing what is right in your own eyes
a compromised gospel
Judges 17:6

The Cross: God's Signature

Behold your Suffering King--a cross the symbol
of His glory. A great mystery is hidden there--
the cross itself is a symbol of love extending
itself without defense--hands and feet tied
down and no way to protect the heart from
being broken.

Do you think that as you completely surrender to
Me that you will not feel total helplessness?
Dear child, look at the cross. Inquire as to
what it means for I am showing you something
about the way things must be.

Helpless trust and uncompromised love are
present there as a sign not just to men but
to principalities and powers. Do you think
that the cross was a humiliation my Father
turned His back on? No, it is His signature--
signed with My blood, stretching across
heaven and earth.

I am the LORD and I dwell in the hearts
of the meek and lowly. Come and know Me
at the cross and see just what it is that
your adversary opposes.


the Cross of Christ
Easter

And Not After Christ

"Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ." Colossians 2:8

At the foundation of our faith, at the heart
of Christianity, at the headwaters of our
spiritual life, lays relationship with Christ.

There are so many ideas in the world: good
ideas; bad ideas; crazy ideas; human ideas,
some well thought out and some hopelessly
twisted; ideas of darkness and doctrines of
demons. How shall we find our way through
them to Christ alone?

I love wisdom. I love seeking God. I love
"searching out matters," looking for the
pearl of great price, and let me tell you
that that takes you down some dark corridors.
It causes you to squeeze through some tight
places, to scrape along in the dust and
mud and pick up the dirt of the road
and the debris of the journey. But unless
all this leads me to Christ I shall just
be dirty, and tired, and in a dark space,
and so shall you.

I've amassed quite the library of knowledge,
and quite the collection of wisdom, and,
again and again, I am absolutely convinced
that we must be brought back to the simplicity
that is relationship with Jesus Christ.

When the apostle Paul, in his last few
days as Saul, lay blinded by the Damascus
Road encounter, Ananias was sent to pray
for him It was then that "something like
scales" fell from his eyes and he could
see. He was then baptized and filled with
the Holy Spirit (Acts 9;17,18). Suddenly
he could see clearly the difference
between human wisdom and genuine,
unfettered relationship with Christ.

From then on, Paul was "after Christ."
From then on he preached against anything
and everything that was not "after Christ."
Paul moved from the Law to be "after Christ";
from a system to be "after Christ"; from
legalism to be "after Christ"; from religion
to be "after Christ." Christ, and Christ
alone: extravagantly pursued "in tribulation, in
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in
labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings, by
purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering,
by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere
love, by the word of truth, by the power
of God, by the armor of righteousness
on the right and on the left, by honor
and dishonor, by evil report and good
report", etc. (2 Cor. 6:4-8).

Each of these difficulties spoken of here,
and each of these virtues and graces, could
be an end in themselves, something to boast in,
but resting in them alone would not be
"after Christ." They were means to an end,
they were by-products of being "after Him."

Beloved, there are so many things that can
sidetrack us, that can capture our attention,
that can cause us to camp far from the
campfire of Christ (Hebrews 13:13), but
we must go after Him outside the camp,
bearing His reproach, forsaking all to
be with Him.

Every lesser thing will call to us.

"And not after Christ."

Every human scheme will try to allure us.

"And not after Christ."

Every doctrine of demons will seek to beguile us.

"And not after Christ."

Every lesser place will try and tempt us.

"And not after Christ."

Every fear will relentlessly assail us.

"And not after Christ."

Every temptation will hope to enthrall us.

"And not after Christ."

Human wisdom will try and convince us.

"And not after Christ."

Human weakness will seek to break us.

"And not after Christ."

Human suffering will press down to harden us.

"And not after Christ."

Our work is cut out for us. We must lose
all to gain Him. We must forsake all
to follow Him. We must abandon all to be
found of Him.

Lesser things, human wisdom wrapped up
as something spiritual, imbedded in our
very underpinnings: clouds at our love
feasts, snakes in our churches, sin in
our minds, lust in our thoughts, jealousy
in our hearts, will hatch their dark
strategies, but we must CAST THEM
ALL DOWN, lest we find ourselves
to be "not after Christ."

Put nothing before Him so that you
will be found to be absolutely
"after Him."

Be after Christ.

Colossians 2:8
and not after Christ
seeking God
an uncompromised gospel

Ministering to the Lord

Nothing of value can be taken, nor withheld
from you. Love that is loosed cannot be
jailed, held back, denied. It overcomes
all, flows through and to all, flys above
all, drenches all, untangles all.

Love soars. The freedom I give you cannot
be chained by man. Love rises. Love leaps.
Love conquers. Love hangs on. Love lets go.

You are free. Your occupation is to love
Me, to live with Me, to minister to Me.
Nothing can touch that priesthood. No
one can deny you entrance to Me, or
thwart My plan for you.

Come be with Me. Live in the Holy Place.
Come worship. Come minister. Come play.
Leave everyone and everything behind.
We will venture out as we need to. Right
now, just send your love out, on the
wings of prayer. But you, stay here
with Me. Stand and minister to
Me. Sit at My feet.

Staying Home with Me is priceless, no?

ministering to the Lord
the priesthood of the believer

Let Me Carry Your Life

I know you are afraid,
But I say unto you:
Fear not.
Relinquish EVERYTHING to Me.

Let Me take it ALL.
Let Me carry you,
Let Me care for you.

Allow Me to have complete
authority over you.
Part of the fear that you
experience comes from a
deep inner knowing that
you are not meant to
carry your own life: it
is too much for you.
Fear is the clue that warns
you to flee to Me.

Let Me carry your life.
For even from the moment you
let it go into My Hands
I become responsible and
answerable for all that happens.
The work is to believe.
The call is to trust.

Know Thy God

Believe and know that I AM: The God of all goodness,
all kindness, all grace & mercy, yet infinitely
higher than what the human mind can conceive.

All proceedeth from Me and shall flow back to
Me for the purpose of My good pleasure.
Immerse yourself in knowing Me and allow
every dark thing to flee, for in
My Presence every dark thing must leave.

Let every dark thing that is not of life flee
at My Word, for all darkness can do is weigh
your heart down: so low that it could sink
all the way into hell! Love shall bring you up
from darkness and death for it cannot be conquered
nor comprehended by darkness. My Word creates,
sanctifies, transforms, renews. My Word
accomplishes all I send it forth to do. Let My
Word conquer you!

Walk on from here. Know thy God. Know Me in
perfect beauty, in righteousness, in holiness,
in all that is praiseworthy, for I do all
things well. I perfect all that concerns you
with an exceeding perfection.



photograph taken near Wales, UK

Do Not Hide Your Light Under A Basket: Matthew 5:14-16

Out of the deepest felt sense of
your utter need for Me, I bring boldness.
He who listens and obeys, understands.
He who knows he cannot, is
made able by My Hand.

The one who falls, in humility,
at the foot of the Cross is able
to stand up and discern clearly
for guile and self-will has been
removed.

Before I release you into the outer, I
build and perfect the inner.
I have spent much work on the inner.
But now, off comes the cover so
that the inner (your hidden life
in Me) and the outer (what others
see from the outside) can
come together in a perfect whole.

The inner is no longer in need of
being hidden. The outer has need of
its testimony and it nature. Do not
hide your light under a basket.

Plunge into My River--fear not its
swirling depths: it will carry you
to places you do not know about,
but are prepared for. Trust Me.

Avoiding Fatal Mistakes: Wisdom from the Death of King Josiah

The Second Book of Chronicles (Chapter 35:22-27)
records the tragic story of the apparently
premature and unnecessary death of King Josiah.

Pharoah Necho was king of Egypt (circa 610 B.C.)
He needed to come up through the land Israel
on his way to Carchemish to help support the
Assyrians against the attacks of Babylon.
(Carchemish was an Egyptian stronghold near
the Euphrates River.) The Assyrian
king was caught in Haran, to the east of
Carchemish, and needed military aid.

It is understandable that King Josiah was
not thrilled that such a formidable force
was marching through his back yard. Josiah
sent ambassadors to ask Pharaoh Necho
his intentions. Necho told Josiah that
it had nothing to do with him, basically
"Butt out or die." Necho said that God
told him to get to Carchemish faster than
quick and Necho will basically kill anything
and anyone that gets in his way.

It is interesting to note that the
writer of Second Chronicles does not say
that "some Egyptian god", told Necho to do
this. It just says "God." (Hebrew: Elohim). He
says God commanded him to
hurry and don't meddle with "God" by
getting in the way. Interesting, no?

Josiah is a good king. He tore down
idols in Israel. He stood for God.
But here he makes a fatal mistake for
himself and for his nation. This
passage says that he decided to disguise
himself and fight against Egypt despite
what Pharoah said. After all, why believe
a pagan king? After all, wouldn't it be
logical to assume that it was the devil
lying to you?

But Josiah just assumed and did not
ask the Lord, even though Josiah
knew to ask the Lord and had
previously sought the Lord's
guidance (cp. 2 Chron. 34:19-28).
Perhaps Josiah was impatient and
wanted to fight. Perhaps he
thought he was going to be taken
advantage of. Perhaps he acted
to protect his country for it
was likely that even if the Enemy
did not currently have him in
his crosshairs, then it would
eventually be his turn.

Some of these reasons seem more
righteous than others. The problem
is, Josiah acted on his own
wisdom, and did not inquire of
the Lord. He did not hear God warning
him or was it that he did not
care to listen?

The Chronicler said he "did not
hearken to the words of Necho,
FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD!
(elohim) (vs. 22).
Did he understand it to
be God speaking to him? If so, then
he completely disobeyed. I
suspect that it was that
he just did not discern that it
was God speaking to him. The
problem was, he still did not seek
the Lord for direction and confirmation.
Most likely it was merely a mistake,
but a mistake that he would be
held culpable for, even unto death.

It is an interesting opposite
to note that when David faced a
worse situation with the
Amalekites (I Samuel 30), even
in his great and overwhelming grief,
he sought the Lord.

The Amalekites overtook Ziklag
were David lived and took
everyone's family, including David's
wives, captive and burned the place to
the ground. David's men were so
upset that they wanted to stone
David. David, however, "encouraged and
strengthened himself in the Lord
His God" (vs. 6). He then inquired
of the Lord for guidance. God
gave him victory!

Josiah, conversely, plunges
needlessly to his own premature
death because he chose his own
way. His undiscerned action had
tragic repercussions. Not only
did he lose his own life, but
insured that God's judgment would
fall on Judah. The subsequent
kings of Judah did not follow
the Lord and God was forced
to bring judgment. God, perhaps, was
holding back the judgment because
Josiah was a good king. But now
he was a good king operating in
his own strength.

It is ironic that Josiah's
opposition to the Egyptians,
who were going to aid the
Assyrians against Babylon,
probably kept Necho from reaching
his intended goal in time to be
able to defeat the Babylonians.
Babylon won out, and the kingdom
of Judah fell into the Babylonian
Captivity predicted by the prophets
Isaiah and Jeremiah.

It is also ironic that in
the previous chapter of
Second Chronicles (34), Josiah
is given a prophesy that said
because Josiah sought the
Lord and rid Judah of
idolatry that he would
"go to his grave in
peace and would not
see the evil the Lord would
bring on the inhabitants
of Judah" (2 Chron 34:28).

There is a lot to ponder here.
What part of prophecy is forged
in the immutable will and sovreignty
of God, and what part can be affected,
even altered, or made null, by my
sadly mistaken actions?

If you look at it one way,
Josiah did not go to his
grave in peace: he died
fighting a battle that
was not his to fight. But if
you look at in a larger sense
it could fairly be said
he died with personal peace,
with the heritage of being
a godly king, perhaps largely
unaware of his final costly
error, and he did not live to
see Judah fall into the
Babylonian Exile.

We all make errors, even
godly people. God will not
disown the godly legacy
of a man or woman just
because he or she makes
a mistake, even a mortally
fatal one. The only truly
fatal mistake would
be to turn from God and to
worship idols. Josiah
did not do that. Even so, this
story is bittersweet.

We must learn to seek the Lord
in ALL things, EVERY time,
without fail. Jesus said, "I only
do the things that I see My Father
doing" (John 5:19, 20). We cannot
spray spiritual buckshot into
every situation we see, even if
we mean well, or many will be injured
by "friendly fire." We have to make
sure not only that we are fighting on
the right side of the war, but on the
right front!

We dare not pull the trigger
until God says to or an arrow of
the enemy may come back and mortally
wound us. There are a lot of things I
can fight for, but are they the things
that God wants me to fight for?

Just because I sought God
yesterday, does not mean that
I will know His will for me
today. Yesterday He may have
said, "Go." Today, He might
say, "Stay." I will not know
unless I stay in vital union
with Him and ask Him continually.

Josiah was a good man, a godly king,
who lost his life for nothing:
he did not have to die at Megiddo.
There is so much in this passage
to examine. He did not have to die,
and yet, he could have been taken
captive and not killed. Then he would
have seen the painful sight of
his nation going into captivity.
Despite his mistake, God still
fulfilled the prophecy to him
that he would not see his beloved
country fall into the hands of the Enemy.

Was it then God's will that
Josiah be killed? No, I don't
think that for one minute.
Josiah failed to discern
God's voice and fell as a
casualty. Would you or I
discern God speaking through
the voice of our enemy?
Would we make the same mistake?
Now there is another whole
can of worms!

We have to be so careful,
so prayerful, so pure of heart
that we hear the voice of God from
whatever corner He speaks
and through whatever servant
He chooses to use.

Can our adversaries be the mouthpiece
of God to us? Can God use even our rivals
to warn us to get out of the way?
Apparently so. Do we need to refine our
discernment so we get the message straight
and not believe the lies of Satan mixed in
with the truth?
ABSOLUTELY!

Better to hear the Word of the Lord
from the mouth of a friend or one
of the Lord's prophet's! The question
is, "Where were the Lord's prophets
when Josiah was pondering all this
in his heart? Were they speaking
the truth and Josiah was just not
listening? Were they telling Josiah that
Necho was a false prophet and
could not be believed or affirming
that God was speaking through him?"
Or where they not even asked?

This passage ends with Jeremiah
lamenting, crying because judgment
was now certain; crying because
the good king was dead; and
crying, perhaps, over the needless
loss of a good man. The Lament
he wrote in Lamentations 4:20
says that the "good king was
taken in their snares." You
hear his pain loud and clear.

The prophetess Huldah, who, from the Lord,
commended Josiah, failed to see the
totality of this unhappy event coming
(cp. 2 Chron. 34:22-28).
We see in part and prophecy in part
(I Cor. 13:9). She gave her piece
but apparently there were
more pieces to the puzzle.

There always are, aren't there?--
including that difficult piece
called "the free will of man!"

We need God utterly, completely,
each moment, every minute, now
and forever. He will lead us home
even if we make a huge mistake. Let
us help each other to avoid as
many mistakes as possible!

I encourage you to seek the Lord.
Don't lose your life, your
ministry, your hope, your peace,
your walk with the Lord, for nothing.
Avoid a fatal mistake: seek the Lord,
and having sought Him, obey what He
says. It always leads to life even
if it is through a path of death!

King Josiah
seeking
God
obedience to God
the sovreignty of God
2 Chronicles 35:22
John 5:19,20
free will

The Pain of the Prophet: True Prophets vs. False Prophets

The Pain of the Prophet: True Prophets vs. False Prophets

There is so much that is tossed around in
the name of the prophetic today. That which
is truly prophetic is in a class by itself.
It is called total identification with
the heart of God.

The true prophet is birthed for a season of
calamity and lives set apart unto God.
His or her life is watermarked with pain,
for a prophet sees what will happen
if people cannot hear and obey God.

A prophet lives alone upon a hill, looking
for danger, for the first wisps of smoke
that spell only one thing: "Fire!" He
calls first for the fire of God to enliven
and purify through repentance. Unheeded, his
calls for fire will bring warning of the
fire of God that will burn in judgment.
The prophet, therefore, carries a message
that few would want to hear unless
they care for the state of their souls,
even their eternal lives.

One can ignore the cry of "Fire!" but
that does not make the fire cease its
burning or enable the prophet to cease
his commission. Indeed, for a prophet
to be proved right, a certain judgment
must fall, a sure chastisement administered,
a corrective work applied. If this is
not painful to the prophet then he is
not a true prophet and lacks the heart
of God for true restoration.

There are myriads of prophets who like
to pronounce gloom and doom, but which
of them has the heart to bear the pain
of interceding for a genuine repentance?
A true prophet must desire, above all,
that his or her clarion call will bring a
genuine return to God. It is easy to rail,
it is agony to stand and watch and call
people who are not listening back to
the Father.

It is a fearsome and holy task to enter
into the very heart of God as He calls
His people back to Himself. The
heart of the prophet must echo forth the
eternal love of God. There can be no
joy at the idea of judgment coming, even
when it appears inevitable, even when
the prophet himself is harmed or stoned
or even killed in the process.

God does not wish to punish. He takes
no pleasure in judgment. He does not
wait and watch for wrongdoing in
order to find pleasure in chastising
waywardness. A prophet MUST have this
tenor of heart or he does not stand
for God.

Consider Jonah. He understood God,
he understood the prophetic role,
but he did not have the heart of God.
He understood quite well that for God
to reap a family of restored hearts,
that he would have to be proved wrong.
And if the people of Nineveh did not turn to
God, Jonah should find no pleasure
in their chastisement.

Job failed on both points: he was not
willing to be proved wrong for the
sake of another. He was unwilling to
bear a message of judgment unless it
ended in judgment. He did not want mercy
to intervene for it would make him
appear lesser in the eyes of others.
He did not have the heart of God.
One gets the impression that he preferred
that the people be judged so he could
be proved "right." With "right" like that
I would hate to see what wrong might look
like.

How many prophets have this kind of
heart? How many prophets are unwilling
to bear the pain of their calling
because they are not able to identify
with God as He ever so patiently waits
for His people to return to Him?

God does not ask of a prophet something
He does not endure Himself. People
constantly accuse God of allowing evil
and not putting an end to suffering.
God waits and waits for us to return
to Him. If He was a God who delighted
in meting out punishment, the earth
would be devoid of human life for
all of us would have been destroyed.

That which the prophet speaks should
call people back to God. What becomes
of the prophet, what his reputation
is, what accolades or resistances
are thrown upon him, should matter
not one whit to him: it comes with the
territory of being a prophet.

The words of a prophet are born and
spearheaded out of his or her own
repentance, they are to be ministered in
humility. The true prophet takes no
pleasure in being right. For "being right"
is about words and reputations and
and pride. A true prophet must
bear great pain in a hidden place.
He must live and die for the
kind of reconcilation that Jesus
lived and died for. It is not
for the fainthearted.

The true prophet must be a deaf
and blind servant of the Lord.
The prophet who truly sees must
be blind to all that would
stop him from his mission.
The prophet who truly hears must
be deaf to the reasonings of man,
to the hurtful taunts that will fall
upon his ears, and the painful rejections
that will fall upon his life. He must
be able to accept the pain inflicted
on his heart by those who do not see,
or worse yet, do not want to see.

He must have one prayer:
"Father, forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing."

This kind of pain is part and parcel
of the prophetic call. That is the
hard part. The glorious part is that
those prophets who identify with
the heart of God, get the heart
of God planted forever within
them. The medium becomes the
message. The prophet becomes
the priest. A heart of stone
is replaced with a heart of
flesh, and that heart is
a redeemed heart, made in
the image of the heart of
Jesus. That would make it all
worthwhile, wouldn't it?

So to all those true prophets
who happen upon this article,
to everyone who thinks
they have a prophetic message,
search deeply to see whether
you are able to administer
it with the heart of God.
You will know the answer
by the amount of pain that
surrounds its delivery. Let us
trust that you will share the
joy of watching the Lamb
receive the fruits of His
labor. Anything less is just not
good enough.

When the Son of Man Comes, will He Find Faith in the Earth?

I am calling My People to readiness.

When the Son of Man returns will He find
faith in the earth? (Luke 18:8)

As always, a remnant shall be saved.
Many are called but few are chosen.
Abraham searched for 50 righteous but
not even 10 were found and the
evildoers were destroyed in Sodom.
Only Lot and his daughters were saved.

Where are the righteous?
Who shall be saved?

I, the Lord, know. I search each heart
and all is seen as clearly as by the
brightness of the noonday sun.

I warn the righteous.
I speak clearly to My Friends.
I jealously guard My Bride.
I protect even in the midst of calamity.
No man can snatch you out of My Hand.

Work while it is yet day.
The darkness is coming and then there is
no more time for preparation.
The darkness is at hand. There are but
a few hours of light. Work into the night.

Ready your household.
Warn your neighbors.
You must make your decision now
for when the strong winds blow against
the house it will happen quickly.
No time then.
That time is now.
The minutes tick down.

A remnant shall be saved.


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Talitha cumi: Arise & Be Healed

Be healed, My Child.
Talitha cumi. Little girl, arise:
Sleep no more, for morning breaks.
I lay my hand upon you as I did
upon Jairus's daughter so long ago.

Come, awake to your true life,
your life in Me.
Arise from the dead.

The fever of fear is breaking.
The malady of self-interest, and
self-seeking is drying up.
The night of darkness is almost past.

Be healed, Child.
Nothing stands in the way of that healing
that cannot be stopped with a mere
glance at Me in faith.
Perfect Love casts out all fear.
The last waves of it are being
thrown out.
Let them go.

Here, receive Bread.
Eat and receive My strength.
Then go out and feed others.

(Mark 5:21-43).

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God Calling: The Race is Not To The Swift

The race is not to the swift. The battle is not to the brave, but the victory is for those who fear Me. Your eyes have not yet seen all that I plan for you. You will look back and say, "Who but the Lord could have done this?" And your face will be radiant. Yet it is deeper and wider, and yes, more hidden and invisible than you think. Like the pearl of great price I will hide you in a secret place, away from harm. Know that I do this in My wisdom and My great and exceedingly love for you. Dwell continually in Me. Make that your priority. For I am jealous over you with deep, deep love. Come to me continually. I watch for your coming and you bring me great joy. I tell you again, dwell continually in Me. Gaze upon Me. I will uphold and protect. I will accomplish all that I have purposed in My heart for you. Ah, dear one, it is a good plan, indeed! Let us go, I wish to take you further down the path.

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God Calling: Called to Trust God

Not many wise. Not many rich. Not many of good report. I have come to call sinners and not the righteous. Who can stand before Me as blameless? Who will come into My Presence without sin? I am the LORD. I search every heart. No thought goes unnoticed, no tendency of the heart goes unobserved. Come to Me. I ask you to come not because I AM the Lord of Hosts but because I want you to live. I come to you as a Servant. Please choose to listen to Me. My ways bring life. I choose good for you if you will but give up your own ways and come to Me. Let go of reasoning and earthly knowledge. Let go of needing to appear right. Let go of control, and it's illusions. Nothing is yours to hold onto, yet all is safe with Me. Trust Me. Trust is not hard--even a child, ESPECIALLY a child, is able to trust. Do you hear what I am saying to you? Then please listen and trust.

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God Calling: Pouring Out the Mercy of God

I pour out mercy on everyone. The meek receive it, knowing their need. It is often wasted on the children of this world, for they ignore it and cast it aside. I tell you, on them it is wasted.

So I waste, and they waste, but in very different ways. You must learn to waste as I waste.

Not as the world. Pour out mercy by the bucket. Let it spill over, more than is needed.
You are afraid of such waste, but I am not. There was one who "wasted" her oil and poured

it out all over Me. Only those without eyes to see thought it was wasted. Mary knew it was

not. The fragrance was far-reaching, life-changing. You never know who will receive the overflow you pour out. Pour out, pour out mercy as if it were your life's oil poured out on Me.

I have said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice". Now I say unto you, "I want the sacrifice of mercy."

It is not about how much mercy you need: there is ample supply. It is about how much you are willing to receive and then, in turn, pour out on others. Some people receive mercy but then are not willing to show mercy. You know how I feel about that!

Let mercy flow from your inner well, like a fountain. You will never run dry if it comes from My spring within you. It is my mercy, and it is for me to pour out--even to waste. Let me, not you, judge if it is wasted. Do not try to stop the well or direct the flow. It is meant to flow freely. If you feel dry of mercy, come up and watch me pour out of my supply. Mercy is for me to waste so that all men have the chance to come to me, and so that all men will be without excuse in that Day.

Would I ask you to walk the second mile if I had not already done it? I have walked way past the second mile with the world. Make My heart glad by walking along the path of mercy with Me.
Let My mercy pour through you. Let it gush out so that it's fragrance will permeate wherever you go.

Mercy.

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Dorothy, Toto, Poppies and The American Dream

(A prophetic vision)

Dorothy was holding her little dog, Toto, in a scene similar to the one found in the field of poppies in the Wizard of Oz. She was looking at a field of poppies with a look of dismay on her face. The poppies surrounded a typical American-style suburb. There was no one in sight as everyone had fallen asleep just like Dorothy had in the movie.

I asked, "What caused them to go to sleep?" I saw four causes: I saw a television with its sound on.... the sound from the television had caused people to go to sleep. Next, I saw a preacher in the pulpit, it was kind of a stereotypical preacher, his words also had lulled people to sleep. I saw a supermarket and saw that people had overeaten and fallen asleep on their couches. I saw a swimming pool, and people in their backyards with motorcycles and sports gear, etc. I thought, "What is wrong with a swimming pool?" I heard a voice say, "People are spiritually asleep because they have pursued 'the American Dream" and have not pursued first the Kingdom of God. "

my commentary:

I believe the television represents the effects of television, and the larger effects of our culture on our spiritual lives. It steals our time, negatively effects our perception, dulls our sensitivities and offers a world view that is often not in line with God's ways.

It was disconcerting to see the preacher as a cause of people's going to sleep. Yet, in our pulpits what is being preached? How much of it is just psycho-babble, or the theology and reasoning's of men, or sweet nothings lacking power and truth? How much is all wrapping, and no content? Even in evangelical churches the very idea of what the atonement means is being re-worked to better suit our modern sensibilities.

And what of our sinful excesses of the flesh? We overeat to cover our emptiness. We try to quiet the still, small voice of God by swallowing enormous portions of french fries and ice cream and cake far in excess of what is necessary or healthful either physically or spiritually?

And what of the very basis of our society? How many of us worship at the alter of "the American Dream?" I don't think God has a problem with us living in a house and enjoying things, including our swimming pools. But if we put pursuing those material things first (and although we say we don't, we do by the way we use our time and resources) there is a problem. On any given summer Sunday are more suburban folk at their children's soccer games or at church? watching football or serving the poor?

The other part of this vision concerns the poppies. We say we are fighting the war on terror, but the largest cash crop in Afghanistan is poppies (opium) harvested for drugs to be sold largely to the suburbs and cities of the western world in the form of heroin. Don't tell me that a lot of that money does not end up in the hands of the very people who are seeking to destroy us. Through illicit drug use we are opening the door to our own destruction and the destruction of our children and bankrolling our enemies while we are at it. Of course if they were the defenders of God that they claim to be they wouldn't be doing this, but that is another story.

In the original Wizard of Oz, The Cowardly Lion says this, "If we leave her here she will die," said the Lion. 'The smell of the flowers is killing us all. I myself can scarcely keep my eyes open, and the dog is asleep already.'

It was true; Toto had fallen down beside his little mistress. But the Scarecrow
and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were not troubled by the scent of the flowers."

Not made of flesh. Ah, but we are, and the ungodly but alluring smells and influences are killing us. Toto, representing the younger and smaller of us, even our CHILDREN, are already asleep. Jesus tells us, "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41).

Put some spiritual coffee on and wake up. Turn the tv off and pray with your kids. Live the way you know you should. Honor God. Watch and pray.

Do Not Let Fear Convince You to Jump!

Someone was walking on a narrow path. It was only as wide as the person's foot. On either side of the path demons taunted the person walking. They called out, and jeered, "The path is too narrow, you will fall off! Jump! Just jump off!" They were saying this because if the person stayed on the path they would be protected by the Lord but if they got off the path they could be attacked. The person's step was sure, there was not a hesitancy of step, but the jeering brought great fear to the person's mind. They became afraid and felt they could not continue to put one foot in front of the other to walk safely along the path.

The person jumped off the path into the brambles. It was not the person's feet that slipped, but the fear in the person's mind that caused them to doubt, and convinced them to jump off it.

Two angels, one on either side of the path, watched the person with some dismay. They wanted to help but were not able to help the person until he or she decided that they wanted to get back on the path.

Do not be lured off the narrow path by fear that you will lose your step. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105). " He makes my feet like hinds (deers) feet, and sets me upon my high places. " (Psalm 18:33).

Men Baked in the Devil's Oven

As I was praying I saw a large batter bowl full of batter and someone was stirring the batter. In the batter were large lumps. As I looked, I could see the lumps were men. Some were dead, they had drowned or suffocated in the batter. Some were still barely alive. I asked the Lord what this meant and He said that men were being lured into spiritual death by illicit sweetness in the night hours. The "illicit sweetness" was pornography and sexual sin. They are lured to partake of the sweet batter and then drown in the Devil's trap as they cannot get out of the bowl.

As I continued to look I could see it was the hand of the Devil stirring the batter and that just beyond the bowl was a hot oven! The intent of the Enemy was to bake the batter with the men in it and make a cake of it and eat it!

Let us not be indifferent to the Devil's plan to destroy people's lives through pornography and sexual sin. Pray that God will cause people to see they are being lured into a trap that will kill them spiritually. When God cursed the serpent in the garden of Eden, He said, "Dust you will eat (Genesis 3:14)." It is we who are dust, and we become the Devil's food when we sin and go out from under the covering of the Lordship of Christ.

Let Go of the Weights

Last night I was thinking of that kind of ongoing spiritual malaise that sometimes lingers in our lives or in the lives of our loved ones. The picture of the Peanuts character "Pig Pen," with dust clouds swirling around him, comes to mind. How many folks do we know with ever present spiritual dust clouds hanging overhead? How many lives seem lived in some sort of fogged and murky dimness? How many have let the clear light of God in their lives wax into darkness?

God often gives me pictures as I pray. Yesterday, as I was praying, I saw a hot air balloon being filled with air. It started to rise from the ground but went only so far up and seemed stuck in a bank of thick and ominous clouds. The balloon remained there, obscured in mid-air, and the person in the balloon seemed to not know what to do to rise above the clouds. They were not aware that just above them was the brilliant unobscured sunshine. They seemed confused and complacent in their plight.

A voice cried out to them: "Let go of the weights!" Inside of the basket of the balloon were sandbagged weights used to control the balloon's ability to rise. The person inside began dropping these weights overboard and the balloon began to rise into the sunlight.

Many times we might say, "My life has been so dark, and my problems so entrenched that there are no simple answers. I will not be able to free myself from so long a slavery. I shall not know joy." I am not saying that life is not challenging and that it does not deal us some difficult blows. But if I were a betting woman, (and for the record I am not) I would bet that the world's way of thinking has overtaken us. When we think that we shall never know joy again, that our sun will never shine again, that our enslavement to our problems is perpetual, we are not taking seriously what God says when He promises His rest and joy to those who obey Him.

A voice calls out in our wilderness. It is the simple and direct Voice of God: Let go of the weights! Let go of that which is holding you in a dark place! Our response should be one of simple obedience. We will not be helped by cursing the weather, by sitting and waiting for someone to rescue us, or by jumping overboard. We will be helped by deciding to let go of the things we should not be hanging on to. How many of us hold onto unforgiveness, hold onto grudges, hold onto "our" rights? All that God asks is that we "let go." Or even begin to will to let go. That is within our power. Our willingness to let go is what will draw the Lord near to us. Salvation is closer than we know. The race is not won by the strong, but by the obedient! Hebrews 12:1 says, "let us lay aside every weight." May we do that and so rise into the great and everlasting Light of God.

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