Category Archives: Move of God

-A Word for 2010 From ACPE: ‘Breaking Debt Cycles’

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Here’s another section of the ACPE ‘Word for 2010’ that clearly spoke to me in particular. This is something that the Lord is stressing right now in my life—‘get out of debt’:

Breaking Debt Cycles

Key Scripture passage:

“The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

We felt that the Lord had given us an “eye of the storm” time period to get out of debt. In fact, as we discussed the many prophetic warnings about a second economic shaking, we felt that the Lord in His mercy had extended a period of grace to His people because many were not ready for another shaking.

Supernatural ability to get out of debt is being released. If you will start paying your debts, even in very small amounts, God will supernaturally get behind your efforts and help you get out of debt.

Response: Actually this word is good in any year. But in the midst of recession when so many Christians are having a hard time even paying our current bills much less get out of debt it is particularly poignant. Also it reminds us of the importance to rely on God for supernatural help in getting it done.

Fact is, God can give you new ideas and download information and wisdom to you that can help you get out of debt and even have extra $money to invest in ministries.  This is the essence of a ‘Kingdom economy’ that is not ‘business as usual’ but relies upon God in a major way.

I have heard many prophetical folks saying that right now is just the ‘calm before the storm’ or like in this document ‘the eye of the storm’—a time for us to rest and get prepared for another coming maybe even greater recession or even depression.

I believe that the severity of the next economic dip may depend upon how his church responds to his offer of bringing major revival. A new awakening is coming whether the Lord just needs to awaken his church with a ‘sleeping beauty kiss’ or whether a swift kick will be necessary. He still has major purposes in mind for America and he is not done with us yet.

The American church (and Western Church for that matter) has become so enmeshed in the dominant secular/materialistic culture that most Christians in this country are far too disconnected from the supernatural Christian Biblical view that would bring His Kingdom into the midst of their daily lives.

In order to rise up and be the Church and people that we are called to be it will be necessary for the Church to cast off the bonds of the dominant culture and allow the ‘rule of God’ to in flood our daily lives.

Hopefully we will not have to become desperate before we allow the Kingdom to come to our homes, jobs, businesses, marketplaces, and churches.            

-A Word for 2010 From ACPE: ‘Third Great Awakening’

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Here’s a link to a prophetic Word for 2010 from the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (ACPE) distributed by Cindy Jacobs. It a compilation of the prophetic releases from that group.

The preamble makes some good points in regard to present era prophecy:

There are differing variables that can affect the timing and/or coming to pass of these words:

  1. All prophecy not contained in scripture is conditional.
  2. The timing of when the prophecy comes to pass may occur over a longer period of time than one calendar year.  Some take many years to fulfill.
  3. It is possible that prophetic warnings will cause either the person or nation to repent and so turn away the judgment prophesied.  Biblically, this happened when Jonah prophesied to Nineveh and the city repented, causing God to relent.

There are a number of points in the document that hit home and confirm some of the stuff that I believe that the Lord has been saying to me. Particularly poignant is word that a new wind of the Holy Spirit is coming that touches a number of different nations in a special way.

The sections-  ‘Third Great Awakening’ and ‘Evangelism’ leaped out at me in particular:

Third Great Awakening

We believe that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that came on November 11, 2009, in Kansas City signaled the beginning of a Third Great Awakening that we prophesied would come to America and the world. November 11th was the day the Pilgrims made covenant with God in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Many intercessors across the nation are crying out to God for the nation to once again become “a city set on a hill.” If we continue to pray and call out to God, the nation will shift.

Evangelism

Many churches will wake up and evangelize the lost in their cities and nations. Thousands will be swept into the kingdom of God through new “power evangelism” movements in which people [will be] shown by supernatural means that God is real.

Churches who haven’t baptized in years will begin to see many people come to Christ. Dead churches will become resurrected under the fire and power of the Holy Spirit’s working, and many [who are] lost will be swept into the kingdom of God.

I really do believe that there is another ‘Great Awakening’ coming to North America that will touch hundreds of churches and cities in a special way across all of North America.

One of the keys to the new awakening will revolve around the Kingdom of God (that is the rule of God) invading into the marketplace where we all spend a majority of our lives. An expansion the Kingdom into the workplace and businesses where we spent our daylight hours.

It is in that process that God the Father will help his children to overcome their debts and become economically secure even in the midst of major recession. Not only that, but find spiritual blessing, purpose, and fulfillment at work and in businesses.

We’ll look at more of this message in later posts.  

-Muslims Coming to Christ Through Dreams, Visions, and Miracles

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We have talked about the hidden revival among Muslims before.

Although on the front pages of the world media, radical Muslims seem to dominate the news with terrorist acts and promises to take over Europe and eventually put America under the yoke of sharia law, here is the latest report from Charisma magazine about the ‘tsunami of faith’ miraculously bringing thousands of Muslims to Christ (Link NLA):

“…a tsunami of faith is quietly overtaking the Muslim world. Islamic adherents are laying aside their allegiance to Muhammad to follow Jesus Christ, despite the social ostracism, persecution and possible martyrdom that converts to Christianity face. Propelled by dreams, visions and miracles, this wave of revival is bringing vast numbers of Muslims—some say millions—into God’s kingdom.”

The article ends with this plea for Christians to pray with their Muslim brothers:

Prayer is vital. However, three converts in Egypt told Janssen that Christians in America should pray “with” them, not “for” them.

“If you pray for us, you will pray for our safety, and the persecution will stop,” they told him. “If you pray with us, we can be sure the persecution will increase. Pray we will see millions [come] to Christ. We know there will be backlash. Pray we will be faithful, even if it costs us our lives.”

Lord, continue to do a revival work among Muslims, praise your name, Amen.

-What I’m Looking For Revival

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(North America by IronRodArt via Flickr)

A vision of the Revival I am looking for- January 20, 2001:

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my easy chair watching the events of the day on TV ( The inauguration of Pres. Bush) when all of a sudden I was in an open vision  above the earth looking down.

North America was covered in a thick grey fog. There were 4 black words in the midst of the dark covering:

Deception, Depression, Destruction, and Depravity. 

Then I saw Jesus on a white horse above the earth coming with an army. He blew away the dark fog and the Lord and His army descended upon North America.

Then I saw a light come on in the midst of America, next a few scattered lights; then soon lots of lights started coming on, like popcorn popping, all across the North America until there were 1,000’s of lights on in the USA and Canada.

Then I saw a huge tidal wave forming up on the east coast of Canada and New England and sweep across the Atlantic engulfing all of Great Britain and wash up on the northern shores of Europe.

Then I was back in my easy chair watching TV once more and I heard the Lord speak to me:

“This is my coming revival”

Here is something I wrote in August 2008 and it still reflects what I am looking forward to:

I’m Still Looking For Revival

Myself, I am still looking for revival to sweep across all of North America and affect 100’s of churches in hundreds of different places all at the same time. Then like a tidal wave engulf the UK and wash up on the shores of France and Northwestern Europe. A revival coming soon near you.

A revival that crosses all the man-made divisions and denominations. A revival with no ’superstars’ to elevate or tear down. A revival that looks to Jesus, engages culture, and brings repentance and change. A revival with lots of healing, that brings folks closer to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So many are looking for Jesus to come for his church, I’m looking for him to come to it. Come to it? What exactly does that mean? I’m not entirely sure what that means except it’s a ‘word’ that I keep hearing in the Spirit and the church is going to get closer to Jesus and his people will hear his voice in a profound way.

I look for a revival that will bring with it ‘a changing of the guard’ and a whole bunch of new young leaders.  A revival that will change the face of the American church–the end of ‘churchianity’ and the beginning of greater outreach to the community.

This is what I was looking for when the Lakeland outpouring started and had hoped it would be the beginning of. In spite of all the controversy and division in the aftermath, I am still looking for revival…

I say, Come Lord Jesus and surprise us!

It is my prayer that the Lord comes with his army in 2010 and brings his revival. Come Lord Jesus.

Another Vision of Revival

Here’s another vision of revival very similar to mine: an account of a vision that Barbara J. Yoder (Link NLA) had in 2006.

“…it was as if I were taken up into the sky to the altitude where jets fly. I looked down at the United States and saw that there were very few lights on anywhere in the nation. The whole nation looked like very rural or remote places I had flown over. There was one light here and another light there, far removed from each other.

However, as this army galloped across the nation, lights began to turn on in the places that the army was moving through. Furthermore, the lights remained on in the places they had already passed through. The lights increased in number until the cities and towns across the nation were completely lit up. It was as if a massive fire had been set that engulfed entire areas. …

The further they advanced, the more lit-up the nation was, until there were huge areas where the lights had become contiguous. What had been dark was now fully lit. I looked down on almost blindingly bright cities, towns and even rural areas.

The Lord said, “This is My army.”

Come Holy Spirit, Bring Revival to our land. Amen.

-Kingdom Culture: God Promises Peace of Mind and Joy in Your Life

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       (Image by freestone via Flickr)

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  -ESV

Everything around you might be chaotic and falling a part but God offers you peace of mind and joy in the midst of it all. One can live in full confidence and faith that everything is going to turn out for the best for you and yours (Rom 8:28clip_image002) in Christ Jesus.

God the Father personally offers to give you His peace and joy—a peace that the world outside of Jesus does not understand or comprehend. It is available to you for the asking, no matter what your circumstances.

You may be engulfed in a nasty divorce and see no daylight at the end of the tunnel. You may have lost a child and you are even blaming God for it. That good job that you had for years is gone and you can’t seem to find another. You may be behind in all of your bills and the family car was just repossessed. It doesn’t matter—God promises you peace and joy in your life regardless.

You say Michael that is just crazy—there is no way that I can have any peace while I am going through this or that.

That is the point of course, God the Father offers all Christians a peace that doesn’t make sense in the ways and understanding of this world.

Here’s how it works. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit actually living inside them even though most of the time we ignore that presence. How incredible it that?  The creator of the universe actually has placed a part of himself inside of each one of us. It is that Spirit which can transform our lives and bring us peace and joy, faith and confidence, in the midst of sorrow and chaos.

It all begins when we choose to worship and praise God no matter what—in bad times and good. The Holy Spirit will flood our lives with peace and joy if we choose to take everything to him in prayer and then praise and thank him for everything regardless.

I once read a book that demonstrated this principal in the life of a prisoner who was transformed by the power of God and later became a minister that touched the lives of millions: Prison to Praise by Merlin Carothers. I highly recommend the book.

Point is, all of our lives can be transformed for the better by praising God and receiving His peace that can only come to us by His Spirit which is given to us through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

If you’re reading this and not sure whether you have His Holy Spirit within you, sort of always believed in Jesus but never fully committed your life to Christ, now is the time. Pray to God right now…God I want your Holy Spirit in my life, I fully commit myself to your Son Jesus, please help me with my unbelief and help me to change my life. I want to receive your joy and peace in my life through your Son Jesus and by Your Holy Spirit.  In Jesus name, Amen.

*NOTE: This is the final article in the Philippians 4:4-7 series. Here’s links to the other 4 articles:

-Kingdom Culture: Do Not Worry, Be Thankful and Pray Instead

-Kingdom Culture: The Lord is Always with Us

-Kingdom Culture: Be Reasonable and Considerate

-Kingdom Culture: Peace in the Midst of Chaos

-Kingdom Culture: Do Not Worry, Be Thankful and Pray Instead

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(Image by Loci Lenar via Flickr)

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  -ESV

Do not be anxious about anything? This comes in the form of a command and surely is relevant for us today in the middle of a major economic crisis and a culture that seems to be leaving us behind. In effect Paul says here—Don’t worry pray instead and be thankful. This is the way of the Kingdom and the path of faith which leads us in an entirely different direction than the dominant culture.

We know that Paul actually lived out this command praising God after being beaten and thrown in prison, ministering to those around him regardless of the circumstances, even writing this scripture and others while he was in custody.

Remember, we have a God who wants only the best for us and we have a Lord who understands what we are going through, and we have a Holy Spirit which is with us in the midst of all of our troubles inspiring us to seek the best—we are not alone, praise God and be thankful!

The passage also remind me of what Jesus said in Matt. 6:25-34 plus the Greek word for anxious is the same in this passage also:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” …

…“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”…

“O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, …For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The basic message in both of these passages is the same—live according to faith and not like the dominant culture. Praise God, seek His Kingdom, pray continually, remember to be thankful and  it will be well with you and yours for all eternity including the few years lived on this earth and in these chaotic times.

Believe me I know how difficult this may seem sometimes and I certainly am guilty of letting bad circumstances get to me and bring me down for a while. But with God everything is possible and when we let His Spirit to be more a part of our daily lives than it is increasingly fulfilled in us as we actually gain the mind of Christ and peace floods into our daily lives in spite of ourselves.

-Kingdom Culture: The Lord is Always with Us

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       (Image by freestone via Flickr)

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  -ESV

One of the most important lessons that all of us need to realize as Christians is that our Lord is with us through it all–good and bad. He is there when we lose our job, he is there when we fight with our wife, he is there also when we respond to his Spirit and reach out to others around us.

He is there through thick and thin. He promised us that he would be with us to the very end of the age. We might be facing tough times right now, but if you take a time out and read what Jesus and his Apostles lived through, we probably aren’t facing circumstances quite as severe as they did–as least not those of us in America. Some Christians are and we may face similar trials in the future.

Remember Paul and Silas in prison singing? The Lord was with them that night. Peter- when the chains fell off?

It reminds me of the testimony of a modern day Christian pastor that I personally know who was thrown into a Cambodian prison during the ‘killing fields’ era when all Christians were rounded up and killed. As he waited for his execution and after he was beaten every day and left for dead in his cell he began to sing: “I have a river of life flowing out from me…”.

Eventually all those in cells around him were converted. They took him out of the prison since he seem to be causing so much touble among his fellow prisoners –put him in a hospital to bring him back to health so that they could tortured him some more and get him to reveal the identities of fellow Christians.

A East German (supposedly Communist) doctor who was actually a closet Christian helped him escape. He found his way to Southern California and pastored among the Cambodian community here until the Lord sent him back to re-establish the church in Cambodia (which is another story). The point is this Cambodia bother testifies that the Lord was with him in all of those situations and continues to be. A real lesson for us all.

The Lord is at hand and with us through it all. 

-Kingdom Culture: Be Reasonable and Considerate

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(Picture by adonis hunter / ahptical via Flickr)

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  -ESV

In the ongoing culture around us the motto is- “looking out for number one”. In many ways Christians have been no different than anyone else. Put me in a car going down the freeway and most of the time it’s ‘do to others before they do to me’ –not exactly the Golden Rule that Jesus had in mind.

Even in churches, some of the meanest people I have ever had the misfortune of coming across have been supposed Christians sitting in the pews. Over the years when teaching classes I have occasionally been pulled into battles over minutia that didn’t amount to anything more important than a slight disagreement over eschatology followed by a severe tongue lashing. Anyone that has been posting on the internet for a while can attest to how ungracious fellow Christians can be sometimes.

It really is time for Christians to be different. For too long we have been pulled along with the culture—but this culture is no longer Christian and the prevailing values no longer reflect an underlining effort to do good. Actually increasingly what is ‘good’ according to the scriptures is now increasingly being called bad and what is evil is now starting to be considered good. In my lifetime I have lived long enough to see everything turned on its ear.

It is time for Christian to reflect a ‘Kingdom Culture’ which is increasingly at odds and different than the dominant culture around us in America and the Western world.

We may pray every day—”Let your Kingdom come let your will be done”—it is time for the Kingdom to become a reality in our everyday living. We should stand out as gentle, reasonable, and considerate folks letting our lights shine as beacons into the increasing darkness.

This doesn’t happen over night but only as we allow the Holy Spirit to come in and dwell with us as we do our daily tasks—going down the toll road, shopping in the store, and reaching out in kindness and civility to those working around us. As a beacon of light that will draw people to you and the Lord which should be reflected in our lives. Let the Holy Spirit’s light break through.  

-Kingdom Culture: Peace in the Midst of Chaos

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Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  -ESV

For many Christians the chaos that is going on around us in the economy and everyday living is closing in on them and robbing them of their joy and victory in Christ Jesus. With our harried lives of here there and everywhere it is sometime difficult to fit the Lord into our busy schedule—at least it is for me sometimes—and even harder to rejoice in the midst of it all.

Nevertheless, the counsel of these verses is very clear –we are to rejoice always in the midst of it all. You might say– ‘Well Michael- you don’t know what I am going through right now’—and that would be true but neither do you know what I am facing.

It is good for us to remember what Paul was facing when he penned these verses in the first place. He was under arrest facing the Roman Justice system. What ever we may be going through it has got to be better than that. The message transcends the centuries and the Holy Spirit confirms it in our very hearts:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

(To be continued) 

-Overcoming the Strategy of our Enemy

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In his devotional for today- “The Enemy’s Secret Strategy”(Link NLA)-John Bevere says the following about the goal of our enemy Satan to marginalize Christians:

Hollywood, religious people, and our culture have painted a warped and limited image of God’s people. What is the distortion? We have an enemy named Satan, who is called “the ruler of this world,” “the prince of the power of the air,” and “the god of this world.” He influences the world’s systems and sways the minds of those who do not belong to God. He has fallen angels and demons to help carry out his grand strategy.

The sad fact is that too often the church has limited Satan’s chief strategy to certain behaviors, like trying to get people to drink alcohol or watch sex scenes in movies. He’s much more crafty than that and uses a wide variety of snares and diversions. We’ve missed his primary purpose. Because what he fears most is Christians discovering who God’s made them to be—extraordinary people with abilities to carry out remarkable and unusual feats. This should be the image society has of Christians.

Response: You can see this everywhere in America today and particularly in Europe and the UK. Christianity is being marginalized and most of the time falsely identified with a couple of ‘far right’ issues now considered out of the mainstream.

However, the reality is that when accurate polls are taken Christians are still the real mainstream in this country but a great delusion is reining over this land and the Western world. Christians have allowed the enemy and in some ways have helped him to redefine and marginalize the church.

The media now portrays Christians as mean, angry, and judgmental folk who care more about their antiquated beliefs than about people. 

We are living in times where what is ‘good’ is now sometimes considered bad in this society and what is scripturally ‘bad’ is now the goals of many. Nevertheless we should let our lights shine in the darkness and do everything we can to make life better for ourselves and those we come in contact everyday.

Christians need to accurately portray the gospel and the Kingdom in our everyday lives blessing everyone who comes in contact with us—this puts the lie to how our enemy defines Christians and breaks through the deception and prevailing delusion.

May we let the Holy Spirit enliven us and let us become the example and face of Christ in a fallen and deluded world.