It is time for the gift of discernment to operate in our lives like never before. Scripture prophesies that in the last days, many will go forth displaying miracles, signs, and wonders. There will be both the false and the true. How will we know the difference? Even now, how can we differentiate between those who speak as though from God, but who really have a different spirit? Matthew 7 tells us that we will know them by their fruit!
Matt.7:20-23 - "So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I NEVER KNEW YOU! Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
We are told in 1 Cor.8:3 that "if anyone loves God, he is known by Him." Thus, we see that a person who truly loves God is also known by Him. We love God if we do the things He has commanded us to do. Thus, the person who goes his or her own way, even while seeming to operate mightily in the gifts of the Spirit, is not really of God, but is operating in a different spirit. Do we see evidence of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness? Do we feel a knitting together of our hearts with them when in their presence?
Many have become confused because of apparent "evidence" that someone is being used by God. However, there is no sure inner witness that we are joined together in unity. The Lord would say to you today, trust the witness of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you. Look not at outward signs, but look to the inner man. Test the spirit, and know them by their fruit! "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit." (Matt.7:18)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
What God Is Saying About Women
Many people have prophesied that this is a great year for women to come forth into their destinies and to take their God-ordained places in the Body of Christ. I believe that as women come into proper alignment, the men will come into their full destiny. This is because, in the beginning, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Gen.1:27) Thus, men and women are two halves of a whole; both must be in alignment in order to be one. Here, we're not speaking only of a marriage bond, but of the most fundamental relationship between men and women in God's creation.
Scripture is full of examples of women who affected the destinies of the men they were connected to - either for good or for evil:
Eve....... Adam
Sarah....... Abraham (Sarah gave Abraham to her maid, Hagar, resulting in Ishmael. Finally, she believed God and received the ability to conceive Isaac (the son of promise) in her old age.
Rahab ...... Ancestor of Jesus; Believed God and hid the spies
Ruth ....... Ancestor of Jesus; Had to obey God to be in the field for Boaz
Abagail..... Kept King David from sin; became his wife
Esther ..... Became Queen and saved her people
Deborah .... Sat in the gate and heard the command of God to send for Barak
Hannah ..... Dedicated the prophet Samuel to the Lord
Mary ....... Believed God and became the mother of Jesus
I believe the Lord is calling women according to Isaiah 54, "Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit." He is beautifying each precious bondservant, laying a foundation of sapphires and confirming His covenant of peace. Where things in these lives have been barren and desolate, the Lord is now bringing forth much fruit. Ministries that have been dormant will now produce many children. There will be no more shame or reproach, for the Lord has come as Redeemer!
"So arise and shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child. Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed. For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman", says the Lord! (Isa.54:1)
Scripture is full of examples of women who affected the destinies of the men they were connected to - either for good or for evil:
Eve....... Adam
Sarah....... Abraham (Sarah gave Abraham to her maid, Hagar, resulting in Ishmael. Finally, she believed God and received the ability to conceive Isaac (the son of promise) in her old age.
Rahab ...... Ancestor of Jesus; Believed God and hid the spies
Ruth ....... Ancestor of Jesus; Had to obey God to be in the field for Boaz
Abagail..... Kept King David from sin; became his wife
Esther ..... Became Queen and saved her people
Deborah .... Sat in the gate and heard the command of God to send for Barak
Hannah ..... Dedicated the prophet Samuel to the Lord
Mary ....... Believed God and became the mother of Jesus
I believe the Lord is calling women according to Isaiah 54, "Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit." He is beautifying each precious bondservant, laying a foundation of sapphires and confirming His covenant of peace. Where things in these lives have been barren and desolate, the Lord is now bringing forth much fruit. Ministries that have been dormant will now produce many children. There will be no more shame or reproach, for the Lord has come as Redeemer!
"So arise and shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child. Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed. For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman", says the Lord! (Isa.54:1)
Friday, February 11, 2011
Let Your Light Shine
I heard the Lord say, "Light will shine on all of your ways!" I knew this was a scripture, and I found it in the Book of Job.
Job 22:27,28 - "You will pray to Him, and He will hear you.... You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways."
No longer are we to walk in darkness, confusion, or heaviness. Many in the body of Christ have withdrawn and some have lost hope. The light of the calling and destiny the Lord revealed many years ago is about to be extinguished. The Lord would say to you, "AWAKE SLEEPER, AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND I WILL SHINE ON YOU!" (Eph.5:14)
The Lord has come in power to gloriously re-ignite the vision, the hope, and the calling of His people. It is His light that will enlighten (furnish knowledge; instruct; give spiritual insight to) each one, according to John 1:9. It is His light that will draw both people and provision to us (Isa.60:1-5). Our part is to ARISE AND AWAKEN and let people SEE the good works the Lord has given us to accomplish. Come out of hiding. Do what the Lord has called you to do! Take the next step. Share the vision, that those who see it may run with it (Habakkuk 2:1-3).
Matthew 5:14-16 - "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck measure, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Job 22:27,28 - "You will pray to Him, and He will hear you.... You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways."
No longer are we to walk in darkness, confusion, or heaviness. Many in the body of Christ have withdrawn and some have lost hope. The light of the calling and destiny the Lord revealed many years ago is about to be extinguished. The Lord would say to you, "AWAKE SLEEPER, AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND I WILL SHINE ON YOU!" (Eph.5:14)
The Lord has come in power to gloriously re-ignite the vision, the hope, and the calling of His people. It is His light that will enlighten (furnish knowledge; instruct; give spiritual insight to) each one, according to John 1:9. It is His light that will draw both people and provision to us (Isa.60:1-5). Our part is to ARISE AND AWAKEN and let people SEE the good works the Lord has given us to accomplish. Come out of hiding. Do what the Lord has called you to do! Take the next step. Share the vision, that those who see it may run with it (Habakkuk 2:1-3).
Matthew 5:14-16 - "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck measure, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Monday, February 7, 2011
Change: Water Into Wine
Much has been said about the changes that are coming, and that are now upon us. Most people are looking for, and already experiencing, outward changes in personal circumstances, as well as the world around us. But the Lord began to speak to me about the most fundamental change that He is effecting in order to bring about His Kingdom rule in the earth.
One of the chief activities of the Holy Spirit right now is changing the "water of the word" that is stored in us into the "new wine" of the Spirit (John 2). Those in the body of Christ who are soft and flexible (pliant and yielding; characterized by a ready capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements) can be readily identified as the new wineskins the Lord has prepared. Just as grapes must endure the fermentation process in order to be changed to wine, so, too, are God's new wineskins undergoing this inward state of agitation and intense activity as the conversion into the "wine of the Spirit" is taking place.
The Lord will begin to draw out His new wine in this season, resulting in an open manifestation of His glory, with miracles, signs, and wonders. As we speak forth His Word, He will "bear witness to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by our hands" (Acts 14:3).
John 2:6-11 - "Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the waterpots with water'...... 'Draw some out now'.... And when the headwaiter tasted the water, which had become wine..... he said, 'You have kept the good wine until now.' This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory."
Matt.9:17 - "Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
One of the chief activities of the Holy Spirit right now is changing the "water of the word" that is stored in us into the "new wine" of the Spirit (John 2). Those in the body of Christ who are soft and flexible (pliant and yielding; characterized by a ready capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements) can be readily identified as the new wineskins the Lord has prepared. Just as grapes must endure the fermentation process in order to be changed to wine, so, too, are God's new wineskins undergoing this inward state of agitation and intense activity as the conversion into the "wine of the Spirit" is taking place.
The Lord will begin to draw out His new wine in this season, resulting in an open manifestation of His glory, with miracles, signs, and wonders. As we speak forth His Word, He will "bear witness to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by our hands" (Acts 14:3).
John 2:6-11 - "Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the waterpots with water'...... 'Draw some out now'.... And when the headwaiter tasted the water, which had become wine..... he said, 'You have kept the good wine until now.' This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory."
Matt.9:17 - "Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Watch What You Sow
We're living in the days of Amos 9:11-15, in which that which we sow will be quickly reaped. No longer will there be a delay of months and years before we witness a manifestation. The Lord is both restoring that which has been lost to us, resulting in a great harvest of blessings, provision, restored relationships, etc., as well as accelerating the cycle of harvest in this day.
Amos 9:13 - "Behold days are coming," declares the Lord, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed...."
The Lord had impressed on me to watch the new opportunities for giving that He brought before us in the first fruits month of January. As we obeyed Him in the plowing and the sowing of our seed (finances, time, intercession, commitments), He was setting the course for our future. So look carefully at the past 31 days. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the new thing that He's doing in your life and ministry. Look for a quick harvest of those things that you've already put your time and financial resources to. Be especially mindful of the new relationships, alliances, and open doors that He's bringing into your life at this time.
We're living in a day like no other!
Amos 9:13 - "Behold days are coming," declares the Lord, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed...."
The Lord had impressed on me to watch the new opportunities for giving that He brought before us in the first fruits month of January. As we obeyed Him in the plowing and the sowing of our seed (finances, time, intercession, commitments), He was setting the course for our future. So look carefully at the past 31 days. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the new thing that He's doing in your life and ministry. Look for a quick harvest of those things that you've already put your time and financial resources to. Be especially mindful of the new relationships, alliances, and open doors that He's bringing into your life at this time.
We're living in a day like no other!
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