The Prophet
The word of the Lord is authenticated by signs, signs reinforce that God has really appeared to the prophet. More than any other ministry office, the prophet is under scrutiny and it should be, because authenticity is something the prophet will always have to fight. He or she is constantly battling rejection and despair and must not draw back from the place of their responsibility. The prophet must be absolutely gripped by the message they carry, their credentials aren’t denominational, their credentials are a deep compassion for humanity. They touch both the burden of the Lord and the burden of the people. When they act out the prophetic word or direct others to respond to a prophetic act, the atmosphere changes.
Euphemisms, metaphors and parables are their primary speech. Each of their words have been crafted with the ability to penetrate the spirit of the hearer. Their preaching emboldens a community to love God, and they refuse to pursue agendas and emotions that are counterproductive towards the first commandment.
The word of the Lord is authenticated by signs, signs reinforce that God has really appeared to the prophet. More than any other ministry office, the prophet is under scrutiny and it should be, because authenticity is something the prophet will always have to fight. He or she is constantly battling rejection and despair and must not draw back from the place of their responsibility. The prophet must be absolutely gripped by the message they carry, their credentials aren’t denominational, their credentials are a deep compassion for humanity. They touch both the burden of the Lord and the burden of the people. When they act out the prophetic word or direct others to respond to a prophetic act, the atmosphere changes.
Euphemisms, metaphors and parables are their primary speech. Each of their words have been crafted with the ability to penetrate the spirit of the hearer. Their preaching emboldens a community to love God, and they refuse to pursue agendas and emotions that are counterproductive towards the first commandment. The prophet intentionally removes every religious substitute and awakens the Lord’s people to the raw presence of God. They are untamed from political leaders who use words and pressure to control their actions. Intensity and zeal are the two prominent characteristics that describe their ministry, these prophets create a hunger, a sense of God, and they probe the heart and provoke the mind. Never forgetting or overlooking what is important to the Lord, because the Father expresses His care and love by sending a prophet.
In this generation the prophets that the Lord is raising up will make God’s presence accessible to those who are thirsty for it. They will possess a relentless commitment to their calling even in times of heightened resistance, because to despise prophecy is to neglect its relevance in church culture.
The voices of our generation who are anointed by the spirit of prophecy will bring the prophetic word back into cultural relevance. Capturing the hearts and minds of entire regions and nations. Cleansing the social corruption and religious manipulation that permeates the spiritually complacent. Their oracles confront the struggles of the soul which dominates the narrative in the lives of many.
For without a prophet people seem to waver between hope and fear, suspended by the events of their past and present. Like the Lord, the prophet carries the people of God close to his heart, desperately wanting them to feel the emotions of God. They prophesy who He really is, this good Father who wants to be treated like a good Father. Because the Lord has put Himself at risk of being marginalized by His own children. The prophet Jeremiah best describes the emotions of God when he said.
“I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.” Jeremiah 3:19
What He is saying is, “I’m not loved, I’m not wanted, I’m not valued by My own children”. Yet even in all these feelings of rejection God keeps pursuing us through His word, by His boundless compassion and generous love. This is why our most fundamental duty is to fall down in deep adoration.
Sincerely,
John
What can we do to bring America back to God?
The windshield of the American dream has been cracked and if it isn't replaced then the crack will only continue to grow. Repentance, fasting, and prayer are what can replace the windshield of our nation.
In our nation we have prosperity without wisdom and sexuality without boundaries, these two pursuits have skillfully become the breeding ground for indifference. The Lord doesn't have contempt for America, but tears.
Today on the blog we ask, how can we get America back to God? What is the solution? And what does it look like?
Liberal theology is out of sync with reality, it’s only concerned with social distinction, outward respectability and human merit. Because of this, it has created a value system inconsistent with the voice of the biblical prophets. As a nation, America is consumed with social popularity and acceptance, this why television shows like "America's got talent,” "American idol" and professional sports are so attractive.
There is a need for confrontation, not for the purpose to infringe upon freedom, but to provoke obedience to God. With an ideology that believes that life should be lived without any interruption,
What can we do to bring America back to God?
What are we to do when the message of the gospel becomes more and more politically inconvenient?
In our nation we have prosperity without wisdom and sexuality without boundaries, these two pursuits have skillfully become the breeding ground for indifference. The Lord doesn't have contempt for America, but tears, so we must ask ourselves,
Are the altars of our churches filled with tears or fears?
Can we imagine a restored sense of perspective like God does?
The Solution
The prophet must return to truthfulness, whether the hearers are ready for it or not. Not to offend, but to awaken the nation to the authenticity of a Holy God, to alert the consciousness of men and women who must understand that this is God's world and not their own. The Lord's justice doesn't have an appetite for retaliation, His justice has a thirst to make mankind whole.
I believe that God is raising up a prophetic people of unshakable resolve, who won't be tripped up by rejection. The dominant narrative of these up and coming voices are to set captives free and call a nation back to loving God and loving their neighbor.
The windshield of the American dream has been cracked and if it isn't replaced then the crack will only continue to grow. Repentance, fasting, and prayer are the answers to replacing the windshield of our nation.
There are no shortcuts to transformation, no short cuts to heal America's sin and wounds. But, there is a sincere cry from the heart emotionally, politically, and theologically. There is the blood of Jesus, the message of the sermon on the mount, and the passion for social justice from the voices of the Hebrew prophets at our access. As the people of God, when we prioritize what has just been said, power comes back into our witness, love back into our soul, and vision for what the Lord yearns for back into our thoughts.
Sincerely,
John
A Prophetic Dream
A few nights ago after a powerful service, I had a significant dream. I found myself in a small, older home without any furniture and there were two children in the living room with me. One young girl about ten years old and a nine month old baby boy that I was holding in my arms. What stood out to me in this living room, were the two walls which were like partitions, were sticking out towards me. As I was holding the baby I walked over to the wall on my right and the baby became noticeably more affectionate, hugging and kissing me. However, what was quite shocking to me was that when I walked over to the left, the babies nature completely changed. He began to be very angry, biting, screaming and violently hitting me. It was as if a demonic spirit had taken over him.
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It startled me to a point, that I immediately woke from the dream. After laying in bed for just a few moments asking the Lord to show me what this meant, I fell back to sleep and went right back to the dream. As I'm holding this tormented little child, I hear the Lord say "The stronghold is in the wall", "The stronghold is the wall", twice this was spoken to me. I then became aware that something had to be done, I could not allow this precious little guy to go through what he was suffering from.
A few nights ago after a powerful service, I had a significant dream. I found myself in a small, older home without any furniture and there were two children in the living room with me. One young girl about ten years old and a nine month old baby boy that I was holding in my arms. What stood out to me in this living room, were the two walls which were like partitions, were sticking out towards me. As I was holding the baby I walked over to the wall on my right and the baby became noticeably more affectionate, hugging and kissing me. However, what was quite shocking to me was that when I walked over to the left, the babies nature completely changed. He began to be very angry, biting, screaming and violently hitting me. It was as if a demonic spirit had taken over him.
It startled me to a point, that I immediately woke from the dream. After laying in bed for just a few moments asking the Lord to show me what this meant, I fell back to sleep and went right back to the dream. As I'm holding this tormented little child, I hear the Lord say "The stronghold is in the wall", "The stronghold is the wall", twice this was spoken to me. I then became aware that something had to be done, I could not allow this precious little guy to go through what he was suffering from. As I prayed, I observed that I was wearing a belt with a sword attached to it. Then as soon as I looked at the sword on my right side again I heard the Lord say, "Go through the wall". Without hesitation, I simply walked into the wall.
When I walked through this wall, I wasn't caring the baby any more, however, what became clearly apparent was that I was in a completely different place. This place was swamp like and misty, although I could see clearly, it was like dusk. There was an unnerving presence in the atmosphere, I felt somewhat angered by what I was feeling.
What captured my attention was that I was walking upon this concrete path and even though the swamp was all around, every time I took a step the concrete pads held me up and I never sank. What was intriguing was that as I walked through this swamp, clinching my sword, ready to fight, I saw these small metal signs like a for sale sign on a house, on both sides of the path. These signs said words like pornography, anger, fear, addiction, bitterness, manipulation, gossip and many other similar idioms. I felt outraged by these signs, for I knew that this was the reason why the little boy was acting the way he did.
With all the strength I could muster, I lifted the sword over my head and began belting the sign over and over again. As I began to batter the sign, the sword was not causing any damage, but neither was the sword being damaged. Now sweating, seeing that zero was being accomplished, I stopped. What was I supposed to do? I knew I must demolish these signs in order to free the baby. Then I noticed I had the little child in my arms again, my hands and arms numb and tingling all over. The little man somewhat more subdued than when I had first gone through the wall. I heard the Lord say "you can't eradicate the strongholds until you renew the mind" What? Why didn't the sword work? So I felt an urgency to lay my hands on the young baby boy, and when I did, the signs began to melt like wax. Both the child's behavior and countenance powerfully shifted. While my hand was on the child I begin to prophesy "you aren't what your actions say you are" all the signs completely vanished and I woke up.
When I woke up I began to ask the Lord to give the interpretation, knowing this was a message that the Lord desired to communicate. This is what I believe the dream means..
In the days to come, there will be an explosion of church planting unlike anything we have seen in history. Church planters will have a massive influx of spiritual babies that come into these new ministries. These leaders will create a church atmosphere of affection and fellowship. Many who have been with the Lord for years, will leave where they're at to assist in this movement of opening new churches across the earth. However, after a while, if viewpoints and ideologies aren't transformed, deep seated issues will begin to surface within individuals.
Although there is excitement and hope for growth and impact, if hidden emotional problems aren't confronted with both love and truth, those who we are called to minister to will sit in these church’s utterly unchanged. What happens when an unhealthy behavior becomes public? The tendency is to drop the baby and pick out a better one. Partly it’s because we can be afraid to hold them in their pain because we feel we don't have an explanation or a solution to their difficulty. Some will abandon these children because certain leaders don't believe these new converts possess the skill to grow the leader's vision.
Breaking strongholds are what Kingdom ministry is required to do, going through impenetrable walls of thought are what the church has been commissioned for. Gripping others in their pain and refusing to reject them because of wrong actions are what we must do in order to set others free. Let's rebuild the hearts and minds of a society not through traditions, but through a passion for their complete salvation. Time and time again, many have sat in a church while the speaker preached the word, but the individual left unchanged and unchallenged. Why weren't the strongholds cast down? What about the sword? Every one of us know the power of the word. However, without an impartation the mind will not be renewed. Impartation comes when there is a constant exposure to God's presence and truth of what Christ paid for our freedom. For some people in church, the systems for freedom aren't enough because they're nothing more than a system of shame.
BUT, there are men and women who will refuse to drop what has been entrusted to them, and they will fight with a sense of destiny, giving Jesus what He longs for.
Seized by the Presence
Loyalty, honor and kindness are characteristics that come from someone who has been miraculously set free. These individuals have an appreciation for what was done for them. They seem to live in Holy remembrance and deep gratitude, like most, they want to live in peace, enjoying personal rights and liberty. However, we find ourselves in a hostile encounter with a dark opposing force. This attacker wants to foster shame and steal our desire for peace and prosperity. Our archenemy wants us to believe that we don't have a deliverer so that we'll simply give in and resign ourselves to the powers at be.
I've been profoundly touched by the narrative in 1 Samuel Chapter 11:1-11. This compelling story gives us a framework for hope. Wickedness doesn't have rules in fact it seems to initiate a violent hatred towards the people of God. Human rights, human dignity and human worth was being challenged by king Nahash's brutality. In fact, Nahash's name means snake. However, we witness the men of Jabesh (which means dry) making an agreement with this wicked King. There is a spiritual principle that we all must learn here, and that is, when we are spiritually dry we should never make any kind of negotiations with the our adversary.
Decisions made from the place of His presence are what build hope and freedom, decisions from the place of fear only end in humiliation and the loss of vision.
Our opponent wants to bring disgrace upon us and rob us of our sense of destiny, we must trust that the Lord will bring a solution to our dilemma. In this narrative, Nahash agreed to a truce as long as he could have the right eye of everyone and degrade all of Israel. This is a prophetic parable of the deep hatred and emotional assault that the enemy bombards Christian's with, (the loss of dreams and a great uncertainty about their future).
For the people of Jabesh, all they could do was break into tears because no one was there to save them. Since losing their right eye meant the loss of identity, what were they to do? Will someone come to their rescue? After reading these verses I hear the same cry ringing from the people of God in our era. They need deliverance from the negative emotional traffic that robs them of joy and the ability to imagine what God has for their future. Certainly there is a real threat, but I believe God is moving upon His sons and daughters right now.
While self respect gets lost in the sea of guilt, our Lord is raising up men and women throughout the earth to break the spirit of oppression. We find in this powerful drama that King Saul, who although made some foolish choices in his life, actually started off very focused. He hears the weeping of a nation and begins to ask what is wrong. I have no doubt that a generation is also hearing the weeping of the nations of the earth and they too begin to ask why. Asking the right questions touches the heart of God because those kind of questions originate from a heart that has a holy burden for humanity. By being sensitive to the plight of others, the Lord begins to act. He will then release many that will become His instrument of healing and salvation to communities and nations.
1 Samuel 11:6 "When Saul heard this, the spirit of God suddenly seized him; in anger".
Beloved, not only did Saul hear this, he literally felt their grief, and then suddenly God captured him. Saul isn't just seized by human need, he is seized by a sense of divine justice. Around the globe today people are getting on a cultural bandwagon, completely unsettled about what they don't agree with. You see, God's desire is to send His presence and power upon the people to accomplish His will. Beloved, God feels divine emotion for those who have been threatened and manipulated by the enemy.
The question we need to ask ourselves is "have we been seized by the presence of God or are we just upset"? And yes, there are many social ills that need attention, however, unless we have been truly captured by the anointing and not just a cause, our communities and nations won't experience the redemptive power of God. I believe Godly leadership is being raised up to end the humiliation and impart a right perspective. Arguably, we could make the assumption that God is angered by the oppression, so in response to divine anger, the Lord seizes men and women. Beloved, Saul isn't seized by a cause, he is seized by the spirit of God.
Can we imitate a posture of compassion and humility so that the pleas of those who are victims of demonic brutality get answered? Saul did, he rallied a nation, delivered a community, and they never forgot what had been done for them. Because forty years later when king Saul's body had become a Philistine trophy, the men of Jabesh Gilead rescued this King and honored him.
Sincerely,
John
Reigning as Kings
Romans 5:17 (NKJV)
For if by the one man's offense, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
It seems that we can so easily forget what Christ has purchased for us, so we end up living with a much lower standard than what Jesus has called us to live. To reign as Kings or Queens means much more than monetary success, public recognition, and thousands of likes on Facebook.
To reign as Kings is to not come up short from the image of God. It is finding victory on the inside where our emotions are, to have control over our own spirit, this is what it means to reign in life.
It doesn't mean that we are completely free from crisis, it means we are seated above our own minds. We tap into divine wisdom and we prophesy to the situations that don't represent the beauty of God. You see, God has a goal for us individually and corporately, to make us a prophetic voice to the earth, prophesying liberty from bondage and decay. Creation is yearning for sons and daughters to speak what the Lord is speaking.
When there is repentance, respect, honor and love, our identities flourish and our roles get clearly defined.
When this is properly modeled the Kingdom of God is authentically demonstrated. By prophesying His heart we come into agreement with what God sees, for He sees beauty in the midst of our deformity. The prophet Ezekiel found himself in a valley and wasn't told to pray about the spiritual conditions, he was told by the Lord to prophesy to it. His words transformed the people, will we do the same in our time? Will we prophesy the wonderful grace upon the slain that are on the battlefield of life? For without the wealth of grace there isn't any true wealth in the soul. For the wealth of grace allows us to rule with the knowledge of the Kingdom and not rule as those who haven't been regenerated do. We reign from a place intimacy not just in the place legality.
Life becomes more of a joy because we witness supernatural interventions in our spiritual lives, relationships and financial breakthroughs. We live the way Jesus lived when he lived upon the earth. Reigning over sickness, demonic attacks, and over economic lack. We become yoked to His peace, free from the yoke of anxiety and fear.
The body of believers that reign as Kings repair the wrongs in society and restore human dignity by bringing the knowledge of the truth in every sphere of society.
Living like King's means thinking like King's, speaking like a King, weighing over our words before we say them because they declare who we really are. The words we speak build the kind of Kingdom we choose to live in. Through the gift of righteousness we can rule with same heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
John
