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Issue #22 Feb 09

THE DOORS ARE OPEN: AN APOSTOLIC CALLING

I AM calling forth those who are willing to forsake all in the way of comfort, pack their bags, and go where I would have them to go. Yes, I AM calling you forth to speak the oracles of God and to prophesy even to kings. Are you willing to pay the price to have My anointing flow through you freely? For I have taken you through the purging by the fire of My love in preparation so that I could pour out My glory in waves upon you. Yes, the healing power of My glory. And you will lay hands on the sick and watch them recover.

So many have obeyed My word with no signs following and never gave up that My word is true. And now is the time and the hour that I will use you mightily, My people. Yes, this is the time and the hour that I will pour out My power through you. So step up to the bat, and be yielded and willing, and you will see what I will do. Do not be concerned that you have never done these things before. What if it doesn’t work? Well, what if it does? Don’t be concerned with the outcome, just do it.

Don’t be just a hearer of My word, but a doer of it. Watch and pray that you will be counted worthy of these things that you may lay hands on the sick, set the captives free, raise the dead. I need a clean vessel to move through. So watch your heart attitudes and your motives, and be willing to step aside and let Me take over. And yes, you are to be a nameless and faceless generation, a bride with boots on, one that will only promote My Son and His name. Proclaim the victory for this is the time. Lift up the King of Glory! Rest assured that He can handle any situation of hindrance that the enemy will try to bring your way. Just step out. All things will work out for good when you put forth My Kingdom and righteousness.

Part One: The Death of Ambition

When I first came to Christ, the Lord gave me a dream about my future. I thought that everything the Lord said was supposed to occur immediately; I didn’t know of the work of preparation and dying to self, of learning patience and maintaining vision through testing, that would occur before God’s promise would find fulfillment. Consequently, I was filled with ambition. Ambition is the first motive that arises in the spiritually immature. I was like the disciples who, a few days after Jesus’ resurrection, were already asking, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom?” (Acts 1:6).

Ambition is very deceptive. It can seem just like obedience, yet because we don’t truly know the Lord, the voice we find ourselves obeying is not God’s, but our own. Our vision can actually be from God, but our motive be self. Consequently, where there is ambition, James tells us there will soon emerge “disorder and every evil thing” (James 3:16). Why? Because we begin thinking we can accomplish the will of God through the strength of man. We are seeking a breakthrough; God wants to give us brokenness.

The spiritually immature do not recognize their immaturity because they are immature. Thus, they become impatient, fearful and demanding. Because pride blinds the ambitious, we presume we are ready for greater assignments in God. In fact, we become a harder assignment for those who work with us, for our actions continually generate strife.

“There is only one thing that keeps most churches from prospering spiritually. They have yet to find God.”

Holiness Comes From Seeking The Glory Of God

“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” (John 5:44)

If we are displaying our spirituality to impress men, still seeking honor from others, still living to appear righteous or special or “anointed” before people, can we honestly say we have been walking near to the living God? We know we are relating correctly to God when our hunger for His glory causes us to forsake the praise of men.

Does not all glory fade in the light of His glory? Even as Jesus challenged the genuineness of the Pharisees’ faith, so He challenges us: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another?”

What a weak comfort is the praise of men. Upon such a frail ledge do we mortals build our happiness. Consider: within but a few days after the Lycaonians attempted to worship Paul, they were congratulating themselves for having stoned him! (See Acts 14:11-19.) Consider: was it not the same city whose songs and praise welcomed Jesus as “King . . . gentle, and mounted on a donkey” (Matt. 21:5-9), that roared, “Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21) less than one week later? To seek the praise of men is to be tossed upon such a sea of instability!

As I have been seeking the Lord for a word for 2009, one seems to leap out to me in my spirit. It is the word “transition.” This is a season [during which] we are going from the old to the new—from old wine to new wine. What do I mean by “new wine”? [I mean we are going] from what doesn’t work to what does work or from the nonproductive to the productive.

It seems as I am sharing with Christians around the world there is a frustration with the old. People know that what they are doing isn’t producing the results they want to see, but they don’t know what to do.

This is what I am sensing: God is forming a new wineskin for your life that is a good fit. You are being pressed into the new. No one likes that feeling. It is uncomfortable and, at times, stressful. Stress can actually be productive. It is when we get into (dis)stress that it becomes nonproductive.

One of the most difficult things to do in the midst of pressure is to still your spirit so God can speak to you. At times, when [you] are in that condition, God will use the prophetic voice to come alongside you in your distress to comfort you and help you.

This is what I am hearing God say for you, “You are coming into the most creative time of your life. The Holy Spirit, the Creator of the world, is going to fill you with His Spirit in a way beyond your understanding to help you go to a new level of anointing. He is going to fill you with His new wine to overflowing. Do not let fear paralyze you and stop up the flow He is wanting to release within you.”

The body of Christ is entering into a time of transition. Many of you have been in a time of intense trials for the past several months and some of you have been in a time of intense training. For those of you that have experienced this spiritual boot camp or may still be in it, stay strong and steadfast because the Lord is about to bring you into an awesome season as you continue to endure. The other day I was in a grocery store and I overheard two men talking about the times that we are living in. One man was complaining about the economy and then the other man spoke up and said, well you know the old saying buddy: When the going gets tough, the tough get going. I thought to myself that this mere man probably is not even a Christian but he has the right mind set. The body of Christ needs to learn not to be moved by adversity. We are in Covenant with Jesus who promises to keep His Word to us. For those of you that are going through storms this is His promise to you as you continue to endure.

Luke 6: 47 - 48 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

Warriors Are Coming To Lead the Church Through the Kingdom Age

[The following article is not meant to be prophetic. It is based on experience and discussions with many students of the Word.]

Anyone who has willingly enlisted to fight against the enemy will tell you there is a difference between being a soldier and a warrior. There are many professional soldiers who take their jobs very seriously and are very good at what they do, but when you meet a warrior, you recognize the difference right away.

Some of the church leadership is about to be transferred from the hands of professional soldiers, to the hands of true warriors, which the soldiers of the cross will all soon become.

Warriors respond to the sound of the battle cry. They do not run from it. Warriors thrive on conflict and danger. Warriors are not discouraged by the oppositions and the troubles they face, but rather come alive when faced with them. This is the makeup of the emerging generation of Christians. Those who think the emerging generation of Christians is soft will be shocked by the warrior nation that is soon to be revealed.

“My people must walk and live holy before Me. By My Spirit and the Word, this shall be accomplished in those who wish to rise to a holy life in Me.

There will be many others who choose to foolishly cling to their old life and sins of the flesh as they try to live behind masks before others and the world’s acclaim.

But I see everything in the heart and all of the thoughts and actions of their days and nights ... I am calling all of my Children of Grace to Walk Holy before Me!

First the Pruning ... to cut away all of the dead wood of the old life. As a rose bush to bear more blooms or a vine to bear more fruit ...

Then the Purging ... to flush away the dross and sludge from the world and the flesh. As a clean river of living water ready to flow forth into the lives of others for My Glory.

Finally the Polishing ... as My very own handpicked Living Stones to be built into My Holy House ... each unique and each polished with love and care as a delight for Me in Eternity.

Two Vision Experiences on January 19, 2009

In the vision, I am watching myself from the outside of the vision and see myself as I am walking in the vision. I am walking on a path in the bottom of a very deep gorge or canyon of some type. The walls of the steep mountains all around me are very high. They are very rough in their appearance and the walls of the mountain sides are black. The rocks are black, like the color of ebony. But they are not shiny, just very rough looking.

The path I am walking on in the midst of the deep gorge progressively gets narrower as I walk. There are many people behind me that are with me on this journey, and they are all following me as we all go towards something that lies ahead deeper in the gorge ahead of us. As we walk, the way gets narrower and the walls of the mountains around us seem to get steeper and blacker, if that is possible. The atmosphere in the deep gorge is very heavy but a strong sense of uncertain anticipation fills the air as we all walk forwards, each of us saying nothing as we walk.

After a while the path turns to the right, and then it opens up into a large expansive place. This place is hidden amongst the tall black mountains and it is very holy. The Presence of God is so strong there that it is even hard to breathe. I look around and see the Throne of God in the distance ahead of me within the open area. I saw multitudes of angels and many people also there, and I also could see the Lord and He was sitting upon the throne, and He was radiating with awesome colorful flames shooting from His Being.

During the January 23 2009 Friday Night Service in Syracuse, NY—the Lord showed me in a vision, that the whole area was like a place by a stream. On the side of where the stream was located, were many large boulders, smaller bushes, and areas of patchy grass here and there. But where the water’s edge was, I could see that there were many dried up smaller rocks and larger boulders, and scraggly plants, and some trashy debris that were washed up along the shoreline.

Out across the stream, I could see Jesus leaping from rock to rock in the middle of the stream. Some of the rocks that protruded outwards were large and some were barely above the surface, even so He knew just where to jump to land on the right ones to get Himself across the river stream.

Then He stopped at a certain point and stood in the midst of the river stream. He reached down and began to pick up some of the rocks that had lied submerged below the surface of the river water. I could see that they were about palm sized rocks, and they were rounded and flat. They were smoothed out by the water, and you could tell by their shape that they had been in the water a long time.

A shepherd standing on a bluff overlooking a valley. He had a herd of sheep that were grazing all around him. A wind began to blow, and the shepherd looked out towards the valley. He then turned around towards his flock of sheep, and began motioning with his arms for them to come to him. One by one the sheep began coming to him, and then one by one they would be gathered by the shepherd’s arms under his robe.

As the last sheep went under his robe, the shepherd suddenly looked at the valley again. He then pointed his right arm toward the valley as if something was coming. I looked to the valley and saw a huge light gray cloud moving across the valley, like the tide of the ocean moving on shore.

As this cloud moved closer to the bluff where the shepherd was standing, I noticed that I could not see anything except this low lying gray cloud where the valley had been. The last thing I saw in this vision was the Shepherd still standing with his head held high and the sheep still under his robe.

Michael ‘Mikey’ Thompson, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

January 15 2009 4:30 pm

In understanding the end times, can we be sure that we know what is about to happen next in God’s plan?

It is an important lesson that even the disciples themselves really had no idea what Jesus was about to do next or why, even though He told them quite plainly. They knew Jesus was the Messiah, and that He was bringing the Kingdom, but did not know Jesus was going to be crucified, nor that he was going to be resurrected; later I don’t think they understood what was in store for them at Pentecost, nor that salvation would be freely offered to non-Jewish peoples. Imagine being a believer in Christ as He walked the earth but being totally unaware of these four fundamental pillars of the Kingdom of God. They knew important things were happening, but what they were and what they meant were veiled to their normal human understanding, and so also the unfolding events of the end times even, though plainly stated in the Bible, remain veiled to our normal human understanding today. These same events, however, can be known by every believer through revelation by the Holy Spirit, if we do not lean unto our own understanding, but sincerely seek HIS understanding instead.

As we stand on the threshold of the next great unfolding of God’s end time plans: the Rapture, Tribulation, Return of Christ and dawn of the reign of Peace, I would like to refer people to a series of recent dreams and visions that Bill Somers has collected and posted on his site www.etpv.org on February 16, 2009, concerning the “rapture” and the start of the “hour of trial” which I encourage you to read. You may also want to bring these back to the Lord and ask Him what HE has to say about these things.

--EEJ

My Beloved:

My beauty is being released in this hour. Mantles of favor and beauty are beginning to fall upon my people. You ask why beauty, you would say, I can understand favor. But why beauty? I am a God of beauty, my creation is beautiful and drawn to beauty. In this hour you shall see my glory. My glory is beautiful, it is attractive and wooing to the lost. This is an hour unlike any before it’s time. A time to ponder and tarry in prayer. Position your self upon your knees and lay before me to seek my face. Although you would look around you and you feel the “cards” are in the enemies hand, you must remember I “own the house, and the house is on your side”. Things may look grim globally and the very ground you walk upon seems unsteady and unsure, but remember that you don’t trust in horses or chariots, but you trust in the name of the Lord. I will have my purposes come to pass and I will use you in this hour to display my glory, my beauty and my favor. Get ready, and position yourselves before my throne face down, for I have much to share with you. I have much to impart to you in this hour.

“There is a Great End-Time Visitation Coming—It is Almost Upon Us”

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Shows Up.

When the anointing is on you, sacrifice is no big deal. When you understand the anointing, you can bring closure to a chapter in your life that’s remained open for too long. When you understand the anointing and you operate in the anointing, it’s not a problem to distribute your resources. And when you understand the worth of the anointing, it’s not hard to follow after it and pursue it with all your heart.

God Almighty is preparing a generation for a rich legacy that is about to be passed—we are at the end of a five hundred year period. What is about to come on the Body of Christ will rival what took place in the Great Reformation. God has been restoring for the last two thousand years, well the last thousand years, to the Church what has been lost. You are the sons of the prophets. You are the seed of Abraham. Every blessing in the covenant to possess Heaven and Earth, to move in dominion, to move in increase, to move in the fullness of the Spirit—is yours.

I’m taking the church up out of the mud, out of the mire, out of the criticism, out of the failure, out of those who have said, “No, you can’t go; no you won’t go; no, we will stop you; no, our theology does not allow this.”

You are breaking through barrier, after barrier, after barrier on this planet in your theology, in your practical experience in God. You now know that these things are possible. You know that they’re not a joke. You know that they’re not flaky; you know that they’re not error; you know that they’re not division.

You know that these things are truly birthed in Heaven. They come out of the very realm of the Holiness of the Almighty. There is another visitation coming to this planet, that you will not believe until it happens.

Soar with Me for I have healing in My wings. Soar with Me high above all power and principality. I say to you this day that if you want to overcome in the attack from the enemy of your soul, look past that of the natural, and keep your eyes on Me. Keep My word before you and hidden in your heart. For the enemy is trying to rob you of your faith in Me by trying to get you to look at the negative circumstances surrounding you.

Be still and know that I AM God. Do not waver in doubt and unbelief, and fear that I will not come through for you. As I take you through the fire, I AM purging all that is not of Me out of your heart. And this is a very uncomfortable situation. Open up to Me. Do not run from Me panicking, and do that which stems from the evil one. For the enemy wants you to give up the fight, and drop your sword and shield and run. But this is not time to retreat, but to gird up your loins, and press in even stronger against the enemy.

Strategic Messengers concerning “Next Things”

I saw in a vision two orders of angels standing, encircling the congregation of the Lord. There were warring angels, watchfully alert, ready to guard and protect. And there were others that carried scrolls in their hands. I asked the Lord what these angels were. He said, “These are messenger angels, which bring strategies of 'Next Things.'” I asked the Lord, “Why are the messenger angels idle?” Immediately the scene changed and I saw the faces of the people, even leaders, turned toward each other, striving and quarreling.

Hello all,

I sensed there was a prophetic message from the Lord in a recent event which I wanted to share with you. Remember the Word tells us that there will be signs in the earth before the great and terrible Day of the Lord. I am sure many of you have heard of the woman in California who gave birth to octuplets within the last week. The significant part of this birth was that the doctors were only expecting seven babies and were most surprised when the eighth made its appearance. Remember that seven is the number of completion.

I heard the Spirit whisper, “As is this birth, so it will be with My people. There are many who look forward to the immanent birth of that which I planted in their spirits so many days ago. They are fully prepared and expectant for seven. They sense in their spirits that the time of birth is upon them even though the appointed time of travail is not yet come. They sense this birthing will bring completion, seven, an ending to the chapter they have been in. It has been a difficult pregnancy and great has been the weight that has been carried in the Spirit. They look forward to seven and the wrapping up of all that this chapter has entailed. Their spiritual nurseries are kitted out for seven. Their minds have come to terms with the ramifications of all that seven will bring to their lives. They are at peace with seven.

Preface: During a time of prayer I had two open visions—one was right after another—like watching a movie reel. I believe they communicated the fact that God had a strategy—I believe they may relate to His workings and the victory He has in store for His church.

First Vision: Card Game—the Winning Hand

I saw a round card table (like a poker table). I saw a man (I didn’t see his features, just knew it was a man) with cards in his hands. He was looking at his cards with great excitement and great confidence, almost arrogantly because he had such a great hand and knew he was going to win the game.

There were lots of people on his side of the table and they were all gathered around as he showed them his cards. They were so excited knowing this was going to be their big win, and the game would be theirs. Again they were so confident and almost with an arrogance.

Then, they threw all their chips into the middle of the table, confident they were going to win big. It was time for them to show their hand, so they eagerly laid down all their cards on the table.

In Rise In Temperature (January 30, 2009) Priscilla Van Sutphin (www.upstreamca.org) writes the Holy Spirit says:

“I am raising the temperature on the refining pots. I am raising the temperature of My FIRE. Character formation is everything to Me for those who belong to Me. So many have failed from lack of healing, lack of deliverance. I am concerned not just with salvation, but with healing My people from the pains and sufferings of the past.

I do not work only this way or only that way. I AM a God of great diversity, and I do things the best way I SEE FIT for each person.

* - * - *

I am descending with FIRE to purge the sons of Levi. I am purifying my prophets in your midst. I will not bear with the lying words or pretense any longer leading so many astray from the truth. I’ve called the prophets to prepare My Bride, and to not prostitute her to other lovers. I will not tolerate Jezebel in the midst of the congregation without consequence any longer. Just as Jeremiah confronted Hananiah, I will send true prophets into the church to proclaim TRUTH. Those who will not listen to My words, will come to the same end as Hananiah and Ananias. Do not refuse My mercy beloveds. It is MY mercy which has held back judgment in My house. It is My PATIENCE that has endured that some would be saved. Do not scoff or judge with indignation those I have called who have failed the test.