Prophetic

A true prophet will know how to proclaim judgment and intercede against it at the same time. This apparent contradiction only underscores the need for wisdom, maturity, and prophetic responsibility.

The physical temple came to represent something other than the purpose for which it was created. Thus, the Lord Jesus, in word and in deed, demonstrates that He no longer considers the physical temple as His House, but calls it a “den of thieves”, thus establishing a new House, built upon the foundation of Himself.

When we pray “Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” do we really know what we are doing? This kind of prayer is not a frivolous thing. It is calling for a revolution in the way things are. It is commanding all that is to make room for all that is to come.

Most of the time, the right decision don’t feel good. Doing the right thing is usually difficult. The easiest thing to do is to quit, to give up, to go back to Egypt. But I’m telling you, get to place where going back is no longer an option – then going back is no longer a temptation.

Many Christians are in bondage to the fear of man. We cannot be God’s spokesperson and be afraid of people. We will find it difficult, if not impossible to faithfully give all the counsel of God when there is a spirit within us that withdraws from people out of fear, timidity, or anxiety.

In this present time, if we will come into the inner court and stand before God on behalf of His Kingdom and His Will, then no matter what happens, the Lord will be glorified, His Son will be exalted, and His Kingdom will soon be manifest among the nations.

The Lord wants us to see that John is an Overcomer. Though they boil him in oil, yet he has overcome death. Though they have exiled him to an island he overcomes, as this prepares him for his greatest contribution to the Church.

This three-fold benediction concludes what is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer. It is a fitting conclusion to what we call the Prayer of the Kingdom, or the Prayer of the Overcomer. This confession is the summation of all that precedes it, the end result of what we are asking.

Perhaps you too will have to make even the same mistakes in order to learn, yet following my advice could perhaps help you to avoid the unnecessary heartache and cruelty inflicted upon yourself and others when thinking that you are doing God a service.

The prophet does not usually bring a one size fits all generic sort of message that speaks to the universe. It is typically a surgical strike, directed and honed to penetrate a particular thing in the Body of Christ, with Spirit-led precision that cuts through the formalities and niceties to get to the guts of the task at hand.

Through a series of painful experiences the Lord brought me to a deeper understanding of what ministry to Him is. In this writing I would like to explain this deeper ministry. I have referred to it a number of times in other writings and in my spoken messages, but by the grace of the Lord I would like to take some time here and expound a bit on this perspective of ministry.

What must happen in order for us to minister to the Lord? It involves two preparatory things: “draw near” and “stand before Me”. We cannot offer anything or do anything until we first draw near to Him and stand before Him. I wonder: how much time have we spent just standing (or sitting or kneeling or lying) before the Lord, just to minister to Him?

To the rest of the world, the autistic savant is a bit of a retarded genius, an unfortunate mixture of idiocy and brilliance, caught up in a world of its own. The prophetic savant bears a similar stigma. But if you engage him at all, you soon discover that he sees all of this as absolutely normal; the way it is supposed to be.

Daniel and his friends represent the Overcomers. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would forever and always maintain a certain amount of hostility and resistance to the world system there in Babylon. Not a loud, demonstrative, attention-getting resistance, but a quiet, purposeful, principle-based way of living.

The Book of Daniel holds within it the secret to being an overcomer. Simply observe how in every case of conflict between the Remnant and the enemy that the Remnant is strengthened and the enemy is defeated. In every instance the very thing which is meant to destroy the Remnant actually serves to reinforce it.

The Book of Daniel contains encouragement and wisdom for us who are being raised up as a Last Days Remnant of overcomers. It records a succession of attacks against the Lord’s Remnant and how they overcame these attacks and demonstrated the preeminence of Christ.

What Nebuchadnezzar had to learn is the same thing we all have to learn: the heavens do rule. Heaven governs Earth. To us who are still bound to the Earth it appears that we have a lot of authority, a lot of say-so, a lot to do with what happens here. But control is an illusion. There is One Who rules Heaven and Earth.

As soon as we grasp something of the significance of God’s Ultimate Will and begin moving towards a Heavenly Testimony in the earth, then we become the subject of intense resistance from elements in this universe that are opposed to that Testimony. That resistance the Bible calls “Antichrist.”

The time it takes varies from individual to individual, but each one of us facing the cumulative effect of unmet expectations reaches the same fork in the road. Eventually the focus of our attention shifts from what people have done, to what God has NOT done.

All contrary things, whether they be of spiritual, natural, or human origin, find their root in one of these three sources. The glorious thing of course is that God’s provision meets all three enemies and defeats them in order to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ.

If the Overcomers are not earthly conquerors or crusaders, what are they? Overcomers are simply Christians who live the normal Christian life. That is, the normal Christian life, as God intends, is a life that overcomes. It is a life which demonstrates the preeminence of Jesus Christ over all things.

At first glance the Lord’s decision to accept Abel and reject Cain seems rather arbitrary. Both worshipped the Lord, and both brought the Lord a sacrifice. What makes one acceptable and the other unacceptable?

That Jesus intends for His disciples to fast is made clear by the words, “When you fast…” Fasting is as much a part of a disciple’s life as prayer; hence the Lord couples, “When you pray” with “when you fast” in His teaching to the disciples.

Jesus takes it for granted that His disciples will pray. This is why four times in a row He says, “WHEN you pray” and not “IF you pray.” But from these brief excerpts of Scripture we learn that there are at least two classes of prayer. One is unacceptable to God, and the other is well-pleasing to Him.

Even someone who is after God’s own heart, someone who seeks Him early and often, someone who desires Him more than anything else – yes, THAT kind of person, ESPECIALLY that kind of person! – will be called upon to endure some of the most excruciating physical, emotional, and spiritual rigors imaginable.