Prophets, Angels and the Son of God

The author of the Book of Hebrews starts his book out with a bang:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” – Hebrews 1:1-4

I was listening to Hebrews again today, and I was really struck by this passage. The whole first part of the book is all about how Jesus is so much superior.

In these few sentences, he hits a single topic from a couple of directions that are worth paying attention to, particularly for people like you and me.

First, he declares that the revelation of God in the person of his Son is superior to the revelation of God through the prophets. Since we’re pretty excited about prophets and prophecy, we probably need to notice this.

He’s not saying that God speaking through prophets is bad, only that God speaking through Jesus is the ridiculously superior revelation.

This has application two ways:

First, it’s clear that he was referencing the Old Testament prophets. The revelation of God is vastly superior to the revelation of the Old Testament prophets.

There are a lot of believers whose opinions about who God is and what God wants are influenced pretty heavily by Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the rest of the Old Testament. That is a legitimate representation of God, but it is an inferior representation or revelation of him. The Bible says so (right here, in this passage)!

But second, I believe the principle applies to modern day prophets as well (and you know I love the prophetic movement!): the revelation of God and of his heart from today’s prophets is substantially more complete than ’Miah and ’Zeke, but it’s still vastly inferior to the revelation that is in Jesus.

This is one of the (several) reasons that I try to discourage people from asking every prophetic person they know for a prophetic word: prophecy is good (1Corinthians says it’s the most profitable of the revelatory gifts), but it’s still an inferior revelation to that which you can get just by visiting with the Son of God who lives in you!

The second part of this passage carries that a step further: Jesus is also hugely superior to the angels.

This is a day when God really is unfolding revelation about angels and inviting us to partner with them. But the Word reminds us (right here) that the work of the angels, while still valuable, is an inferior work to the work of the Son of God.

If you continue on in Hebrews, the author will point out that just as the artist is superior to the work of art, just as the heir of the estate is of higher stature than the stable boys of the estate (my paraphrase), so the Son of God also a better revelation of God’s nature than his servants, either prophet or angel.

(It doesn’t hurt that this Son also happens to be the creator of the universe and the “exact representation” of God. I think that makes his job easier.)

I’m left chewing on this: pay attention to the words of the prophets, but pay more attention to the words that Jesus speaks to you. And trust the ministry of the angels, but trust the work of Jesus even more.

Yes, it really does all boil down to Jesus, doesn’t it? It really is all about Him!

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Faux Report

Miniharm’s Top 10 Moments of 2014

It’s been a whirlwind year in China. Here’s a look back at 10 moments that made us smile.

10. China allows Xinjiang to secede after deciding it’s just not worth it.

Photo © Reuters

9. Americans befriend Chinese man after discovering he has lots of money.

Alibaba IPO

8. Families relieved MH370 crash not caused by bickering Chinese passengers.

Photo © AFP

7. Taylor Swift releases bestselling concept album about the Tiananmen protests.

1989

6. APEC blue selected as Pantone’s 2015 Color of the Year.

APEC

5. China grants Uyghur scholar lifetime tenure at local prison.

Ilham Tohti

4. Thousands of Hong Kong residents throw away chance of ever entering the mainland.

Hong Kong

3. Zhou Yongkang becomes highest-level official purged since Communist Party mascot Sickles the Revolutionary.

Zhou Yongkang

2. Vladimir Putin offers Xi Jinping $1 million for one night with Peng Liyuan.

Vladimir Putin and Peng Liyuan

1. China’s made-up number becomes larger than every other country’s made-up number.

GDP

Prophecy

“FOCUS” – a word for 2015

Over the years Abba has taken to giving me “a” word for the upcoming year. In the beginning they were paragraphs and now they've come to be a single word and over the time Holy Spirit provides dreams and visions to support the word.

For 2013 the word was “TRUST” and I must say that if I knew everything that was going to happen in 2013 and into 2014 (Abba gave me a two year for one word deal) I might have asked for a new word.

But HE knows what we need before we ask so I've learned over the decades to simply TRUST (there’s that word again).

For 2015 He gave me the word FOCUS

As I meditated on the word the first part of the lesson Holy Spirit gave me was a flash back to the first “Karate Kid” movie.

The scene is just before Danielson’s final opponent - Daniel has been beat to heck, he’s hurting, he can barely stand, and HE IS AFRAID.

Mr. Miyagi, in his typical fashion – sternly looks and speaks

“Focus Danielson, Focus…the battle is not there (pointing to mat)…it is in here (taps Daniel on his head)…focus…”

Daniel had the skill, the training, the knowledge but he had lost his focus on his sensei.

Daniel struggles back to the mat, assumes a crane stance to the wonderment of his opponent and then as the opponent proceeds to attack him he leaps into the air and delivers a snap kick to his opponent’s head and wins the match.

Many of us have been through many matches and battles in prior years – just like Danielson – and we are approaching the point of the final battle in this tournament and we’re tired, hurting, and can barely stand. And fear has found its way back into our mindsets after being absent for many years.

Yet we have a battle that can and must be won – we must FOCUS on our sensei – Jesus our Rabbi and teacher – and we need to stand up and firm no matter what is going on around us and FOCUS on everything He has taught us and like Danielson in the final match – we may be called upon to take a stance that is different than what we have used before, that is different than what our opponents are expecting, but what He has been training us for all along.

So for 2015 – FOCUS on Jesus - knowing that the battle has been won and we are to fear not.

Martin Best
Whirlwind Ministries

Prophecy

“FOCUS” – a word for 2015

Prophecy

“FOCUS” – a word for 2015

Over the years Abba has taken to giving me “a” word for the upcoming year. In the beginning they were paragraphs and now they’ve come to be a single word and over the time Holy Spirit provides dreams and visions to support the word.

For 2013 the word was “TRUST” and I must say that if I knew everything that was going to happen in 2013 and into 2014 (Abba gave me a two year for one word deal) I might have asked for a new word.

But HE knows what we need before we ask so I’ve learned over the decades to simply TRUST (there’s that word again).

For 2015 He gave me the word FOCUS

As I meditated on the word the first part of the lesson Holy Spirit gave me was a flash back to the first “Karate Kid” movie.

The scene is just before Danielson’s final opponent – Daniel has been beat to heck, he’s hurting, he can barely stand, and HE IS AFRAID.

Mr. Miyagi, in his typical fashion – sternly looks and speaks

“Focus Danielson, Focus…the battle is not there (pointing to mat)…it is in here (taps Daniel on his head)…focus…”

Daniel had the skill, the training, the knowledge but he had lost his focus on his sensei.

Daniel struggles back to the mat, assumes a crane stance to the wonderment of his opponent and then as the opponent proceeds to attack him he leaps into the air and delivers a snap kick to his opponent’s head and wins the match.

Many of us have been through many matches and battles in prior years – just like Danielson – and we are approaching the point of the final battle in this tournament and we’re tired, hurting, and can barely stand. And fear has found its way back into our mindsets after being absent for many years.

Yet we have a battle that can and must be won – we must FOCUS on our sensei – Jesus our Rabbi and teacher – and we need to stand up and firm no matter what is going on around us and FOCUS on everything He has taught us and like Danielson in the final match – we may be called upon to take a stance that is different than what we have used before, that is different than what our opponents are expecting, but what He has been training us for all along.

So for 2015 – FOCUS on Jesus – knowing that the battle has been won and we are to fear not.

Martin Best
Whirlwind Ministries

Devotionals, Letters

True Confessions: It’s Not What You Think

I have a confession to make. I’ve been leading you astray. I’ve deceived you.

Let me explain.

I write, from time to time, about some of the interesting interactions that I’ve had with God, and about some of the interesting things I’ve discovered as I walk with him.

And that’s where the deception comes in.

I only write about the interesting stuff. I don’t write about the days and days of nothing in particular going on, because there’d be nothing to write.

Let me explain.

I’m a married man. More specifically, I’m a happily married man. Sometimes, Milady & I will spend the whole evening together in the same room, her reading, me writing, neither of us saying a thing. We’re just happy to be in each other’s presence. Seriously, I was in tears the other day, just thinking about growing old with her. It makes me really happy.

When I’m working in my garden, I can really often feel Father’s presence like that: quietly together. He’s taught me quite a lot there: how to transplant tiny seedlings, how to get more produce from a tiny garden, how to nurture the tender plants, and how, if I get the basics done well, the weeds won’t really be an issue.

I’m also a working man. And I gotta say that it’s not real often (though it does happen) that God speaks into the technical details of a project that I’m working on. And even when he does, I don’t write about it, because most of the story is about tweaky nerdly stuff that nobody outside my field is interested in. God showing me the right path to take a big bus through a crowded parking lot, or the best way to make these particular gears fit properly in a watch: this is not the stuff of interesting articles of faith and maturity.

But it is the stuff of real relationship with God.

I’m convinced that the best part of my relationship with God is not the amazing encounters or the awesome revelations or the impressive miracles. Yeah, those are fine, and I’ll not complain about them (this is a good place to say, “More Lord!” I think).

It’s like a good marriage: I love the times we get to go out to dinner, or where we host a barbecue for some friends, times of intimacy together. But the real strength of the marriage doesn’t come from those: it comes from the quiet, daily, almost ritual times together. We don’t have to talk about who’s turn it is to empty the dishwasher or take out the garbage or cook dinner, because we’re together.

And a love relationship with the Creator of the Universe is actually pretty similar: The fancy dinners are great, but quiet times of everyday life are where the real life & health come from.

So I apologize if I’ve left you with the impression that life in God is not all cool revelations and glorious highlights. Those happen, and they’re fun and all. But the day to day time together, not even really needing to form words: those are the places where the treasure’s found.

And those don’t make good stories to write about.

—

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Devotionals, Letters

A Season of Healing

This may be more of a “prophetic observation” than a prophetic word.

I’m observing that God is putting a substantial emphasis on healing his kids right now. It’s not like he ever walks away from this topic, but it seems to be near the top of his “to do” list now.

He’s certainly healing us physically, but I believe that the emphasis is on healing the wounds in our souls and in our spirits. Everybody can see if they’re missing a leg. It’s much more difficult to see it when we’re missing the foundations in our inner life.

There have been other seasons where a priority was placed on understanding new revelation, or on learning to hear his voice, or bringing the good news to those who haven’t heard it. And he’s not forgotten those: that’s what we’re all about: knowing our Father and making him known!

If I may extend this a bit: it’s my opinion that we’re entering – rather rapidly – into a new season where it will be “All hands on deck!” as “Life as usual” and “Church as usual” completely lose the “as usual” part.

And if we’re going to be ready to partner with what he’s revving up to be doing, then we really need our souls strong and healthy. Honestly, the likely alternative is to be content to be one of the “last move of God” that persecutes “the next move of God.”

I feel a particular need to urge folks that have been putting off dealing with issues of the soul: it’s time to quit ignoring the issue and take specific steps to get healed up.

As a first step, I encourage you to get alone with God and ask two questions:

1) Father, how do YOU see me? (Hint: if the answer isn’t about love, then it isn’t God speaking!)

2) Father, what is getting in the way of my fully experiencing that? (Hint: it’s most likely about some lies you’ve believed, either about you or about God.)

It is really appropriate to get help with these. Where? Cheat: Ask God to bring you help. But don’t run when they come to you, asking pointed questions about your inner self.

It’s no longer cool to walk with a limp.

—

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Devotionals, Letters

A Model for Apostolic Ministry

It was a Wednesday night, of course, because in the ’80s, that’s when you had your home group meetings.

This group was already considered a little aberrant, because we discussed more than merely the Sunday sermon. And we had discovered prophetic gifts. In fact, we’d often put someone on a chair in the middle of the circle and ask God for how to pray for them. We were sometimes quite surprised by how much our prayers touched needs we hadn’t known about.

So it wasn’t completely unusual when the home group leader brought some guests to one of our gatherings. Without any more than just their names, he parked them in side-by-side chairs in the middle of the circle, and asked us to pray or them. We gathered around and laid hands on them.

For a while, the prayers were rather generic Christian blessings. We discerned a significant leader’s calling on the couple, but then we paused and pressed in deeper. We waited in silence for more revelation.

A quiet sob broke the stillness, and then another. These were from an intercessor we all knew and trusted, who heard God as well as any of us. We waited while she wept, and then she shifted her position, grabbed the man’s feet, and wept over them. It reminded me of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. By this time, the man and his wife were weeping as well, and several of us praying for them were near to tears, but we couldn’t have told you why.

Eventually, the intercessor was able to form words, and what she said through her tears has shaped much of my thinking on the topic. She explained she saw an apostle’s mantle on the couple, on the man in particular. That wasn’t what she was crying about: the Lord had revealed to her much of what that calling would mean in his life, the price that he’d have to pay to walk out that calling. She was weeping for the struggles and the abandonment he’d face, for the betrayals and the accusations, for the opposition he’d face, and for the burden of love he’d carry.

She saw the victories, too, and declared them, but that was the day that I knew something of what it means to “count the cost.”

That was the moment that I concluded that the big man on the big stage with his big congregation and his big budget is not the model for an apostle. An apostle is not just a really successful or really well-respected pastor or denominational leader. The image of a true apostle is not the corner office, not the fancy website, or even the anointed business cards.

Paul’s description of his ministry was not the exception; it was a healthy example of what many apostles will face. This is the model that the New Testament gives us for apostolic ministry:

“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.

I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 11:23-30

I’ve learned that a man, a woman, is not a an apostle that I can trust who does not know tears.

—

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Devotionals, Letters

False Teaching, or False Signs

The New Testament speaks time and time again about false doctrine, false teaching, false shepherds. We don’t really pay a whole lot of attention (as a larger community) to these issues, which the Bible emphasizes pretty heavily.

The Book mentions “false signs and wonders” only ONCE, but that’s the thing that gets the attention. And the definition has been expanded: “If you experience _____ during your intimate times with God, that’s a false sign! It’s of the devil!”

~~Bah!~~ Er… “No, that would be in error!”

The false teachers that those apostles were warning us about had one thing in common: they wanted to add some form of “works” to the message of grace. It came in various forms:

§ “Obey the Law!” (Or “Obey this part of the law.”) or

§ “Don’t eat meat!” (or some other dietary restriction) or

§ “Respect these Jewish holidays!” (or “…these new [age] holidays”) or

§ “Don’t drink alcohol!”

Fundamentally, the false things that the New Testament writers were warning us about generally were limitations to the freedoms that Jesus brings his people into! It was exactly this context into which Paul writes, “do not submit again to a yoke of slavery!” and he goes on in that context to say, “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.” (See Galatians 5; it’s really quite graphic.)

This was the greatest danger to the new Church, and the one that so much of the New Testament epistles were specifically written to combat: that there would be people come into the congregations (called “savage wolves” in Acts 20:29) who would want to draw people away our freedom in Christ.

By contrast, we have very large numbers of congregations, where the leaders teach their favorite part of the Law (note that I did not mention tithing!), or about all restrictions about what good Christians should or shouldn’t do. Often, they preach an even more restrictive law to their leaders.

And many of them are warning their followers against what they’re calling “false signs and wonders,” but is really just brothers & sisters getting free.

Freedom. What a wonderful thing when we experience it. It’s jumping and dancing and celebrating; it’s shaking and falling over and being rocked by love; it’s worshipping with abandon; it’s healing the sick and casting out demons; it’s falling in love with the person of Jesus.

This is what we were made for! This is exactly why God said, “Let us make man!”: we were made for relationship!

We’re warned against these things, as if they were “false signs.” Nah. It’s just freedom. And freedom is our goal.

I don’t understand why this is sticking in my spirit so strongly today. Perhaps someone needs “permission” to hunger for God (if it matters, you have permission!). Maybe you’re asking why all the “Do this, don’t do that” rules are not fitting you well. This would be why: they’re not for you!

It’s easy: It is for freedom that Christ has set you free! Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery!

And maybe let me know if I was writing for you today?

—

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Prophecy

A Tsunami of God is Coming From the Northwest to This Nation!

John Mark Pool, Baton Rouge, LA

“Payday Now!”

A “Tsunami of God’s Glory” is going to roll from the Northwest and into the US this year and into 2015, as it continues to usher in the glory of the Lord that will indeed fill the earth.

The Lord told me that another term for the Year 2015 is “PAYDAY!” It is now payday for God’s faithful messengers, intercessors, fivefold ministers, churches and family of God! It is no longer “payday someday,” for the Lord told me it is “Payday now!”

Psalm 79:12, “And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.”

As I was driving up to the Northwest (Washington state and Oregon region) the Lord showed me a huge tidal wave of His glory reversing the curses of the enemy, the doubters of the faith, and the lethargic Believers who have scoffed at God’s prophetic words being fulfilled.

While driving up to Seattle, it seemed a bit odd that on the very day God spoke to me and showed me all this, I drove past Longview, Washington where a tornado hit in that area. Furthermore, there was a school shooting in Marysville, WAthe very next day after God began to reveal this word.

It appears the enemy does not want God’s message to be planted into the hearts of His people. Remember when the enemy comes in “like” a flood, God brings in the “real deal”. When the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is about to roar, the enemy wants to steal the glory! But God will get all the glory and reign victoriously.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Regardless of the circumstances, God’s tsunami of His glory is certainly going to fill this region and our nation in an even greater way than anyone can ever imagine! We will now again see the glory, the majesty, and the awesome power of Jehovah – the Most High God!

The Lord showed me all this in a vision as I drove along the western part of the US, and I saw a tumult of clouds rolling in below the mountains. It was as if it were a “tsunami of glory” rolling in and covering even the highest mountain. I knew the Lord was showing me that as the sea covers the earth, as the waves cover the mountains, this time it will indeed be the flood of His glory that covers the earth.

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

The Lord said to tell our nation to “Get ready America; the Lord is about to pour out His tidal wave of glory that will fill your nation from border to border – that Glory Fire Wall will be the border security needed!”

And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:3

2015 Is a Year of Transforming Deliverance!

As we are in the Hebrew calendar of 5775, it is truly a year of being fully transformed from the old ways of doing things into the ways of the Lord to now multiply His Kingdom in earth as it is in Heaven!

If you look up the word Salvation in the Hebrew, it literally means “Deliverance.” When the Lord said He would step in and bring salvation (deliverance) to the whole earth, He has the authority, the power and the means to do just what He has promised. Isaiah and many of the patriarchs and prophets of old were declaring God’s Word – just hoping to be where the fiery messengers of this dispensation are now living!

Yes, this is the time for the anointed of the Lord to take their place as they have paved the way, as God’s plans will demonstrate that the Most High God is our “Deliverer!” Stand and see the splendor of the Lord and His “tsunami of His glory” engulf the earth. What God is pouring out throughout the Northwest United States, will grab the nation’s attention that a “flood of His glory presence” is about to cover the country, and a holy hunger is being poured out across this land.

Yes, this is certainly the timing of God to do exactly opposite of what the “doomsayers” have said. Yes, God is indeed who He says He is, and no amount of giving way to the spirit of fear will accomplish anything, for the glory waves will roll over both sinners and Believers together! God will overwhelm this land with the righteousness of His heart and this land will indeed turn back to the Father as the seas of His glory invade every crevice of the earth – which HE formed! (Photo via Wikipedia)

“God’s on His way again, retracing the old salvation route, coming up from the south through Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Skies are blazing with His splendor, His praises sounding through the earth, His cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading, forked-lightning shooting from His hand - what power hidden in that fist! Plague marches before Him, pestilence at His heels! He stops. He shakes Earth. He looks around. Nations tremble. The age-old mountains fall to pieces; ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon. The paths God takes are older than the oldest mountains and hills...” Habakkuk 3:3-7 MSG

When our land has been overwhelmed with the “spirit of Jezebel” it is time that the Lord fulfill His Word to “repay” that stronghold what she is due! We must allow the Lord to fill us with His glory and to understand that our Father takes care of His own.

Here is the way God takes care of His own, viewed from the pen of John in Revelation 18:5-7:

“For her sins have piled up as high as Heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’”

We will be delivered from the religious rules and regulations that offer “busyness with no results.” We must now become “aligned with God’s heart” and not the perspiring and toiling plans of man. We will no longer be able to show a false way of “appropriating the will of God by the sword of flesh!”

Purifying the Sons of Levi

“He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” Malachi 3:3

This will be exchanged during this year of Purifying the Sons of Levi into becoming relentless pursuers of the intense relationship with Abba Father. We will be filled with the glory of God, and the amount of purification will predicate the amount of glory poured into each Believer. As this purification process takes place now in 5775, we will certainly experience the personal, communal, national and world-wide deliverance of God for His Kingdom.

As this Great Awakening continues, this purification will offer vessels to become the greatest testimonies of God’s glory to all those around. Others will see the “temple of God” rather than the carnal wrapper that has clouded the view of God’s hope to searching hearts.

I received a prophetic Word in 2002 from Dr. Bill Hamon, founder of Christian International, who is a “Father of the Prophetic Movement” that I would help “Purify the Sons of Levi.” I did not understand that word at first, but sought prophetic counsel and realized it is not to go about “as the Lord’s justice system to wrong leaders,” but as “the voice to offer loving help,” and be a prophetic voice of truth both to searching pastors and their churches, so they may prosper as Kingdom multipliers for their regions.

Through many ministry years and thousands of miles, God has placed us with many wonderful churches and ministry leaders who have shown much love with hearts to receive this fivefold ministry Kingdommessage. Make no mistake: God’s servants the prophets are to be the heart of our Father God for His kind of purifying sanctification – by holding up the arms of the “lonely leaders” and to put your arm around the hurting and wounded pastors; not judging, but rather giving the needed real prophetic, genuine love through the proper, prophetic gift.

This truly is the season, as the natural world looks the darkest, that God is absolutely now filling the earth with His glory! We have never ever gone where we are now entering, and all the prophets of old prophesied it and longed to see what we are about to see!

Prophetic Revelation for 2015

My Lord keeps telling me two things we will begin to see more each day of 2015:

1. The glory light will be on God’s people.

2. The hidden supernatural treasures no one has yet seen or experienced will be revealed!

A Scripture I hear often reveals this promise of God: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isaiah 60:1-3

The second verse my spirit hears God saying is, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

My fellow family of God, it is now time to decree and to be what God has planned for us as “deliverance has come to the people of God.” It is not a time to be complacent, but to press in more than ever to see things as never before and experience things no person has ever touched! It is indeed time to “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so” (Psalm 107:2).

We are now in a time of the “Tsunami of God’s Glory” filling this nation and turning it indeed back to the heart of the Father! Decree and expect to see the heart of God’s glory fill our land to demonstrate we are still one nation under God! We are the Christian Nation that will allow the tsunami of God’s glory to fill the whole earth!

We are excited to know that God’s love indicates the level of care to step in and pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, as a “Great Tsunami of God’s Glory” fills Americaand the nations of the earth. We will have NO FEAR in God’s presence with HIS perfect love. GOD will once again BLESS the USA! Amen.

John Mark Pool

Word to the World Ministries

Email: MarkandSandyPool@aol.com

Website: w2wmin.org

Come join the conversation, including applying 1 Corinthians 14:29 to this prophetic word, at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.

Prophecy

A Tsunami of God is Coming From the Northwest to This Nation!

John Mark Pool, Baton Rouge, LA

“Payday Now!”

A “Tsunami of God’s Glory” is going to roll from the Northwest and into the US this year and into 2015, as it continues to usher in the glory of the Lord that will indeed fill the earth.

Psalm 79:12, “And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.”

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:3

2015 Is a Year of Transforming Deliverance!

Here is the way God takes care of His own, viewed from the pen of John in Revelation 18:5-7:

Purifying the Sons of Levi

Prophetic Revelation for 2015

My Lord keeps telling me two things we will begin to see more each day of 2015:

1. The glory light will be on God’s people.

2. The hidden supernatural treasures no one has yet seen or experienced will be revealed!

The second verse my spirit hears God saying is, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

John Mark Pool

Word to the World Ministries

Email: MarkandSandyPool@aol.com

Website: w2wmin.org

Come join the conversation, including applying 1 Corinthians 14:29 to this prophetic word, at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.

Prophecy

A Tsunami of God is Coming From the Northwest to This Nation!

John Mark Pool, Baton Rouge, LA

“Payday Now!”

A “Tsunami of God’s Glory” is going to roll from the Northwest and into the US this year and into 2015, as it continues to usher in the glory of the Lord that will indeed fill the earth.

Psalm 79:12, “And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.”

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:3

2015 Is a Year of Transforming Deliverance!

“God’s on His way again, retracing the old salvation route, coming up from the south through Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Skies are blazing with His splendor, His praises sounding through the earth, His cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading, forked-lightning shooting from His hand – what power hidden in that fist! Plague marches before Him, pestilence at His heels! He stops. He shakes Earth. He looks around. Nations tremble. The age-old mountains fall to pieces; ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon. The paths God takes are older than the oldest mountains and hills…” Habakkuk 3:3-7 MSG

Here is the way God takes care of His own, viewed from the pen of John in Revelation 18:5-7:

Purifying the Sons of Levi

Prophetic Revelation for 2015

My Lord keeps telling me two things we will begin to see more each day of 2015:

1. The glory light will be on God’s people.

2. The hidden supernatural treasures no one has yet seen or experienced will be revealed!

The second verse my spirit hears God saying is, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

John Mark Pool

Word to the World Ministries

Email: MarkandSandyPool@aol.com

Website: w2wmin.org

Come join the conversation, including applying 1 Corinthians 14:29 to this prophetic word, at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.

Devotionals, Letters

Some Thoughts About the Purpose of the Prophetic

How many times has it happened that a prophet gives a word to someone you know, and you think to yourself, “They missed it! That is SO not them!”

Sure, it might be a muffed prophecy; the only guy who never muffed a single prophetic word was murdered for it a couple of thousand years ago. Nowadays, we all completely miss it occasionally. It’s like the man said, “Now, we see in a glass darkly.”

But it might not be a failed prophecy. That’s actually the goal sometimes. The goal of the prophetic is NOT to declare what everybody already knows.

The prophets declare the goal, solution, the finished product, the end result of God doing something in the person’s life. And sometimes they declare it as early as when God is just beginning work on the project. They’re “declaring the end from the beginning.” If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how do you aim?

So when God speaks to a destitute homeless guy, “I see you as a man of substance, a man of wealth,” he’s probably not saying “This is they way you are now, in case you didn’t know.” No, he’s more likely saying, “This is your calling, this is your destiny. If you come with me, this is where you could go. Do you want in on this?”

Or he might say to the destitute homeless guy, “I see you as a leader of men,” and that may not show up the way we expect it to. The English language – especially American English – is not God’s first language. When he speaks of a “leader of men,” he may not mean what you’d mean: a recognized position of appointed leadership or power.

I’ve known guys that chose to be homeless so that they could reach those that nobody else would reach. Their leadership was often just conversation between bunks in the local mission. They are indeed “leaders of men,” but nobody except the homeless guys they lead recognize it.

Really often, the fulfillment of the prophetic promise doesn’t line up with our expectation of what it would look like. But it does line up with the word.

Second, the prophetic declaration releases God’s resources to bring about that which they declare.

When God speaks to the destitute homeless guy about wealth, that declaration, when activated by faith, is releasing the grace of God, the power of God, to gather wealth to the guy. Power to accomplish the word is carried by the word.

That doesn’t necessarily mean people will hand him cash money, though I’ve seen that happen. It may mean that God is lining up an educational opportunity, or bringing him an advocate, or giving him an idea for an invention, or lining up other, unexpected circumstances to make it happen.

And fairly often, it’s true about prophetic words: “If you don’t declare it, it won’t happen.”

If we want to be in on what God’s doing, we can discern what God is breathing on in the prophetic declarations (1 Corinthians 14:29), and then join in with that. We can add the prophetic word to our worldview and begin to see and relate to people according to the things that God has said to them.

Or we can bury the prophetic declaration, and the power that it carries to accomplish the thing of which it speaks, under our own unbelief and jealousy and resentment, and kill the word.

It’s our choice.

—

Come join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.

Devotionals, Letters

Sarah’s Faith

Before they were “Abraham and Sarah,” they were “Abram and Sarai.” They were on the first, and in some ways, the most amazing, adventure with God of all time.

Abe was the first guy to relate to God by faith (as opposed to Adam and company, who went for walks with God, and didn’t really need faith). Abe’s made it, by now, into the history books as The Father of Our Faith.

But it’s the story of Abe’s bride, Sarah, that inspires me today, though I’ll confess it’s from an odd perspective.

In Genesis 18, God promises Abe & Sarah, now old enough to be grandparents or great-grandparents, that they’d have a child, a son, next year. Abraham was a hundred years old; Sarah was ninety. There aren’t a lot of ninety year old women having babies even today with all the miracles of modern medicine.

But in those days? Not only unheard of, it was legitimately unthinkable. These guys knew and understood the birds and the bees. They knew there wasn’t a chance in the world of having a baby, and they’d made peace with that fact decades ago.

No wonder Sarah laughed. (“Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” ” Genesis 18:12. Apparently, by now they weren’t even doing the “pleasurable” things you do to get kids.)

Now here’s where it gets really interesting to me: God calls out Sarah for laughing at his promise (even though she only “laughed within herself”) and reaffirms the promise. And the best part (v15): Sarah lies to God about it “I did not laugh.” God, who apparently likes truth, called her on it again.

The story moves on to other interesting things, like God submitting his plans to Abraham, but that’s the part that caught my attention: Sarah essentially calls God a liar, and then when she’s exposed, she lies to his face. “Nope. Not me!”

Now skip ahead a couple of thousand years, to Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Faith.” These are the Heroes Of Faith, the great men and women that God holds up as examples of how to believe God. And Sarah is there! But this time, the story is told from God’s point of view:

“And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:11-12)

From Sarah’s perspective (and from Moses’ perspective, as he wrote the book), Sarah appears to have called God a liar, surely didn’t believe him, and then flat-out lied to him, to protect her reputation (or Abe’s).

And God calls that an act of faith. God sees that as “considering God faithful” and believing the promise. God apparently, from the phrase “and so” in v12, considers Sarah’s mighty faith to be the foundational reason that there was an Isaac and a Jacob and the Children of Israel.

If Sarah had been as full of unbelief as she sure looks like in Genesis 18, and as it appears she thought she was herself, then the story would stop right there. There’d never be anybody to Exodus out of Egypt, no Joshua, no David, and no Jesus.

So it occurs to me that we have kind of a messed up definition of what “faith” actually means. Read Hebrews 11 again, and read it carefully. These are not people that we’d normally consider giants of faith, at least not until Hebrews identifies them for us.

Noah, says Hebrews, “condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” No he didn’t! He built a thing called a”boat” in a desert to preserve his family from some strange event that the Voice called a “flood.” He did it to save his life!

Moses “refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” No he didn’t! He fled for his life, afraid the Egyptian cops would have heard about his murder when he tried to help an unfortunate slave out.

This is what sticks out to me: faith – real faith – doesn’t very often look heroic. There aren’t movie cameras rolling, and audiences watching as we Do The Mighty Deeds Of Faith.

That’s NOT at all what God refers to in his only chapter about Faith in the entire book.

Real faith seems to come with knocking knees, sweaty armpits and perhaps soiled undershorts. Real faith appears to sometimes be accompanied by laughing at God’s promises, doing stupid things for reasons you don’t understand, even screwing up in your good ideas of helping unfortunate people.

Here’s my takeaway: I’m going to try to not laugh at God so much anymore. But if I do, I’m not going to beat myself up over it. And if I feel really stupid for following a hunch, or for fowling up a good idea, I’m not going to beat myself up over those either.

And I’m going to try to not give up on God’s promises when it looks like there isn’t a chance in the world of them happening.

Just maybe, God’s writing those stories in his Book.

—

Come join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic.

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Tag Archives: 2014

Prophets, Angels and the Son of God

Miniharm’s Top 10 Moments of 2014

“FOCUS” – a word for 2015

“FOCUS” – a word for 2015

“FOCUS” – a word for 2015

True Confessions: It’s Not What You Think

A Season of Healing

A Model for Apostolic Ministry

False Teaching, or False Signs

A Tsunami of God is Coming From the Northwest to This Nation!

A Tsunami of God is Coming From the Northwest to This Nation!

A Tsunami of God is Coming From the Northwest to This Nation!

Some Thoughts About the Purpose of the Prophetic

Sarah’s Faith