I'm a spiritual father, revelatory teacher, author and conference speaker. I have helped many leaders in transition and help form Kingdom centers to reach their regions in new and creative was.
I was up in the night contemplating the prayer life of the church and how much prayer is done daily on a global scale. The hours and numbers of those praying. The energy it represents and how much is happening and also how much for all the effort is not happening. I have just come out of a dynamic prayer meeting which had much heart felt repentance and open confession of lack and need for God to intervene. It was powerful. Why are some prayer meetings so strong and good and then others seem flat?
As I contemplated this in the night I reflected on the early church of Acts. They had both individual prayer and corporate prayer. They also prayed with different types of prayer based on the current moment and need. Theses are thanksgiving, supplication, faith, agreement, intercession, binding and losing, and imprecatory. I have written about these before in my blog post and in my book on imprecatory prayer. They knew which type of prayer was needed for each situation. It was not one fits all. That is the first reason some prayer meetings are good, and others aren’t. We are hitting and missing with our approaches.
I also reflected back to the single focuses of the church in Acts 2:42. To stay in the apostle’s doctrine, prayers (plural) fellowship and breaking of bread. The apostle’s doctrine was to implement the doctrines of Christ and bring forth the Kingdom. It is listed first as a target to hit, then prayers plural is listed as this is a tool to accomplish this. The fellowship or intimacy was with God and each other and able to happen because of the times of prayer.
I then was reminded how they prayed in Acts 4 they prayed for boldness and suddenly the place was shaken and instantly they received boldness. The response was directly tied to the prayer and the prayer was based on advancing the kingdom. They said the one thing they lacked to be effective and cried out in desperation for it. God answered and they were forever changed. The right prayer meeting does not give you relief but produces lasting change. What a powerful prayer meeting. It reminded me of the one we had just had. Our prayer was not about meeting our needs but about shifting us for service.
Jesus said don’t pray for what you need for your father in heaven knows before you ask. Matt 6:8. Then he gives the Lord’s prayer in the next verse. He gives the model for prayer with the emphasis on the Kingdom and the power and the Glory. It seems the personal prayer was for the examination of ourselves and the corporate prayer a defined intention.
In Acts 12 Peter is in prison and the church is praying without ceasing for his release. A specific focus of why the meeting has been called. It was a continuous meeting probably with people in shifts coming and going. The assignment was driving them and the vision of the outcome. When Peter knocks on the door their assignment is completed. The ramifications of this a new season of Spiritual history is about to unfold. The transition from Jerusalem to the world.
Again, in Acts 13 as they were ministering to the Lord the Holy spirit said, and Paul and Barnabas were chosen for an assignment. THEN they prayed before they were sent out. This prayer was for the corporate assignment that had just been spoken by the Holy spirit. It seems the meeting was not so much a prayer meeting seeking direction as it was a meeting of simply ministering to the Lord. The word ministered means to serve the state at your own cost, to do service, to discharge an office.
I have been in all night prayer meetings and after doing it a few times and seeing pillows and sleeping bags come in the door it kind of lost its purpose. In Africa they have asked me if I wanted to call prayer vigil or all-night prayer. I asked the host pastor why? It seemed he felt the anointing was needing empowered by prayer or needed to increase and prayer was the answer. I told the pastor these people are up early and are working all day. They are coming here in the evening and the meetings are running long. This is the third day with one more to go. Why would I put this on the people?
I know every move of God was birthed from prayer. I know nothing moves without prayer. I also know the very much needed times of prayer and have seen the changes that occurred. I’m just saying perhaps our model of prayer, the scheduled structures we have created, and our approaches need to have more of an intentionality about them to make them more of a special moment. I have done this with communion. I only do it when Holy Spirit prompts me to. This makes it hold greater value when we do share communion and takes away the religious pattern and traditions.
Perhaps we should not call prayer meetings on a schedule but schedule them when there is a real need. How many times do people ask,” Are you going to the prayer meeting tonight?” If there is not a sense of urgency in gathering to get answers then why is there a meeting. Are we caught in traditions?
So, what am I trying to say in all of this? I am seeing the direct correlation to not having prayer meetings to have prayer meetings, but they should always have a greater purpose and vision. Something beyond our own selves. They should reflect on the assignments and kingdom advances. They should be part of a flow. To me this is why prayer meetings seem to have low attendances, because these things are not seen. If you reflect on your prayer meetings the most successful were the ones with these elements or the dealing in hearts to be prepared for service. So like spiritual flow in a service, or flow in worship, maybe we need to have a spiritual flow in prayer meetings. Each one seen in the Bible produced an eternal result.
Easter, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection. Power of God upon the earth. Promise of God fulfilled. A kingdom birthed. Freedom in grace has come. Yet in the midst betrayal, rejection, and even those closes failed.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it. As I’m reading the account of history like so many, I want to point out some silent sufferings that all leaders go through and to bring hope to your labor of love. He speaks to the betrayal of Judas. Sitting amongst them with all the privilege yet to sell the greatest privilege for 30 pieces of silver. Can you imagine what Christ is thinking. This is what my life, my words, my messages and experiences are worth to this one. Yet he believed in him all the same.
He turns to Peter and says to him “When you’re fully converted” Matt 22:32 then strengthen your brethren. He saw a man still not convinced, still doubting still not full committed. Yet he saw a greatness within him yet to be seen. An assignment for his future given even unconverted! Imagine how he wished he could finish the process he started in both of these. To see the outworking all the investment and be satisfied he had done the work. Yet at times leaders have to say I have done all I can.
Then as he goes to the garden and in the greatest transition of heaven to earth, the moment of the secret of his life and ministry is being revealed, the disciples could not tarry an hour. As Jesus prayed in the in the garden for the cup to pass, sweating blood as he now begin the final process of being poured out, knowing he must fulfill his purpose upon the earth. The disciples could not overcome their flesh and sleep. The greatest moment Jesus needed them to be connected, yet he went the course by himself. Imagine even seeing the drops of blood yet not inquiring. I imagine Jesus like so many leaders asked the question to himself, when is it enough? I have poured myself out and it’s not good enough.
But what I see is Jesus could have seen failure. Failure of ministry. Failure to convey truth. Failure to grow leaders. But he was focused not on what was temporal, or his eyes saw. He was focused on what he had placed in the spiritual realm, what was eternal. Perhaps these men would eventually capture it, perhaps not. But it was placed in the spiritual realm and others would now have a chance to capture it. I learned a long time ago, what you say and do is not for who is in a room, but what you place in the spiritual realm so others can catch it.
As leaders we go through times of the cross and resurrection. At times we are at critical moments and those around us don’t understand the importance of a moment. I am telling you I understand. But my hope is not in people. It is in knowing and doing what is eternal. It is placing things in the spiritual realm for those who truly desire it. Just like the disciples were not convinced so many today are not as well. Jesus didn’t try to convince them, he made them think on the things he spoke with conviction. The power of resurrection is also the power of conviction and as Jesus moved in resurrection power. The early leaders found the same path also releasing the spirit of conviction to change mindset by metanoia, actions of the hearts, and the laying down of worldly pursuits for that which was eternal. Take heart leader. Move in resurrection power in your words and deeds. Stay focused on the eternal for the it all that will remain when all is said and done. Let God sort the ones who are to come along.
Everyone deals with self-esteem at some point in their life. Some deal with low self-esteem all their lives. It is something I have had to work people through over my entire ministry life. Some face the extremes of lacking self-esteem by the ongoing demeaning of a person until the person is completely broken down. This can come by others who press you down to gain advantage over you and feel better about themselves. It can also come by doing it to ourselves thinking we deserve it. Self-esteem could be termed self-value or how you value yourself. Self-esteem is how you value the very essence of yourself. We all deal with self-esteem in many ways. Confidence is a major one.
Webster’s defines self-esteem as: a confidence in one’s own worth or abilities; self-respect.
The confidence in one’s own self-worth is not in right decision-making but is found deeper. It is having a settledness in who you are, (Identity) and the potential that is inside you. Most of the time, confidence is eroded when things go bad or go in a different direction than anticipated. Life events have nothing to do with our self-esteem but if we are not careful, we will let it come in and begin to erode our confidence. I have had many life events go in the wrong direction. There was pressure to let those moments define me and who I am. I made business decisions that cost me tens of thousands of dollars. Other business decisions should have made me wealthy, but I ended up breaking even. Still other decisions made me doubt why I chose a certain direction. But all of them had factors out of my control along with my assumption that others would act like I act, from the same value system. But I decided to allow God to define me instead and He saw me through the detrimental life events. Self-esteem is never formed from hindsight and the what ifs. It is formed by knowing who you are and what you are capable of.
We make decisions based on the information at hand, experience, and a trust in others to perform what has been determined. We believe they value what we value and will respond like we would respond. How they respond is outside of our control. Self-esteem is about you as a person and not outside influences, and how they affect you. You remain deep down who you are no matter what happens in life around you. You are a person, and those influences are events. Two very different things.
Self-esteem is really a measuring of what we feel we should be doing and attain, versus what we are doing. The in-between is the place self-esteem is determined. The closer the gap between our reality and what we feel is “perfection”, the greater our self-esteem. The wider the gap, the less we feel about ourselves. We must be careful not to widen the gap by the words we speak and how we see ourselves. Self Esteem is not just how we value ourselves but starts by how we see ourselves. How we compare “us” to possibly a false image of “us” or what others might expect or even others we admire. Correct self-esteem will always have a gap between where we are at now and where we see our potential really is. That’s healthy self-esteem, evaluating improvement but not being driven by the standard of perfection.
2 Corinthians 10:12–13 (KJV 1900) — 12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.
We have wrong self-esteem when we have wrong standards by which we measure ourselves. We may be coming up with unrealistic ideas of what the standard for ourselves should be. We set standards upon ourselves that God never intended. He knows we have limitations, and He has made provision for the lack, mistakes, and choices. It really becomes a mental health issue of having healthy and realistic expectations of ourselves. Ones that give us a realistic target to hit and not a perfectionist mentality that we sometimes hit but most of the time, fall short.
But self-esteem deals with how actions determine our value. Our actions come from our value system. How we value ourselves and what we know to be true about ourselves. That’s why when those values are violated by others, it cuts us deeply. Our first response generally is that there is something wrong with me. But really, how people respond and when they respond poorly or with differing values that are less than ours, only shows areas needing adjusted in their lives and not ours.
Actions may be right or wrong at times, but the value of who we really are remains the same. It never changes nor is it reduced. God is no respecter of persons and values every person equally. He loves us because He chose to love us, not based on our actions or lack of actions. God has no variable or sliding scale. He sees us how He made us and not what comes at us, trying to change the very depths of who we are. His opinion of us remains the same while ours may change. Self-esteem is really who you are as a person, more so than the decisions you make. Value is not determined by our actions but by our character, value systems, moral living, treatment of others, kindness, compassion, appreciations, and the unique and wonderful way God made us. These are the things I point out to those who have self-esteem issues.
If you have self-esteem issues, you can approach it in two ways. First is the resetting of the perfection bar you have established. Problems in life do come along. People deceive us, lie to us, abuse us and a host of other things. These do not demean our value but come to erode at our perceptions of ourselves. If we are not careful, we put them into how our self-esteem is formed. We set high unattainable standards thinking this will stop the life issues. Set a realistic goal for your life and find happiness that you are on the journey to reach it. Remember that how the journey unfolds will not define who you are.
The other area is seeing if we truly are living below our potential. Perhaps we have a ‘let’s wait and see’ attitude or an unwillingness to put energy into bettering ourselves. This also must be addressed and shifted. God expects a good healthy attempt with what we can do and not ultimate perfection from us, as He says there is none perfect, not one. To adjust self-esteem, we need to take the undue pressure off us. We close this gap by making an effort, working our potential, and measuring it with God’s realistic viewpoint, and our self-esteem will quickly rise.
This is small portion of a Class I recently taught in Legacy School our online school.
Paul told Timothy a valuable insight. It was a charge he gave him. A charge was a command that was not to be taken lightly and was expected to be heeded. Paul gave 6 charges to Timothy over the 2 books written to him. This is the first or foundational charge. The word commit following the word charge was the passing of the charge into the hands of Timothy to steward.
1 Timothy 1:18–19 (KJV 1900) — 18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightiest war a good warfare; 19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
The word war means to make a military expedition, to lead soldiers to war or to battle, (spoken of a commander). It is a verb or action word. Paul was expecting Timothy to go on military conquest or campaign, a mission. He was to be strategic in the advance of the kingdom. But not by natural means but by spiritual means. It was to be a “good” warfare. The word “good” means excellent in nature. It would hold the nature of Christ and the spirit of excellence. It was battle that was to be done a certain way. As he did this the outcome would be a warfare. The word warfare means a military campaign. Military service, discharge of apostolic duties. It is the word Strateia which is the root of our word strategy. It is a noun and descriptive of something accomplished. The outcome of deciding to lead others would result in strategic warfare.
Paul refers to how to strategize in this warfare, it is found in the prophetic words Timothy had been given when he was commissioned. It was what God said over his life. Paul connects the warfare is related to what was said prophetically over Timothy. The ability to lead others is related to the prophetic words spoken over our lives. It also holds the strategy we are looking for in how to conduct our campaigns, mission and visions. It is connected to kingdom exploits and advancements. This tells us how prophesy will also reveal what kind of things will try to stop us from fulfilling our destiny. Paul was saying to Timothy the battle is not just about your life but it is about Timothy’s destiny upon the earth and the work he had been assigned for the Kingdom of God.
Paul tells us the destiny and fulfillment of Timothy’s words will not occur by himself, but he will need to enlist other soldiers to war with him. The destiny was not about Timothy’s life but what Timothy was to accomplish with His prophetic words. He had been given the weapon of war within his prophesy and instruction to convey the importance of what he carried to others. The prophecy would hold such hope, power and vision that it would convince others to aid Timothy and join alongside him. Paul would tell him later to find faithful men able to teach others also. This is not just doctrinal instruction but prophetic strategy that would be sustained to generations coming forth from the prophetic word.
The Power of Prophesy over a life is a seldom accessed or seen as tool of warfare. Your prophetic words are a battle plan for your life. These words must be worked out and strategized over. They must be safeguarded as well. Paul would also warn Timothy that a good solider he was not to be entangled with the affairs of this live. The entanglements come to dimmish the prophetic words over His life. This prophetic word carried great force and power and worldly affections would reduce its impact. A strong word requires the application of force and resistance to whatever would hinder them from fulfillment.
Perhaps if prophetic words were not so flowery but actually carried the sense of true kingdom destiny others would engage into them. Perhaps if prophesy were at a higher level, we would have the strategy we are looking for. Make war with your prophesy. Your prophesy is your battle plan given to you by God to fulfill.
Like Bob Jones would give the Shepherds Rod sometimes the Lord speaks to me like this. Recently this happened to me again as I was meditating on many things concerning the life of the Body of Christ, the disconnected ones, the order needed, the power required, and I was seeking asking God what will it take to align and re-order all of this to your intention. This is what was conveyed.
The Mavericks
First, I saw two groups of people. Mavericks and those who are rogue. The 2 groups were the same. The Lord spoke to me and said, “the mavericks are my sent ones. They do not fit the status quo but are still connected into the body and submitted to me. They love my church and are not critical of her. They have an assignment and an empowerment to challenge my bride out of slumber.” I then saw the other group the rogues. The Lord spoke to and said, “this groups is to themselves. They have gifting and anointing but are not submitted to any leader. They believe they know all things and are critical of my church. They have created their own way not within my prescribed order. ” I could see both groups operating in the same moment. Both were having results, the mavericks more so than the rogues. It seemed confusing that both could have results. Then I saw the eternal results of both groups. Not the actions but what was created in hearts who were around each group. This clarified the impact of the unseen of the Mavericks vs the rogues. The Mavericks had imparted things eternal while the rogues had only brought what was more temporal. The disconnect of the rouges coming from attitude disqualified them to carry the eternal.
The War
I saw a great war in the heavens going on. An ancient war with ancient demonic forces. These forces have been reserved for this moment of time, to wear out the saints. I saw the deceiver and accuser. I saw how many in the body of Christ have played into the deception and even the accusation. Their judgements of the church and the bride have empowered the demonic forces. The dissatisfaction they experienced coming from others and how they felt treated, was in reality, their own dissatisfaction with their own selves. This was making them rogue in living their faith. Their faith was empowering the deception. I saw a lying spirit and how all of this was empowering it. The empowering was so great in this hour it was as if it was becoming a principality over regions and nations. I saw fear gripping tightly upon areas of hearts. It was the whispering spirit collaborating with the lying spirit. I heard a voice speak and say, “the great war has come.”
The Ecclesia
I then saw the church, the Ecclesia. I saw a new way of battling with a new sound and a new sword being formed. I saw the church standing looking up , vertically, and speaking to demonic forces. Then I saw the church rise and speak horizontally. The church was being repositioned and it was critical to be both aligned and in order. The alignment was a multiplier. The order brought a confidence. I saw the Ecclesia step into position in the second heaven aligning itself with its destiny. They were also coming into order and began to reorder all things, beginning in the second heaven. The Ecclesia begin to wrestle with and contend face to face with demonic forces. The war was going to be differnet because a different ecclesia was emerging. Aligned and order to produce a bowing down of demonic forces and a giving way of demonic influences. But the Ecclesia was carrying a new sword. A sound never before heard.
The Sound
I saw a sound that had never been before, coming forth. A harmonious, synchronized sound. A sound that was coming from union and not unity. A sound recognized by both believer and unbeliever. A sound known in heaven but becoming known in the earth. It was the sound of war, but not of the battle, or call to war. Even though the battle was on you could not hear the sound of it like past battles. But the sound the Ecclesia carried was the dominate and only sound. It was the sound of ultimate victory contained in the ecclesia. The sound was soft and deafening at the same time. It was authoritative. It contained the power and breath of God. It had come to do business and the sound demanded a response that would have to give way. It was a new weapon of war. A new sword forming.
The Order
I saw an order coming into the earth again. This order was the ways of God. The order was defining the realignment of past structures. A structuring of governmental legislating. A way that would produce a path. The Path was part of the order. It was the outcome of the ways. The sound of the Ecclesia was the order. The order was coming to release authority. I saw wave upon wave of authority being released upon the earth, as another part of the order and path of God was being found and walked. The more this repeated the stronger the sound and the order became. Men’s hearts were giving way to the order as a more excellent way.
The Tree
I saw a new tree coming into existence. It seemed to be a short brushy type of tree but held great promise. I sensed it would produce a new fruit or food source. I thought this could be a supernatural source possible for healing properties. Then I saw the bark and leaves of the tree being used as a tea and many being healed. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, “this is all of this and so much more. This is the tree of Life being restored. In the next season the focus and embrace of the life-giving source will become more dominate in the body. As it comes it will bring healing where there seems to be a lack.” I saw the tree being rooted into the earth again. I saw it spreading outward creating a huge umbrella under its limbs and it became the covering for many. This tree of Life was and is Christ.
The Intensity
I saw the intensity. It was a force coming of such power. The intensity was overwhelming to think of. Its power could utterly destroy in a moment of being unbalanced. It seemed the sound and order the Ecclesia was carrying was the balancing required. The intensity was fearful and reverence instilling. It became an actual wall of power that could be felt that swept entire cities. It was known by all, felt by all, but none could see it. It was complete and stood to the heavens and reached horizon to horizon. But it was not a fixed wall but moved slowly as one single intentional force. It was obvious nothing could stand in its path, and nothing would even consider it. Everything seemed to have been set in order and alignment and because of that and the sound of the ecclesia everything was magnified thousands of times.
I had this written before the recent Tornados that hit Kentucky. The trauma they are experiencing is beyond comprehension. The loss of life, property, dreams, heritage and a how daily life was done, is a trauma that takes time for healing to occur. In these kinds overwhelming situations you will go through all the stages of loss: grieving, anger, despair and a host of other things. It is hard for those who know the Lord and the hope and peace He can bring. I honestly don’t know how anyone can have that strong of a will to make it without Him. I wrote this blog to deal with the daily issues of life more so than the catastrophes of life. I hope some of this will be applicable to both.
There is a lot going on in culture. There are two types of things I see prevalent in the church culture right now. First is the denial of problems, pain, disease etc. It is like if we deny, it doesn’t exist. This is coming from the belief of positive confession etc. Negative things do exist and not calling it by name does not make it go away. The faith movement has made us go to an extreme of not admitting to what we are facing. Denial does make it any less real and can mask something to never be addressed. This denial thinking is not very well accepted by the emerging generation as it is not authentic.
The second is the over focus on the problem of trauma, depression, anxiety, and a host of other societal problems. This has led to a cultural acceptance in the church that it’s ok to not be whole. Again, an honest evaluation, but not a Godly or biblical perspective. Jesus did not just heal, but made whole to the degree the effects caused by the problem were reversed as if they never occurred. But the over emphasis on trauma can create a self-destructive path and a non-deliverance mindset. The problem is real, but its magnitude is more than the answer. The focus is on self and feelings than faith and freedom. This focus on the problem more than the solution is not very well accepted by an older generation who will say “just get over it.” Which is coming from the first mindset of denying it. This position is not accepted by an older generation who has endured much.
So, we are sitting in two different philosophies and approaches. But both have many things in common. Both approaches do not bring wholeness to the issues. Both do not have a solid pathway to resolve. Both have faith involved to a degree, but not true authentic Biblical faith. But what is positive is both have a desire to be walking in freedom as an outcome.
We all have things we will go through in life. I see three areas of roots causes of trauma.
First, some are just life issues due to living in a sin filled world that we feel the effects of. Unredeemed man and man’s greed and pride can come into play. These can create all kinds of abuses from others. Rape, deception in business, murder, revenge, corrupt governments, unfair situations. We can create a lengthy list. It is the unredeemed areas of men, acted upon. These are external processes that affect a person’s life.
Second, other things are our own poor decisions and responses that have caused our problems. These things create a self-induced calamity that can become a false identity and an ongoing cycle of trauma, or life events that are detrimental to our emotional and mental health. These are emotional and psychological areas that come as defense mechanisms to cope with or not cope at all. These decisions are not being responsible for our choices which have repercussions. These can create “loops” of thinking and lead us to a self-deceived state the Bible speaks of. These are internal processes.
And finally, that which seems unexplainable or makes just no sense. These things are demonic or have demonic roots. This would be the demonic attacks to slow us down, distract us and cause confusion in faith. I have experienced all of these and I’m sure you have to. But we give too much credit to demonic things and deny the first two sources. I have had my dark times in life, but I decided to not live in the darkness and allowed the light of God’s deliverance to come in. These are supernatural processes.
At times it can become confusing as it appears all three are at work at the same time. That can be true. The demonic forces bring things to shift our faith. The same time demonic forces move upon the evil in men’s hearts to create situations that affect us. We then make decisions emotionally and intellectually more so than spiritually lead. So, what is the balance we need?
We need to not deny our problems or the problems of others, but face them from a biblical perspective. This emerging generation needs to be taught, not denial, but how to walk out life and still find rest during the storms. We were not promised a life of ease but a life of overcoming. But to overcome there first must be a battle, or something we must gain victory over. This is where the older generation should be quick to train and encourage rather than judge or give a quick answer without investment.
We must walk out the problems by facing them and finding solutions. For some they seek a counselor, therapist, or an emotional health person to help them deal with things. These can help, but the only way to truly be free is to allow God to deliver, heal and make whole by restoration. Lazarus was dead and Jesus called him asleep first, but because the people couldn’t go there in understanding, he finally said, “He is dead.” Jesus came to change the life calamity with light and life. His perspective was positive, not negative. Others were sick or demonized and Jesus recognized the condition, and then addressed the thing holding people bound. What is needed is a perspective from God, not ourselves. From the potential of faith which exceeds our understanding. If we don’t shift into a position of faith, then things will hold a grip on us, a grip that is more intellectual, and emotional based on the current condition and not the future.
When I came into the kingdom many years ago, there was not any of the counseling things we have today. If you had a problem or anxiety, depression or any type of emotional problem you and God worked it out. Your dependency grew on God until you had a breakthrough. You were also dependent strongly on the spiritual community you engaged in to stand with you, hold you accountable and walk out healing with you. It made us closer and more connected in heart. No one journeyed in trauma alone. We had emotions, we had feelings, but it was our faith in God that caused breakthrough. We didn’t deny, but lived above things, knowing God was our breakthrough.
God is near those who are broken-hearted. God does not draw close to just bring comfort, but comes to resolve or bring change. Every time Jesus was near those broken hearted, he brought a shift into their lives. Jesus is the agent of change, and his involvement will always produce change. Like all healing it is God who is the ultimate healer. He has allowed healing to come by all kinds of ways. He uses doctors, people, loved ones, friends, and even kids at times. All are relationships and that is what we experienced in my early years. Someone in my Christian circle could be carrying your answer. If you are out of fellowship, you could be delaying your answer. I have seen this happen constantly, that an answer was given in a meeting, but the person wasn’t there and never heard it, so they struggled until the answer came again later in the future.
Some emotional traumas are how others have treated us physically and emotionally, abusing us. Those require healing, time and seeing God step in to make us whole again. Many other emotional traumas we face come because of what we hear or assumptions we make. We are quick to allow our mind to imagine all kinds of fantasy. I had a spiritual daughter come to my office and demand I tell her who was talking about her behind her back. I told her, “No one.” After about 20 minutes of arguing she would not back down. I told her, “O.K. I’ll tell you who is talking about you, there is only one person and it’s you!” Sometimes we make things bigger than they are. We also hear in ways that come from past hurts so what we hear may not be completely accurate. It really comes down to not what we hear but how we hear. A person may be accusing but it may be coming from their own insecurity or hurts. It’s how we hear their voice in the accusation. Do we hear the accusation or the hurt it comes from?
Jesus said in the parables to be careful “How” we hear. The problem is not hearing God’s voice but distinguishing it with confidence from all other voices. There are five voices affecting our spiritual ears.
God’s voice – which can be a still small voice
Man’s voices, the flesh – your desires and emotions
Voice of reason – your intelligence
The voice of conscience – your sense of knowing right from wrong
Satan’s voice – deception
All of these have certain familiarities to them. We are most familiar with our intellect and our conscious. Then our voice or emotions, then satan’s, and finally God’s. As you see God’s voice is at the end and the other voices are entertained. If we create a new order of God’s voice first the outcome becomes; our conscience will submit to it, our intellect will embrace it, our desires and emotions will yield to it, and Satan’s voice will be diminished or gone.
As I said, we all go through traumatic events in life due to one of the three reasons. We are not going to avoid it. It’s how we negotiate the moment and what voices we are allowing to dictate and form us during it and afterward. You can tell by this story how I negotiated the three areas and the five voices.
I can remember being clinically depressed for over a year. I was transitioning into the apostolic from the prophetic and I had not heard God’s voice for a year. I also was denied any ministry role everywhere I turned, and leaders were pitting people against me. I was hearing all the voices, but the most important, God’s. I was trying to sort out what decisions I had made that were wrong (there weren’t any). And I was living in others unredeemed responses and oversight in my life. I knew the enemy was trying to stop me at every turn and constantly spoke to me about failure, unqualified, rejected, no value and would never find my purpose, identity or do anything of any value for God. I fought all the voices, all the influences, and still wasn’t having break-through. During it, my youngest son died and was pronounced dead in the hospital. I got the call and instead of conscious or emotions or intellect or even the voice of Satan dictating, I allowed God’s voice already in my spirit to rise. Remember, I was in a deep depression and hadn’t heard God’s voice for a year. But His voice was still in me, just buried in the mud of everything. I told the devil he could take everything, but wouldn’t take my son. Not a tear, not a fear, not a voice of reason, but the gift of faith came to me. I went to the hospital and raised him off the table 2 hours after he had died. You see, denying the other voices has given my son from that day (Dec 2) 30 more years of life so far. Which could have been for me, to live in 30 years of trauma instead. It came down to a decision I had to make concerning God’s role in my life.
I know this short teaching doesn’t cover every unique detail, but I will say I have helped people work through all kinds of abuse, trauma, suffering, rejection, mental stresses, emotional upheaval etc. all thinking in the moment there is no way I’ll ever get free. Yet they all did. Some in a few weeks and others many years. You can avoid future things by hearing God, and you can heal from past things by God speaking into you. Everyone is only a guide to healing, be it emotional, mental, or physical. But the bottom line is, God is the one who brings the wholeness. All those things do not define who you are to God and what you can do for Him upon the earth. There are many things to bring wholeness, but dealing with the voices is a main hurdle to overcome and will help in the entire process. I hope this helps you break free from a cycle you may be in, and I also hope it helps you heal from past hurts.
This will not be an in-depth teaching on deliverance. But I want to speak to what we are seeing because there is a greater level of demonic influence leading to more deliverances being conducted. This is due to several things. Culturally we are more accepting of people acting out. We must be aware of is as the true church arises, demonized people deep down want to be free and will seek out those places that bring freedom. This is what is bringing a new awareness to deliverance. My concern is seeing a repeat of many years ago of a lot of confusion in deliverance that finally leveled out as it matured. We seem to be repeating this again in some circles as deliverance ministry is new to many recent believers. I have seen believers who are still walking our deliverance or in need of deliverance trying to conduct deliverance on other people. We are planning to do a full conference in this area in the near future to help instruct people.
With so much attention on deliverance and so many “Experts” I decide to write into this subject to help bring some clarity. First what qualifies me? Let me give you some history and then Ill speak to some of the things going on.
I have always been involved in deliverance minsitry. It started when I was 6 months old in the Lord in 1979. Many people were getting delivered from drugs, and a huge number of other things and we had many demons manifesting. These deliverance went on for many years. We eventually did mission trips into West Africa in 1992 and went to the location were all the witchcraft in West Africa originated. Along the way we confront a village of four hundred witches, saw demonized monkeys, saw witches saved and delivered, and a typical night would do 2-300 full blown deliverances in a meeting. In 2000 I went into Nigeria and dealt with witchcraft at new levels. Witches behead people in anger that I as an apostle and had come into the area. I have seen curses broken, eyes regenerated where there were empty sockets, hearing come back, sunken skulls pop out, plagues dissolve, women be able to conceive, broke the power of water gods who impregnated women, and I had to take authority over a witch doctor who astral projected into my bedroom once. There are many curses put by witches. In one place a death in an intersection happened weekly because the witches had put a curse on it. I took 300 pastors, stopped the traffic broke the curse and until this day no deaths. These are only a few things ill share as most people in the western church wouldn’t believe or would acknowledge how real it can truly be.
In the states I have cleaned out homes where demons were being seen. In one home they were turning on the water faucet. In another they were seen walking around in the night. Our ministry was birthed doing deliverance as over sixty cult people got saved and went through ongoing deliverance. We had daily walk-in deliverances as well for 12 years. We confronted strong holds over families, broke generational curses, and took out a couple primary principalities. We have seen people levitate, contort and just about any kind of manifestation.
But what makes me most qualified to address some of the things I see is not just my experience in these areas, but my current position in the Lord as an apostle, father, leader, and biblical student of the word. There is a grace to bring order and see authority be effective.
There Is a lot of people in this hour doing a lot of deliverances with what I can see either a mix of understanding or a lack of understanding due to immaturity. There is a great need for deliverance minsitry, but it needs to be done in a right way and order. Demons are very stealthy and slick. Demonic spirits will point the finger at others and accuse them of the very thing they are doing. The main strongest demonic spirits will sacrifice other demons in a deliverance so they can remain hidden. So, you need to move based on what your spirit knows not what you observe. My greatest concern in this hour that we are repeating is the sensationalizing of the demonic and the over focusing and fixating that occurs. Jesus rebuked the disciples talking so much about demonic forces instead of talking life giving conversations. As deliverance is occurring right now, and I’m really concerned about how many are modeling how it should be done.
Mercy Deliverance
To me God will deliver people when deliverance is done in ignorance and without much knowledge. I call this Gods mercy on a person. In many ways this deliverance is very pure as all the motives are gone and the simple innocent desire for someone to be free remains. The person doing the deliverance may not have much knowledge or understanding. They may not have ever been around deliverance. But the great desire they have for the person to be free and the love they have for the person will free them. God loves people so much he will deliver them despite our techniques or understanding. Sometimes God heals people the same way. Sometimes God simply delivers the person without someone doing deliverance on the person.
Showmanship Deliverance
This is deliverance that draws a lot of attention to the demon itself and the person doing the deliverance. Talking to demons, getting its name or history etc. does nothing to facilitate the deliverance and is not needed. Jesus asked for the name once and Legion responded. This was not to create a deliverance doctrine but to show the strength of the authority of casting demons out no matter the vast number. Showman’s ship deliverance sensationalizes deliverance and can empower the demon as attention is being given to it. Afterall demons do lie and will tell you things you want to hear. This type of deliverance is not done in love and desire for the person but for the one doing the deliverance to be known. This kind of deliverance can be lengthy and drawn out. It also can be very traumatizing for the one being delivered. It has a lot of confusion, chaos and many voices. Many times, there is not a set person leading the deliverance but an entire gang.
I understand there is much zeal, and that zeal may come out without much control being present. But this is about the person being free more than my own self expressions. In other words, many times showmanship deliverance is done for bragging rights and to create a following. God will still deliver a person even if the motive of the deliver is wrong. This can cause people to think this is the correct way, after all a result happened. But there is a more excellent way. The way of love.
Training in Deliverance
To me training deliverance is when a person wants to learn deliverance minsitry but has lots of struggles doing the deliverance. The only real way to learn deliverance is by actually doing it. This means you will make mistakes and struggle in some areas. Being with a seasoned person will help you through the journey. This is how I have always trained deliverance people. You can teach the areas understanding is needed in, but the actual application is when the real training begins. Jesus sent the disciples out and when they came back, he told them what had happened. No one should ever do deliverance by themselves and should always have at least one other person. When in West Africa we had over three hundred people manifesting, ripping their cloths off, smashing their heads into trees etc. We had to tie them up with ropes. The Pastors did not know how to do deliverance, so we showed them how and trained about twenty pastors as they did it.
Biblical Deliverance
Let me say this as I start this area. People perish for lack of knowledge. We need several things to be effective in deliverance. I’m not going to cover this as an all-inclusive teaching but a simple addressing the need for understanding. You can accomplish anything with love, even if you’re lacking. Love covers a multitude of sins, short comings and inadequacies.
With Biblical deliverance you need four things in deliverance. Know your authority. Use your faith. Hear the Holy Spirit. Rightly discern the spirits. Everything else is a bonus but not needed to be affective. You don’t need to know a list of demons and their attributes. You don’t need the demon to talk to you and tell you things because everything is probably a lie. You don’t need an exorcism cross, or holy water. You don’t need a demon to thrust about or scream to have a deliverance. You simply hear God, rightly discern, bind the demon and cast it out with the authority you have been given.
Most of the time it does not need to take a long time. Jesus said to a whole legion of demons one word “GO”. Other times it was simple words, but words filled with power and authority. What I see a lot of times is the struggles doing deliverance come from not knowing who you are in Christ and having things in your own life you need delivered from. You can’t deliver someone from things you are battling yourself.
Biblical deliverance is not a show. It never distracts from what is going on. Many times, demons manifest and eventually a whole room can move from worship focused on God to a demon who then is stealing God’s worship. When this happens, the demon is in control. Simply cast it out and move on or remove the person to another room and deal with it then.
We need no gimmicks. We need a voice of authority. We don’t need a bunch of people yelling but one person should oversee the deliverance and everyone else is praying and discerning. If demons manifest, you tell them to be still. If the person yells you tell the demon to be quiet. You take control right away and part of that means you maintain order. Deliverance is an ordered ministry.If a demon screams , I command it to be quiet. If it thrust about, I tell it to be still. I take away its power, influence and control of the moment.
Any type of deliverance is a traumatic experience for a person. The person needs much love afterwards and discipled. They need assurance and to feel they are accepted. The work of deliverance many times is the steps afterward and the days and even weeks following. A void needs filled and the person needs assured.
I also discern if deliverance is truly need. There is a big difference between demonic oppression and possession. Oppression is outward influences affecting internal decisions or responses. Possession is forces from within that can take charge of a person, that the person loses control. We can take authority over both. Sometimes we are trying to cast out when we need to prevent by stopping before possession occurs. Other times if we deliver someone, we need to place a deposit within of God’s love, presence etc. to fill the void. This is the real work of deliverance. The casting out of demons is the act of deliverance. After all the word salvation means deliverance and just as salvation is both a moment in an event and a long-term process, so is deliverance it has both the act of and the work of.
Deliverance from the Demon not Manifestations
We need to touch briefly on taking out root demonic influence points and not just binding manifestations. There is no spirit of nicotine but a spirit of bondage. There is no spirit of addiction but a spirit of bondage. There is no spirit of lust, but perversion. Lust is excessive desire created in the soul as thoughts are planted by demonic forces trying to pervert. Remember jezebel was a person who had demonic influences.
Every demonic spirit has certain attributes. Those attributes reveal what spirit is working behind the scenes. The spirit of jealous will have competition, feelings of inferiority, and a suspension. Symptoms will point to a primary demonic spirit as work. There is much to teach on in these areas and again our class in our school is about 25 hours. I feel like we sometimes look very uninformed in the spirit realm and look foolish to the people of the world looking at how we set people free.
If we do deliverance with a works mentality, then then it will “wear out the saints”. If we, do it as a common action with real authority then it will not wear us out or wear us down. We also will not be getting backlash or having demonic activity coming against our lives. We are above these things and have been positioned to live at a higher level.
The sensationalizing connected with deliverance needs to be removed out of our lives as it only opens doors to wrong motives, elitism, pride, and a host of other things. To me the simplicity of authority is all that is needed. We need to show forth the majesty and sovereignty of our Gods power over evil forces and how quickly that authority can move anything that opposes.
I decided to write on this topic to help other leaders who possibly experience what I have had happened several times. I have had to answer a lot of questions with other leaders as well about being in or out of spiritual flow of meetings and how to handle these situations as they arise. From people taking over meetings, saying mixed prophesy, prophesying out of their own heart or imaginations, missed responses, doctrinal error present, manipulation of a body, and doing things that are perfectly correct and doctrinally sound but maybe in wrong timing. It is one thing to miss something in a meeting that has only an effect for that meeting. That happens probably almost every time we gather. That is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about meetings that have a sovereign intentional release of something required for the corporate bodies mission to succeed. In other words, what is missed carries a key component to affect from that point forward to unlock the future. For me this is probably the greatest time of discouragement is when I know a meeting has shifted from Gods intentions of a great deposit. Thank God He is merciful, but that still does not take away the feelings that occur or the knowing of what could have been.
The Test Described
This test occurs when you realize an intentional sovereign moment of God has been missed that would deposit a much-needed element that is missing. This occurs when a meeting seems to shift direction away from an opening into a heavenly realm. This may be because of others stepping out of spiritual flow affecting a corporate body and taking the meeting in a different direction. It could be because of mixture or prophesy that is assumed to be prophecy when in reality it isn’t, or a host of things. It could be as simple as the hearing of things may be right, but the timing or implementation may be what affects the shift that occurs. It shows well-meaning intentions outside of the timing of God will not create the intentions of God.
The Effects
This test has both frustrations, disappointments, discouragement, feelings of failure, and an overwhelming feeling of loss. This causes a grieving with it. The grieving is not being able to rescue the moment as the spiritual climate or atmosphere has shifted. This is magnified when only the leader has these feelings and no one else is aware of it. It is as if the pathway to the next thing has been removed. I would liken it to a bridge from one bank to the next. The bridge has been removed, and you see the other bank but have no means to get there. You know it will take time to build the bridge again.
A leader will feel out of sync with the meeting they are in and the feeling can carry on into the next day or several days. Restlessness as they wrestle with the why’s, and if that moment can be recaptured. It will cause deep inner reflection and analysis of their preparation, leadership abilities, and even the call. It will cause a re-examining to find the moment it was derailed or what lead to the shifting so they can see how it could be stopped in the future. A leader will look at themselves first, assuming they did not hear correctly. They will evaluate to see if they are too critical or their expectations were too high or wrong. It has nothing to do with the leader’s role being fulfilled, but what the Body of Christ did not receive. The leader will see the far-reaching ramifications of the missed moment and will try to figure out a pathway forward.
Paul felt this many times with the churches he oversaw. He was constantly having to go backward and relay foundational doctrines instead of advancing deeper into the things of God. He was having to sort out what people did as accurate, verses speculations. He was sorting the mixtures of flesh, doctrines, reasoning etc. He had to address the Corinthians concerning the use of spiritual gifts and the overabundance of what was being released. He had to put in place a structure to facilitate the spiritual flow that seemed to always be open. A lot of this was training. But when there was not training you do not see this overabundance. When you see directives from God given you see precise sovereign moments with little to no input.
What Does the Test Show?
This test is a hard test to get beyond. The easiest route is to say the leader is too serious but this requires them to embrace a mindset they have to compromise in what they knew to be true. To not allow it to affect them or deny the moments importance also diminishes that they heard God correctly. This test puts a leader into multiple dimensions of overlapping conflicts making it hard for them to move forward not knowing what exactly needs addressed. Most everyone doesn’t want to make mistakes and their heart keeps them in check. That is what makes this test so hard to sort out. You cannot find false truth or mixture. But it comes down to timing. Just because a person hears or sees does not mean it needs to be shared instantly. Many times, the opportunity for others to be trained can outweigh the results attained.
This test also shows the interconnectedness of the Body and how each person is to function in unison with the others. Without us being led by the spirit you soon see that the body lacks a full understanding and even missing elements that can make it healthy. This test shows the different maturity levels. I have seen the most screwed up meetings and some people still get touched by God. Again, this makes for a conflicting evaluation by the leader of the meetings impact. We have and still show grace for the body to develop and grow. These opportunities are not taken away but are better monitored and given oversight.
This grieving will test your tenacity to stand against the opposition and even good intentions that have created a false finish line. It reinforces the seriousness of God and it forms a finish anointing. The impasse is being able to stay on course long term in the midst of missing the mark in the short term. The resetting of values is a delicate game of weighing in the scales and not coming up wanting. I have had to weight this in the training of people. Training people will cause mistakes. The mistakes are how we grow. I have sacrificed forward vision unfolding for the sake of giving opportunity. In hindsight I would do it again, but not to the degree I did. I felt it caused the vision to be delayed and kept us always feeling slightly behind or not quite in sync. My conclusion is there are meetings for training and then are some meetings for a sovereign moment of God to come forth. These meetings are not times of training, or it could be derailed. These sovereign moment meetings are setting new courses.
This test also causes deepening of values to occur. As you realize you cannot simply recreate the exact moment or conversion point as almost all factors are beyond your control. This is because the moment was a sovereign moment. You look forward with a different mindset to not allow the missed moments to be allowed. As a leader that knows Gods intention realizes also how far reaching the value is and holds a greater love for Gods intentions and how much He believe in us.
What is to be Formed?
Having others to share the moment with or to talk about it will help divide the burden. The more who understand the burden and are willing to help carry the less the leader feels isolated in the grieving. The bible says to carry each other’s burdens but this is not natural or our feelings but also our spiritual burdens. This is why there is to be team leadership. This will help bring others into greater spiritual awareness and sensitivity. This plays into the scripture of mourning with those who mourn and laugh with those who laugh. We think of natural things, but can we mourn with those who mourn with spiritual things. The Holy Spirit can be grieved, can we also feel that grieving as well. This test softens our heart to God and allows our spiritual feelings to begin to override our natural feelings.
A leader will be more intentional next time and not allow feelings to get in the way to maintain the flow of a meeting. They will also not allow as much freedom and will monitor what is said or done. The verse of all things being done decently and in order also comes into this. The decently is probably not the issue as much as the order. I have found after working through all the processes associated with this test, I have to come to conclusion, that moment may never occur again or will have to be ramped back up to that place. You come to the realization you are going forward with a piece of the overall plan sitting, still available as it was Gods intention, but not fully in your possession yet. A pathway will need to be built towards it again, but then at the possible expense of other things. You also realize God can bring that portion again, it just will have to look different as all the factors have now shifted.
The other thing I have learned is I can’t depend on others to help carry those intentions. Which means I need to not allow the opportunities that I have done at other times. At the end of the day, I’m responsible and I need to take on that responsibility. As leaders we live in enough repercussion of people’s choices! We need to live in the repercussion of our choices more so. Those come as we lead to advance. What we create or form we can shift. What others create or form we are sometimes on the receiving end.
If you have experienced this missing of a moment, you’re the leader God is looking for. Sounds strange doesn’t it? Will its not the reason you missed the moment but that your spirit is sensitive that a moment was missed. Its that you value those moments and cherish them that when they don’t materialize your heart-broke for the people of God and even God himself. It just goes to show how serious you are as a leader. Imagine what would be revealed when leaders gather, that same honor was shown to the atmosphere God was present in. Imagine the body so protecting the atmosphere that it causes their senses to be heightened to it. If you can relate to this then I say to you be encouraged. Your heart is right.
The one thing all humanity desires deep down is to be free. People work to better themselves everyday around the globe to attain greater freedom in living. People create money sources and business to “buy” time to do what they want to really do. People look for ways to escape their sin consciousness and generational curses and iniquities with addictions, looking for short lived freedom. At the heart of Christianity is the answer of Christ who frees us from all the worlds bondages restricting our freedom.
We as a nation are to be a model to the nations, is currently going through a crisis of freedom. The current battle going on is will we remain free or will we allow bondages to begin once again to take away what has been so costly paid for. As I write this, it is the day after Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address. At a time, a nation was divided over freedom, he took a stance and stated that all men are to be free. It was an overall perspective of answering the God placed desire in all men to be free. But the evil of men’s hearts to control and dominate was the enemy of this freedom. Today we are running some very exacting parallels. I can see we are in the midst of a civil war over freedom. We are a divided nation. We are pitted within families of being divided of which side we stand on. This division was implemented by a virus much like the virus of slavery.
A few years ago, the Lord told me “Your message this week is written on the capital wall. Go to the state capital and get your message. “I went to the capital and began my search. I read everything hanging on all the walls. I read plaques and things posted on every floor and almost every public room. I was coming up with nothing. As I kept ascending to the very top floor in the rotunda, I finally found it. Written around the very top was the words, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. “ The words “a new birth of freedom” is what stood out. I would later learn this was Lincolns last line of the Gettysburg address. The lord spoke to me and said “This will become the rallying point for awakening and reformation you seek. This will be the common sound that will united and draw people to a common cause.” I assumed for my state, today I see it for the nation.
The longing in men’s hearts is to be free. As a nation now with the recent election held in the balance, it is not about who will be president, but men’s freedom held in the balance. When they killed Lincoln, they thought they had won over the freedom he was bringing. But it only gave resolve to follow through that the nation would not be lost to binding men’s lives. Soon after that time the democratic party was birthed to change law to bring slavery back, to steal freedom from men. The history of that party is seen in different ways of taking freedom away and creating a dependency on programs, governmental control etc. That’s why their platform is contrary to biblical morality and principles that God established for his creation.
Now here stand the church and its leaders, divided due to influences of the culture and political affiliations. Many including leaders, not understanding Godly principles and their role upon the earth. This alone has caused freedom to be stolen. This has caused men to lose hope of being absolutely free. But also standing, the ecclesia, the active authoritarian body of Christ is also present, who are standing for truth to be seen, for freedom to prevail. This group has been marked standing for truth and crying out against the abominations upon the earth. (Ezekiel 9) This same group is crossing thresholds into heavenly realms to begin to legislate from a higher perspective. To be a voice and declare freedom. We must not cower down or remain hidden or silent.
We are indeed being marked and even separated of who will be carries of truth. Once this marking is completed then we will be asked to let go of what is in our hands and cross the threshold again. In Ezekiel 10 the one marked had to put his inkhorn down and take the fire from the alter and scatter it to the cities. This is the awaken and reformation we so desperately need. So in this hour perhaps we should be firming declaring from the other side of the threshold “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
I have been saying for over a year that the Church needs to shut down and reset. We need to come to a collective conclusion we don’t have the expression we should have. We should all decide to seek God whole heartedly and come back, all on the same page, because the Holy Spirit led us together on the journey. Many are saying ‘reset’ and I agree. But how we do it is what is frustrating. A virus has forced us into a place instead of the Holy Spirit leading us. We didn’t decide to go seek God because we saw a need to do so. It’s like an afterthought since we are restricted, we might as well make the best of it. The word ‘reset’ means to bring back to a defined starting point, a zero point, to set again or to set anew. My fear is we might set again. My hope is we will set anew.
Since when you reset, you generally bring everything back to a zero point. You clear out all the data, all the clutter, all the excess and start over. Are you prepared to be at a zero point, to clear out all the ways of doing, to really start over? We still have not gone into a zeroing process yet. I believe we are still thinking about adjusting things instead of resetting things. We talk of reset but do you understand what that potentially means? A zeroing of what we think we believe. A zeroing of doctrines. A resetting of preferences, affiliations, alignments, just about every area and all spheres. Right now, we still seem conflicted in what we believe, or even what reset looks like. The Lord told me in 3 weeks, the face of this will look different. He didn’t say the virus would be gone, or restrictions lifted, He said the face would be different. What I have concluded the face to be, is the face of leaders. If you take that and put it in reset, I believe He is resetting leaders more than the Church. I feel we are about to go through a changing of the guard, new emerging faces coming from forges of forming and hiding into being known. If we are resetting, then we are resetting in form, function and structures. We are resetting in how we govern and who leads the governing. Are you willing to be reset? Are you willing to be reshuffled into the place God has ordained for you and not where men forced you into? Will you be zeroed out to start again? Pretty sobering isn’t it to think just when I think I have arrived, I find I still have a long journey to take?
I’m astonished how many opinions are in play in this critical hour. “The virus is a judgment from God.” “This is a sign of the end of the age.” “We as a nation, need to repent.” The list goes on and on. All of these would take a lot of time to teach to reset mindsets. If the Holy Spirit was truly resetting us, we would be coming onto the same page in these areas. We would become one heart, one purpose and one voice. We would be experiencing John 17 coming into union with Christ. This is not God’s judgment; it is pure evil brought by an antichrist spirit. Instead of the Church affecting the seven mountains, this spirit is. We as the Church, have put ourselves in the religious mountain and now are under the religious spirit. Isaiah said we were on a separate mountain above all others. This is not the end of the age. We don’t really have a Kingdom to present to the Father. As for repentance, how can I truly repent for what I didn’t do? Identification repentance you say. That was an Old Testament model for a nation. If we were to repent, I guess I missed the memo amid all the conflicted opinions. These doctrines don’t really have a basis in Kingdom understanding, yet men have built ministries around them. Wrong eschatology leads to wrong ecclesiology and develops wrong theology. Please become a student of the Word in these areas! Maybe we need to ‘zero out’ and let God tell us what we should all believe.
What are we resetting into? It can be easily summed up. The original intentions of God. Authentic Christianity. A Church that is more Kingdom than religious in approach and mindsets. Just being brutally honest, it has everything to do with the harvest and at the same time, nothing to do with the harvest. I don’t see a harvest coming unless we zero out and allow God to build His house His way. We will not have the right house or spiritual capacity for the harvest. Is God concerned about the harvest? Yes! Is God more concerned about the Church and its leaders? Probably. He doesn’t want the harvest to come into the atmospheres we are currently producing. In other words, He doesn’t want the harvest to spoil. I grew up on a farm and the #1 thing that spoils a harvest is the mixture of green weed seed within it. The second is harvesting before its time, being anxious to get the harvest out so a premature harvest. When that happens the moisture content of the grain will spoil itself. Yes, we are headed to a worldwide harvest, but first God must build His container for it. We will know when it is built. He said He would rebuild David’s tabernacle (Acts 15:16-17) that the residue of all men would come. The word ‘residue’ means outcast. What we have built is not for the outcast but for ourselves.
What is the plan for the “reset”? What’s the strategy? How do we implement it? I have many leaders really frustrated in this hour, calling me wondering why there is such division right now in doctrine. They are asking who has answers for a way forward? This has taken us all off guard. It’s not so much a division occurring as it is a sanctification moment. A holy separation of that which is holy from that which is profane. That which has mixture from that which is holy. That which is partial truth from full truth. It is separating the opinions of men from the intentions of God. The dividing lines are exposing mindsets, to expose the unauthentic from the authentic. To bring us back to the origins of God’s heart.
As our nation is being purged on a national level, the Body of Christ is also being purged from the many idols and things that have captured our imagination. I have said for a long-time, conferences need to be replaced with regional Kingdom centers. Imagine if we had done that already, how we could have navigated the current waters! Saints truly equipped, trained and full of faith. How we could have mobilized to be a viable option instead of being discarded as not having anything to offer.
We all are seeking to see the glory come, but we already are in a glory, the 5th glory seen in Ezekiel. It is a dividing glory. A purging glory, a glory reserved to help build the only model in scripture we have not tried to build, and it is what Ezekiel saw. But this journey is totally based on God’s sovereignty being seen, felt and yielded to. A work entirely done by Him and man participates by cooperating with Him. I wrote about the 4 breaths that brings 7 glories, Gods 7 natures natures and graces to the Body of Christ in my book “Breath of God” which the Holy Spirit wrote through me in 2014. It is now unfolding.
What is coming? God is about to release His 3rd breath. Before this pandemic hit, we as a ministry, were contending for that breath and we still are. Our meetings have ramped up, expectation is still high, and faith is active. We were seeing healings and deep works of God. People were experiencing Sea of Glass visions. It is amazing that a virus comes to steal breath, mocking God’s desire to bring His breath. When God’s 3rd breath comes, it will touch the seven mountains. When God’s breath comes, it will release the 6th glory. What is coming is the forming of a single corporate new man. They will have one heart and one voice and probably most importantly, one sound, all carrying God’s breath. This will set these apart from all the other sounds. The government of God will come into place, not to control people but to bring the atmosphere of freedom coming from heaven. They will display the 7 natures of Christ and those 7 graces. They will govern from those places more so than the 5-fold functions we declare. This will create true covenantal alignments between people, tribes and begin to bring the Body into union with Christ in a way never seen before. The origins of God will form authentic Christianity being seen.
The Lord told me the Acts of the Apostles are coming again. Not just a tag or name, but actual acts that shift the atmosphere over regions in measurable results not fanciful statements that can’t be backed up. It will be an authoritarian grace they will walk in. This realigning will result in eternal mysteries being revealed and fellowshipped with, as people will simply know the intentions of God. People will be placed in the land and the Spirit of God will invade the land through those people. This will be the container for harvest. Then the final breath and 7th glory will come. A transcended glory where the people of God become the doorway to heaven, and God is dwelling in the house establishing His throne.
Are we headed to a reset? Yes! Is it what you think? Probably not. It is a deep thing God wants to do. I pray we don’t miss the moment but without a desperation of abandonment and to abandon our own understanding, I’m concerned we will just go through the motions of a moment instead of becoming that moment upon the earth.
Greg Crawford 