Kicking Pharaoh out of the Church

Exodus 5:15-16

¹⁵ “So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. ‘Please don’t treat your servants like this,’ they begged. ¹⁶ ‘We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being beaten, but it isn’t our fault! Your own people are to blame!’” 

The Lord prompted me to open this blog page in 2012 which has led to revelations such as this one for the Body of Christ about what is God’s heart for His people and how leaders and members handle or neglect to apply the principles of His Kingdom. This time and once more, we are dealing with the area of giving to God in tithes and offerings.

The Lord has seen how many of His leaders have become like Pharaoh in the way the deal with the people’s giving to Him. They have built a kingdom of their own at the expense of the people being treated like slaves in this area and others. This is nothing new in the way many have fell prey of the enemy’s agenda throughout church and Bible history that has led them to adopt the mindset of the spirit of this world by which they have brought the tendencies of Pharaoh, King of Egypt to the way they lead the people under their influence and care.

Pharaoh, who orchestrated the oppression of God’s people and demanded that they give their quota even though they did not have the required materials to do so continues to oppress God’s people in the Church. Today, this is translated in the way many of God’s people lack the necessary knowledge or understanding of God and His Son, and the ways of His Kingdom which can help them be successful at giving to Him and applying the principles that align them with His order with Jesus Christ as their head and the influence of His Kingdom in every area of their lives.

This way, they can take what they learn inside the four walls and apply it as they are used of God in their spheres of influence and authority. However, their lack of knowledge and understanding in how they deal with their lives, including in their giving to God, has made them violators of His principles and are now dealing with the consequences of their violations. Their leaders’ lack of knowledge and understanding which in many cases crossed them  over into greed and selfish ambitions (Mammon worship), caused those who follow them to also neglect following His principles for the Word of God will be fulfilled whether there is understanding of it or not.

Hosea 4:6-7 says,

⁶ “My people are being destroyed
    because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
    I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
    I will forget to bless your children.
⁷ The more priests there are,
    the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
    for the shame of idols.^”

Galatians 6:7-9 also explains, ⁷” Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. ⁸ Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. ⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Another example of the oppression God’s people have suffered which caused them to even loath bringing their tithes and offerings to God is seen in 1 Samuel 2:12-17 which says,

¹² “Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord ¹³ or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, ¹⁴ the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. ¹⁵ Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.

¹⁶ The man offering the sacrifice might reply, ‘Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.’ Then the servant would demand, ‘No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.’ ¹⁷ So the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt.”

Here we see how the sons of Eli were more concerned with building their own kingdom than building the Kingdom of God in the lives of the people. They demanded that the offerings were given to them in their own way and even took the meat offered by force just as Pharaoh’s slave drivers were forcing the Israelites to produce by any means possible. There are faithful leaders who understand their position on behalf of God’s people and concern themselves with building and empowering these temples of God. But there are many others caught in the whirlwind of greed, selfish ambitions, and following their own agenda and ideologies at the expense of God’s people and their development as mature Christians that become the true bride of Christ.

This has been also true of those called to become part of the foundation of God’s house—His apostles and prophets. Many of them have suffered scorn, persecution, and have been left to suffer on their own whether financially or in their ministries and other areas of their lives for allowing God to make them His mouth piece and pioneers that oversee the moves His Spirit in His house. Numbers 18:30-32 tells us,

³⁰ “Also, give these instructions to the Levites: When you present the best part as your offering, it will be considered as though it came from your own threshing floor or winepress. ³¹ You Levites and your families may eat this food anywhere you wish, for it is your compensation for serving in the Tabernacle. ³² You will not be considered guilty for accepting the Lord’s tithes if you give the best portion to the priests. But be careful not to treat the holy gifts of the people of Israel as though they were common. If you do, you will die.”

In addition, Romans 16:1-2 describes an example of what the Church is required to do on behalf of the prophetic voices that not only provide the oracles of God for His people, but also supply protection from the onslaughts of the enemy that the people of God may have opened themselves to due to their idolatry, but have no authority over or because their authority level does not match the level of the demonic attack and God is processing them in the wilderness of testing where they will grow in their spiritual ranks of authority. It says,

¹”Now I introduce and commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae,

² That you may receive her in the Lord [with a Christian welcome], as saints (God’s people) ought to receive one another. And help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has been a helper of many including myself [shielding us from suffering].” AMPC

Because of the treatment and harm God’s anointed prophets have suffered, the Holy Spirit has been quenched to the point that the ministries that mistreated them have been left to deal with the same fate that Eli and his sons suffered as leaders: they were told Ichabod for the glory of God among them has departed. This departure of the glory of God from their lives brought death to Eli and his sons. In the same way, death is manifested in many forms in the lives of those who have chosen to uphold their own agendas and scorned the messages and persecuted His prophets. 

These essential pieces of God’s heart to His body have been left in many cases to sit at the table of the enemy instead of God’s table where they should maintain a steady and meaningful communion with Him. This is crucial for them to be able to obtain the right nutrients for God’s people instead of tainted information because they have been left to find their own means of sustenance for them and their households. For this reason and many others, God has sent His messengers to His house to declare the purifying and washing that cannot be held back any longer beginning with His priests. Malachi 3:1-5 testifies,

¹“’Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

² ‘But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. ³ He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. ⁴ Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.

⁵ ‘At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

One important reason why God is doing this in His house first and not outside in the world is because we are called to judge the ways of the world around us but not the people as much as the influence of the enemy in them. The people need healing and the enemy who has oppress them needs to be cast out by those who have the authority to do so for they are not influenced by what has influenced many leaders in the Church. The prophets bring this message from God and what it takes for the people’s deliverance. But we cannot do that if we behave like the world that is actually judging the Church for her hypocrisy in manifesting the same things outlined in verse 5. While the Church, beginning with the leaders is under the influence of the spirit of this age, she cannot cast those things out of the people that come to be washed and cleansed with the water of the Word and where the Spirit of the Lord and its fire can burn those tendencies away from the people.

Because we know that God’s judgment starts in His house, the main objective of this burning and cleansing is so His bride does not present herself before Him at His coming with spots and wrinkles and looking more like the harlot of the world than His beloved bride. Before she can be presented before Him pure and spotless, God is bringing her through the furnace to help her shine like gold and silver. Then the offerings made to Him that will be presented on behalf of His leaders and servants as well as those in need in His house, will be made in a way that is acceptable to Him and will no longer bring a reproach instead of a reverential awe of Him to the world that is lost, just like it happened in the times of the Book of Acts.

During those times the people were brought to the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord and the understanding of His grace for us (2 Peter 1:2). This is one important aspect that led to the massive increase of the Church during those times. They were brought to know and understand God and His Son as our Lord—therefore, maturity of the ways of the Kingdom was made available to the people and as they matured, their authority in the spirit increased and thus, they were made to walk in dominion in their spheres of influence and authority.

This is how the slave mentality was removed from the people and instead they were made to think and behave like sons and daughters of God who learned to receive His grace to walk in their purpose and destiny. The spirit of Pharaoh could no longer rule in God’s house during those times, and the knowledge of God and of His Son helped them co-rule and co-reign with the Sovereign Lord of their lives in every area with boldness and success even in the midst of persecution. To God alone be all the glory. ▪

Scripture taken form the New Living Translation NLT unless otherwise noted

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The Charge of Today’s Prophets

Isaiah 58:7b

⁷ ”Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?” AMPC (Bold Emphasis mine).

We are living days that have been prophesied. Days where many are confronted with the things they have been ignoring for some time which the Lord sent them warnings through His messengers to either fix the situation or remove it from their midst. It is understandable that some things cannot be dealt by human means, and for that we need the Lord to take us to that place where only He can be our deliverer from those situations.

I am referring to some of the exposures that are happening in the body of Christ. Some leaders have been caught doing all kinds of catastrophic acts that show a lack of character and spiritual maturity since many of them have mishandled God’s people under their care in ways that have left deep woundedness and a lack of care for those hurting souls. As we know this is not the way that God has commanded His people to treat one another. John 13:35 tells us that people can tell that we are disciples of Jesus if we love one another. It says,

“By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].” AMPC

For this reason, God has been tipping the scales and have sent His prophets to warn and also to expose. Many of them have been doing a good job of following Scriptural protocol to do this. However, there is an error on the part of many other prophetic people who have been violating God’s principles for warning and exposure. Matthew 18:15-18 describes to us the process.

¹⁵ “If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

¹⁷ If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.”

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.” NKJV

To the prophetic people, God is telling us to first go in private and warn as the Lord leads and only when there has been continual rejection and ignoring of the warnings, then God will take the issue publicly for the person(s) to be exposed. That is in part because God is dealing with pride, fears, neglect, ignorance of God’s Word and principles, wounds in their soul, demonic strongholds that have been influencing them away from His will, unforgiveness, resentments, bitterness, jealousies, and all other things that are getting in the way of their obedience to God’s will expressed by His messengers.

Some of the transgressors may think that what they are doing is not worth paying much attention to, but in reality, obstructing the will of God for themselves and others is a big deal to God and also worth focusing on for James 2:10-13 tells us,

¹⁰ “For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.

¹¹ For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the [whole] Law.

¹² So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love].

¹³ For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.

We are called to deliver and not judge the “what” of the situation or the motives of the people we warn because only God knows the heart of the people or leaders in question. When God reveals the reason behind the conduct or mindset that led to the wrong behavior He is entrusting us with that person’s live in our hands. We cannot take information that was to be at times classified and use it haphazardly because we will be held accountable for what God has entrusted to us.

I am by no means ignoring or neglecting the suffering of the victims. I have found myself on that side of receiving blows of the enemy through leaders and other Christians that were operating out of the woundedness in their soul and were used as puppets of the devil. So I know how that feels just like others who operate in the prophetic. I am not the only one, but we must also understand that this is part of our calling on behalf of the body so we can be used effectively on its behalf and for the glory of God alone. This means that the enemy hates us and will use those who are supposed to be on our side against us. But we should not let that keep us wounded and bitter towards others in God’s house. Instead, we are to proceed to handle the situations at hand according to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:9 says,

⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;” NKJV

This helps us not get offended by the leader or other believers and use our own righteousness which leads to judgmental attitudes to view the fallen as people that are beyond repair and worth all the judgment coming to them for shame should be their portion for what they have done. One oversight that is the size of a mammoth here is that judgment does not belong to us. It only belongs to God. We, His prophets are His mouth piece, but we are not His finger to point. James 4:11-12 says,

¹¹ Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? NKJV

Luke 6:37 also says, ³⁷ “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” NLT

 I have had my share of mistreatments in the Church for which I have had to seek continual and steadfast healing of my soul. I know this is important to do because it ensures that I remain as God’s mouthpiece in purity and truth and keeps me from pointing the finger which is the easiest thing to do. In addition, I do not want to have anything in common with the accuser of the brethren that seeks wounded messengers to not only expose but also to judge others and fall into slandering and gossip.

Having been the victim of so much slander and gossip myself even by those who have been close to me, has given me a level of understanding that just as I need healing to keep from becoming a stumbling block to others, so do those who have fallen from God’s way in such an alarming way. God does expose, but He also tests those who come to scrutinize and bring a magnifying glass among those in the body to see how they will respond to the circumstances.

In fact, everyone who comes under the knowledge of the “public facts” is tested to see if they will cover their brother or sister as the initial passage on this post admonishes, or will they perpetuate the exposure with slander and gossip. Those who proceed with the latter are doing the work of the devil who seeks who he may devour with our mouths and self-righteous attitudes towards other members of the body of Christ and that way make the Church look like the last place unbelievers should look to satisfy their need of a Savior.

There is a great example in the Book of Genesis of the charge of every prophetic people and even those who do not prophesy towards others who have been found at fault or the victim of a misunderstanding or attack of the devil to their character. Genesis 9:20-27 observes,

²⁰ “After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard.²¹ One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. ²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.” (Bold Emphasis mine)

²⁴ When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. ²⁵ Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham:

“’May Canaan be cursed!
    May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.’”

²⁶ Then Noah said,

“’May the Lord, the God of Shem, be blessed,
    and may Canaan be his servant!
²⁷ May God expand the territory of Japheth!
May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem,
    and may Canaan be his servant.’” NLT

We can see here that there are great benefits to having an attitude of honor towards those who God exposes. God promises in verse 27 that He will expand our territory and prosper us and our family. But those who are used of the devil to talk about and shame with their mouths the fallen of His people that only He has a right to judge are cursed and become the servants of others. This means that there is no promotions or rewards for taking on a judgmental and offended attitude towards others. Only, spiritual demotion.

Instead, we should check to see if our emotional and spiritual filters are clean in our soul (our mind, will, and emotions) and have not made us to have things in common with Satan himself against others in God’s family. God expects us to extend our hands to those who have fallen away from His will because in His army we are not to leave our fellow and fallen soldiers behind. We can help them through our prayers for their repentance, for their restoration to a right standing with God, for their healing, and all other things God leads us to. This could include fasting on their behalf to help break any demonic assignments against them.

Not every person that was found at fault will be restored to their position of leadership in God’s house, but here are other ways God may lead to the edification and restoration of those who have made costly mistakes against others in the church. When it comes to an up close and personal word of correction for them, He always sends someone of their same spiritual rank or higher to do that and also to give wisdom and take them by the hand towards restoration just like the Good Samaritan did.

We do this because we want to sow mercy instead of judgment for the times when we would want others to give us mercy. If we are not of their same rank or higher and chose to correct or expose a leader, we are out of God’s order and showing a lack of compliance with His spiritual protocol. What the Bible tells us to do for our leaders is to pray for them so they come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4). This should be first and foremost and in many cases could very well help us avoid some of the tragic things we are seen. Where is the praying church?

To God alone be all the glory. ▪

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Getting to Know the Father

Isaiah 45:4-5 

⁴ “I do this for my servant, Jacob.
    I do it for my chosen people, Israel.
Cyrus, I am calling you by name.
    You don’t know me, but I know you.
⁵ I am the Lord, the only God.
    There is no other God except me.
I put your clothes on you,
    but still you don’t know me.” ERV (Bold emphasis mine).

Adam lost his position in the Garden of Eden from which he obtained his empowerment, authority and his ability to be a blessing. He could no longer co-rule and co-reign with our Lord. The serpent stole that from him by luring him through Eve to disregard God’s Sovereign command to them of not eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He also abdicated his authority to her and allowed her to use his authority for disobedience.

But even more than that, he lost something that was far more precious—his relationship with God the Father. The serpent made him forget what he had in his relationship with God—a Father who took good care of him, protected him, provided for him, and established him in his purpose on earth. He also told Adam how to prepare for things to come so he would always be aware of how He would move to bring more enlargement to him in the earth whether in the area of family, or to continue to be His conduit of the glory that brought His supernatural power on earth.

Apart from having knowledge of God as our Father, many of us have resorted to wanting to protect ourselves, provide for ourselves, and establish ourselves in our destiny in our own way and timing. This certainly does not create things for eternity that can transcend generations in a positive and godly manner. God is our Creator and many people seek Him for that in their lives. They also know Him as deliverer, healer, provider, a strong tower who covers and defends them, but they do not know Him as Father.

This has been in a lot of ways the lot of men and women who were stolen from even a glimpse of a relationship with an earthly father due to the lies of the enemy. These lies caused many men to abandon their families, perhaps because they too were abandoned by their fathers. Some fathers have been present in their children’s lives but absent in their emotions and reluctant to have a meaningful relationship with them. Instead, the children and spouse faced abuse, neglect, and learning the twisted idea that caring for someone only meant to have material needs met but not emotional or relational needs supplied. Psalm 27:10 says to us that the character of God our Father is not to abandon us. It says,

“Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].” AMP

Hebrews 13:5 also says,

“Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, ‘I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!’” AMP

The attacks and brokenness the enemy has brought in the area of family have been relentless and started in the Garden of Eden when he took from Adam the priesthood and the authority needed for him to represent God in the earth not only as co-ruler with God, but also as head of his family. But we cannot have this brokenness fixed without a relationship with God our Father. He is a God of relationship and His Son Jesus died on the Cross so we could be reconciled to Him.

Jesus Himself brought back the doctrine of relationship and communication lost in the Garden when He demonstrated His relationship with the Father, and taught us to communicate with Him through prayer acknowledging Him as the source of our life in every area by first praising Him and thanking Him for being our loving, merciful, and awesome Father. Matthew 6:9 tells us,

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ 
‘Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ 
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² 
‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
¹³ 
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’ “AMP

After Jesus ascended to heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to help us have this communication and relationship with the Father. Romans 8:14-16 shares,

¹⁴ “For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God. AMP

Having this relationship with God our Father is what helps us receive the revelations we need in order to walk in and advance in our destiny as sons and daughters, co-rulers, priests who spend time in His presence and kings that defend the kingdom or sphere of authority and influence given to us on earth. Matthew 16:16-19 says,

¹⁶ “Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” NKJV

Having this relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit opens the way for us to receive these revelations to enforce His Kingdom and rulership on earth and see His overcoming power in our lives against the gates of hell that rise up against us to steal, kill, and destroy us and our purpose. It also helps us receive the keys or strategies to execute and enforce His authority and become more and more like His image and likeness. Genesis 1:26-27 explains,

²⁶ “Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.” AMP

In addition, Genesis 22:17 says,

¹⁷ “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” NKJV

The Scripture says that God blesses us and multiplies us. However, multiplication in the natural is not the same as multiplication in the spirit. In arithmetic, it is said that when multiplying, the order of the factors does not alter the product. But when doing things in the Spirit, the order of the factors does affect the product or results for God is a God of order, not of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).

This order referred to here is the order that recognizes God our Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as our spiritual head with us as sons and daughters, servants, priests, and kings in the earth who also acknowledge the established order in the earth with man as the head. 1 Corinthians 11:3 highlights this,

^“But I want you to understand that Christ is the head (authority over) of every man, and man is the head of woman, and God is the head of Christ.” AMP

Therefore, the spiritual order established for us is God the Father as the head of Christ the Son. The Son (Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit) as the head of man, and man as the head of woman. Men and women, out of ignorance have ignored and even come against this established order which has brought chaos and even abomination to their lives.

But God is calling us to turn from this confusion and seek Him acknowledging Him as our head and to respect the headship He established in the earth for us to avoid storms in our lives that remove His glorious presence which protects, provides, and establishes us in His purpose with authority and empowerment for He is the source of life for us.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, we worship and exalt you for you are the Sovereign ruler of our lives, our Lord, and source of life. Through the righteousness of your Son Jesus you gave us back access to you and for that we give you thanks. You are a merciful God who forgives us our trespasses and help us walk and live as you have planned and purposed for us in the earth. There is no other God like you and no one can compare to you. We give you the honor and the glory you deserve for you alone are worthy of our praise. 

We also seek your face with humbleness and ask you to break us of every hard place in our hearts, restore us in our broken areas so we can live in the order you have established for us with you as our spiritual head and man being the head of every family where the man seeks your presence with prayer and intercession for his family, and with you he becomes the authority, the provider, the protector and the one who seeks you to know what is to come for us. Help us Father and our families be restored back to you and back to one another with honor first to you. We also thank you because you never leave us nor forsake us and help us get to know you more as our source of life and godliness. We ask you this in the name of your Son Jesus. The name above all names. Amen.

To God alone be all the glory.▪

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Making Room for the Coming of the Bridegroom 2

Matthew 25:11-13

¹¹ “Later the others also came, and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open [the door] for us.’ ¹² But He replied, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I do not know you [we have no relationship].’ ¹³ Therefore, be on the alert [be prepared and ready], for you do not know the day nor the hour [when the Son of Man will come].” AMP

Are you using the name of Jesus for name-dropping purposes only, or does He really know you?

I was at the local library the other day and a lady came in and when I saw her I thought to myself, “That lady looks familiar, where do I know her from? I usually remember faces, so the thought became persistent in my mind to the point that I could not shake it. I started thinking if I had met her at church, or perhaps ran into her when my son was in high school, or if I know her from my neighborhood. I did this until I finally got my boldness on and approached her to ask her hoping she could give me the clues I was not coming up with on my own. But when I said to her that she looked familiar to me, her response was of being puzzled because she did not know me from Adam.

Sometime later I remember the awkward encounter and the Lord used it to say to me that many people claim to know Him or that He knows them but they have no relationship with Him. They only use His name for name-dropping purposes, but they do not know Him as their God, their source of everything they need, and much less do they come to spend time with Him so they can get to know Him. Yet, many of these people claim to know Him. Sadly, the day will come when in their time of need they will come to Him expecting answers from a God they only know by hearsay or only from former encounters in which they used His name and He responded, and have the audacity to say, “Jo! Big J!! This is your friend, so and so over here. Remember me? We used to kick it back in the day.” but He will say to them, “I beg your pardon! I do not know you.”

First of all, we do not dishonor our God by using His name in vain. Neither is He the man upstairs. His name is Jesus and His name is to be in our mouths with reverential worship and praise because of the sacrifice of the shedding of His blood for our sakes which reconciled us to our Father after Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden. His name should also be in our mouths for us to exalt and declare His fame for He is the only door and way to salvation. He is the only one that can lead us to learn the truth through His Holy Spirit. And He is the only one who can shed light in our darkness to help us live the life of abundance He died for us to have.

Second of all, we must not treat Jesus only as a celebrity and use His name to remember only the things of the past when we have forsaken His ways in the now. This happens when we refuse to be changed from the old wineskin and still pretend to be used by God when in reality, our old condition not in age but in mindset, gets in the way of being used of Him when He comes to visit His church. Intimacy with Him has become a thing of the past for many Christians and reading His word is done just as a routine, to put a check in our daily activities instead of looking to have encounters with His Spirit that bring transformation by the renewing of our mind.

Welcoming the new that He wants to bring is rejected by many who are set in traditions and allow fear to keep them from experiencing in ways they have not known before but that is the requirement that will help us fulfill our calling and be relevant I these end-times. We cannot resort to the old things He has done in our lives and through our lives and say that we are still walking in relevance with His Spirit. This relevance happens every time the logos of His Word becomes a Rhema which helps us see Him in a new way and helps us advance toward our destiny in Him. Without these revelations, we are only feeding ourselves with historical information. The dangerous thing about this is that these are signs that the presence of God has departed from someone or from an entire group and serving Him becomes a chore rather than a joyous privilege.

Another sad thing I have witnessed is when I have been around some people who behaved in immature ways. Even people in positions of leadership. But after not being around them for a year or two and being with them again, nothing had changed and they were still acting and reacting to circumstances in the same immature way and treating people that do not agree with their carnality in ways that are contrary with what the word says. These people thought and behaved like they were better than others and treated the situations they were involved in more like three-year-old children who hoard their toys or candy away from others and still expect God to promote them in the next season. Luke 12:48 says,

“But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” NKJV

We must also remember that God is not mocked and whatever we have sown in the past season is what will be ripped. Galatians 6:7 reminds us, “ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. 8 For the one who sows to his flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” AMP

A measuring ruler has also been brought to measure us against the truth of His word in Galatians 5:22-26 which says, ²² “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the [l]sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.

²⁵ If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit]. ²⁶ We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.” AMP

Those who have been found not measuring up because of emotional and spiritual immaturity, especially those who occupy positions of leadership or aspire to, are being instead sent to a period of decontamination from the influence of the spirit of this world which involves a pressing in the wilderness of testing where they will know their God and cling to Him to make sure He knows them. In this place, they will also be reduced to Christ and learn to esteem others more highly than they think of themselves. Romans 12:3 says,

“For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service].” AMP

Part of the shortcomings found in these people has been that they give themselves easily to slander, gossip, pointing of fingers, and to become stumbling blocks to the advancement of others. God in His grace and mercy, has tried to lure them to Him in order to heal them from the wounds in their soul that have blinded them to their mindset and behavior so they are able to become emotionally mature, but they continually ran from Him and His healing. We have mentioned before that the problem with emotional immaturity is that it gets in the way of spiritual maturity. But we are called to reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. A mature believer is one who reaches the measure of the the fullness of Christ which enables him or her to work in unity with others a expressed in Ephesians 4:13,

^“until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity].” AMP

When we allow the Lord to give us His healing touch that resurrects those areas that have died in our souls because of sin and hurts as well as traumas, we can be set free to experience more of Him and know Him not only in the fellowship of His suffering, but also as we share in His glory that brings us to having life more abundantly because His presence is dwelling among us. On the other hand, when we run from our problems, and instead try to solve them with our own understanding and bring man-made solutions instead of the divine solutions we receive from our times of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we are taking steps to go around the mountain of despair and challenges once again because we have not learned that overcoming the enemy of our souls is done when we cling to the lover of our souls. This happens when we do what Romans 12:1-2 says,

1-2 “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” MSG

We are in times when what is expected of us is our preparation by partnering with God and clinging to Him to learn who He is in our circumstances, and spend times in His word, in worship, fasting, and obeying every command which comes out of His mouth (Matthew 4:4) which brings transformation. This transformation is important because we are called to become His image and likeness more and more each day. If we come to Him and He sees Himself in us, then we will be told that He knows us. When we avoid the process every time and look more like the world He is trying to get us to come out of by the renewing of our mind, we will find that just like it happened with the ill-prepared virgins, the door will also be shut for us.

We cannot continue to avoid going through the process that crushes us to bring the oil of anointing out of us like an olive is crushed to bring the pure olive oil. The process of crushing is not pleasant, but it will ensure that our lamp will be full of oil and we will be ready to meet our bridegroom. Remember that He is looking for Himself in us and if He can find Himself, we will hear “well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.” 

2 Corinthians 3:18 reveals to us, "So all of us who have had the veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into is glorious image."

To God alone be all the glory. ■

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Making Room for the Coming of the Bridegroom (Jesus) by His Spirit (Prophetic Message)

Matthew 25:10-13

¹⁰ “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

¹¹ ‘Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

¹³ ‘Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

I went to a store today and noticed that several of their aisles had totally empty shelves. When I got to the cashier, I asked her if they were getting ready to put next season’s items on the shelves. But she responded instead with a no, and continued to share that they had new shipments coming in and were making room for them. Right there the Lord spoke to me about getting ready for the next move of His Spirit that is approaching next month (These are the times of the Feasts of God which start in the month of September 2018) and to make room for it.

The next feasts are as follows:  

Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets) (High Sabbath) – sundown September 10 to sundown September 11, 2018

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) (High Sabbath) – sundown September 19 to sundown September 20, 2018

Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) – (first day – High Sabbath) sundown September 24 to sundown September 30, 2018 ¹

Not only has the Lord been speaking to me about this for the past few months, but He has also given me to speak into the lives of leaders around me about the same thing. Some of the warnings God has given me for these leaders have been to seek healing from the Lord prior to this move. I myself am seeking healing from past wounds and for that I have been spending time speaking in tongues for God to search me and show me whatever things He sees that I need to correct or that He is healing me from. For example, I’m seeking him about whether it is relationships where I needed to right any wrongs I may have unknowingly done to others and He wants the relationship restored or wounds He is healing me from things done against me so in my healing, I can make room for the new wine He wants to pour down on me in all areas of my life.

There are other areas in which He is giving me an urgency to pay attention to prior to this move. One of them is the area of finances and for that He has me making sure that my tithes and offerings are taken care of as He leads me. In addition, He has heightened my praying in the spirit and worship in thanksgiving for the manifestation of His promises to me. As I also declare them and use my authority to remind the devil I know my rights as a child of God and co-heir with Christ, I command him to take his hands of what is mine.

I am mentioning all of this to say that these are some of the ways God is leading many of His people to make room for the move of His Spirit that is approaching. We do not know exactly when He is coming, but we can prepare and be ready for when He finally shows up as the bridegroom of the Church and pours out what He is bringing for her. 

We do not want to be counted among the ill-prepared virgins that when they finally decided to get up and pay the necessary price for the oil (the anointing of Jesus Christ the Messiah and His authority delegated to us as priests and kings for we are called to act as His peculiar people), it was too late for them and the door of opportunity was shut before them. These type of opportunities do not come again and unfortunately, many will see that this door will remain shut for them. That is why God is warning us to prepare and make sure this does not happen to us.

It is also important for us to focus and pay attention to the signs of the times and if possible, get together with people we know hear God and can identify the signs of the times and respond accordingly. We need to watch and make sure that we are not deceived, and instead seek to have the oil God is asking us to have enough of if we want to be told that He knows us. One way He may say to some that He does not know them is if they are doing things in His name, but He is not doing them with them perhaps because they are not done by His wisdom, in His timing and in His way.

We do not want to do these things following the wisdom of the world, but by spending time of intimacy with Him and seeking Him to show us how to make room for what He is bringing by His Spirit. As we act on the responsibility He is giving to us at this time, we are demonstrating to Him our faith in Him which will be rewarded for He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

For many of us, this is also a time of taking risks if we want to see the benefits of experiencing the Kingdom of God at a higher level. This will entail that we come out of the boat and choose to walk on the water that we see Jesus walking on, knowing that He is right there waiting for us to take our steps of faith, and if we do not faint or grow weary in well doing, we will see the reward of our patient and obedient endurance.

Another thing to mention about this move is that Jesus is not coming as the Lamb, but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah for He will come by His Holy Spirit in a strong way to judge the spirit of the world. Nobody knows exactly when He is coming but we are being enlightened of how He intends to come. Acts 1:7 says,

“And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.”

John 16:8-10 explains,

⁸ “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Isaiah 26:9 also says,

“With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

What is more about this move of the Spirit of God is that He is coming in His glory to shake everything that can be shaken so that the unshakable things, the things that are counted for eternity and that can be passed to the next generations will remain. This is also an explanation of what God intends to do with His millennial Kingdom. In other words, this move is going to highlight the work He wants to do with and through the millennial generation.

An example of what will be seen as a result of this strong manifestation of the glory of God in the Church is mentioned in a Spanish song by Puertorican Pastor Janet Aponte. In her song “La Gloria del Cielo” (“The Glory of Heaven”) she sings, “Wherever the presence of the Lord comes by His Spirit, everything starts changing. Lukewarmness leaves and fire falls.  The lame leaves jumping up and down, the mute starts praising. When the glory comes nobody can stop it…” 2

One other effect will be what Malachi 4:4-6 tells us,

⁴ “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.
⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
⁶ And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

The Law of Moses mentioned in verse 4 is the Ten Commandments that summed up in the New Testament is the Law of Love which states in Luke 10:27, “So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

Likewise, with this move of the Spirit of the Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, everything that violates this law of love will be shaken and the wrong foundations influenced by the spirit of this world, as mentioned will be shaken so that people can be healed and learn to love one another as Christ has loved us. John 13:34-35 asserts,

34”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So let’s get ready and expect this glorious move of God that will change things for God’s people and cause us to look more like His image and likeness in all areas of our life. Let’s pray:

Heavenly and glorious Father, we humble ourselves before you to seek your face and ask that you show us any wickedness you want us to turn from. Show us any wrong you want us to make right and every relationship you want us to seek restoration. We also come to seek the healing of every wound in our soul.  We want to be conformed to your image and likeness more and more each day and choose to not be conformed to the patterns of this world. Instead, we choose to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may live acceptable lives that please you. Help us to make room for what your Holy Spirit wants to pour out on us as you have been announcing His coming during the next feasts of God and during times we may not know of.

For this, we seek to have more times of intimacy with you and of prayer and praise to you. We do not want to be counted among the ill-prepared virgins, so we ask you to help us move everything in us and outside of us that may be in the way of our receiving the new wine you will be pouring out on your church and through her. Help us to walk on the water you are walking on as we fix our eyes on you so that as we take these new risks, we reap the benefits and rewards of our obedience to your commands. We ask this with thanksgiving for answering us and in the name of your Holy Son Jesus, the Messiah. Amen.

To God alone be all the glory.■

1. A Rood Awakening International. Biblical Feast Dates.

1   2. La Gloria del Cielo

Scriptures taken from the New King James Version.

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