So what are we to do?

• How about instead of signs of sticks and cardboard we give them signs and wonders from heaven (thanks Chris V).
• How about instead of (or in addition to) coming together in cloisters and praying and seeking God, we come together on the streets, at the capitals, at work, at play and just bless people, heal people without having an agenda to grab them into the Kingdom.  Let the Kingdom of God speak through the actions of the body!!!
• How about wherever you go, you bring the Kingdom of God with you.  When walking through the airport or the mall know that wherever your foot steps you are spreading the peace of the Kingdom.  Sometimes without words, without outside notice your presence is simply the presence of the Kingdom of God and it makes a difference.  It can be as simple as giving away smiles (seems a lot of people have lost their smiles).
• How about going to your state capital or the national capital and instead of making a big scene with signs and stuff, just go over and lay your hands on the building and bless it and all inside.  Then walk the halls of the building quietly bringing the presence of God and speaking blessing over the whole house and everyone you see.
• How about instead of walking to the other side of the street when you see a bum, a homosexual, a prostitute, an atheist, a wiccan, that you greet them and ask them how they are (looking in their eyes and meaning it.  Then offer to pray for their physical healing, their blessing, their peace.  And do it without trying to set a hook in their mouth.  Just love them.
• How about praying for, or better yet getting a group of believers together to pray for peace over Nancy Pelosi (or whoever else you are offended by).  Pray for her family, pray that Papa would bless her and give her wisdom.  Speak kindness and protection over her and all her family.
• How about you go by your local abortion clinic and pray peace over the women and men there, that they would know the love of the Lord.  That they would know how very much He loves them.
• There is a vast need for healthcare and legal care for the poor and needy in the US.  Go to your local emergency room or courthouse and see the hurt, fear and pain there.  Bring the peace of the Kingdom and leave it there.  Then call out to Papa to bring His knowledge and wisdom to our representatives so that they can create a Godly plan to care for the poor and needy in the land.

I believe I am called to bring the light of the Kingdom into everywhere I go rather than point out the evil and curse the darkness.  What about you?

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War Part 2

There is much happening in the earth now, for good and for evil.  The response from the church has been varied from looking for the rapture to get us out of here, to calling down fire and judgment, to exposing and declaring the evil which besets us.  Many different responses, some God some not.

Most recently there has been a move by some who are highly recognized in parts of the Church Their motto is taken from 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  In this manner they have met together to cry out to God, beg forgiveness, speak judgment, etc.

To be honest I have felt a bit uncomfortable with this direction.  It has concerned me and I have sought the Lord.  He told me I was uncomfortable in this case because it isn’t my calling.  This in no way denigrates what they or any other parts of the body may be doing in response to what the Lord is telling them.  It seems we have a propensity in the Church to believe that if you aren’t doing what I’m doing then one of us must be wrong.  That’s a lie from the enemy.

I just use the above examples to free some reading this from either/or mentality.  God calls each of us to walk with him however the Spirit leads.

How is Papa leading me?  My mottos, given by Papa, are taken from Isaiah 61:1 and the more recent version from Luke 4:18-19 – “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because He has anointed me tell the poor the good news: He has sent me to heal people with broken hearts; to proclaim freedom and liberty to those who are held captive and actually cause the blind to see, to bring liberty to people everywhere oppressed by the evil one and to tell everyone that this is the time that the Lord God of the universe has chosen to bless them.”

And

Luke 11:2 and Matthew 6:10 – “Your Kingdom rule and reign come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

I have found that there are few if any people in this world who are unaware of their condition and need for a helper, a friend, a champion, a hero, a benefactor, a …. savior.  Our enemy has filled the position of accuser more than adequately for many years; therefore, we do not need anyone from the church in those shoes.

What we need, what the person you see on the street, in the store, at work needs is good news, they need freedom from their captivity, they need release from the oppression that is on them constantly, they need to see what they know they are not seeing.

War!

Part 1

We are at war.  Simply, succinctly, regardless of your theology, beliefs, concepts… whatever.  It is a time of war on this earth.  There are territories being fought over, people being attacked and wounded, there are captives, those who are in bondage.

I am not a teacher today, so I won’t get into a long scripture based theological dissertation on the legal status of the earth and the heavens, and those in the earth.  Nor am I particularly interested in your stand on it.  I am standing in the place of prophet and seer and proclaiming to you truth of what is happening and what will happen.

Jesus came that we might have life and that abundantly (John 10:10).  His work was to destroy the works of the evil one and to re-establish mankind’s relationship with the great and only God of the universe.  For Papa God so loved the world that He gave His only, His one and only, Son so that whoever in all the world, believes in Him would not die but have life with Papa forever.  Papa sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:16-17).

There is an enemy, satan, the evil one, and he has forces allied with him, demons.  They come to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).  They are not misunderstood angels, they are not beings from another dimension who are just looking for a place they can live in peace.  They are completely evil, devoid of any good, whose purpose is to ruthlessly destroy any vestige of good in this world.  Murder, child sex trade, torture, poverty, hurricanes, earthquakes, genocide, war, cancer, disease…  these things aren’t from God nor are they His will for the earth.

The term “act of God” applied to occurrences in the earth is a defamatory statement conceived in the halls of the enemy and applied to the very one who sent His son to save us from the very thing He is accused of causing.  In the same way there are those who claim that hurricanes, earthquakes, genocides, etc are “judgments of God” against sinners.  But the disciples wanted to get all judgmental and bring down wrath of God stuff, Jesus said that they didn’t realize what spirit they were manifesting because Jesus came not to destroy men’s lives but to save (sozo) them.

So if they weren’t manifesting His Spirit whose were they manifesting?  Must be the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

So where does this leave us.  There is a war going on across the face of this planet.  People’s lives are being stolen, any vestige of good is being attacked and killed and their hopes are being destroyed.  What they need, is to be saved, delivered, protected, healed, preserved, made whole, loved.  I think the greatest news anyone could bring to me, to us, to this world is that we have a super hero who can do all that.  Here is how Jesus stated the “good news” that He came to preach.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

And

His prayer and our prayer included asking that:

the Kingdom of God come and Papa’s will be done on earth just like it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2).

Was He just pulling our leg?  Did Papa and Jesus want us to ask them for something that is not going to happen?  Or just happen in the sweet by and by.  That won’t happen here?  Or are we asked to pray for something that He wants to do, plans on doing, is doing and wants us to ask that we might receive and do?  Jesus did it and he conquered the bully by doing a counterwork καταργηση, and rendered useless and ineffectual, all the operations of him who had the power, κρατος, or influence, to bring death into the world (Clarke on Hebrews 2:14).

Is the Spirit of the Lord in and on His body (us) so that we are proclaiming the good news, healing the broken hearted, releasing the captives, giving sight to the blind, delivering those who are crushed, going forth and proclaiming the time of God’s favor on the earth and bringing the Kingdom of God and His will and reign to the earth just like it is in heaven?

I say to you YES!!!

The Pradigum Shift

Much of what Papa has been speaking to me during this paradigm shift has been about relationship. Jesus came to show us the Father and to enable us to once again have the primary relationship in our life be with Papa. The long walks in the garden with Adam and Eve were not just nice, they were foundational expressions of the primary communion and relationship that Papa created us to have with Him. All the other things must come second.
Papa told me that there are those who:
know their disappointments more than they know their Papa
know their problems more than they know their Papa
know their ministry more than they know their Papa
know evangelism more than they know their Papa
know miracles more than they know their Papa
know healing more than they know their Papa
and thus
healing knows them more than their Papa
miracles know them more than their Papa
evangelism knows them more than their Papa
their ministry knows them more than their Papa
their problems know them more than their Papa
their disappointments know them more than their Papa

In bringing the Kingdom relationship with Papa into the world:
You may only give what you have……in your heart
Show what you see……in your heart
speak what you hear…….in your heart

Out of the heart
the mouth speaks
the hand moves
the restoration comes.

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS – A GIFT FROM GOD –

This is a word from Ben Peters:

While speaking in Colgate, Wisconsin, during the height of the economic crisis, I made an unpremeditated statement that went something like this.  “I’m not worried about the economy.  This crisis is a gift from God.  It is designed to turn the hearts of our nation and the world back to God.”

After having time to think about what I had said, that statement is making a lot more sense.  I truly believe that God is doing the shaking He promised us in Scripture.  See Haggai 2:7 and Hebrews 12:26.

In the Haggai passage God declares, “And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts.”

In other words, “When I shake them, they will come.”  Also, “When I shake them, I will reveal My glory in My house.”

IT’S GETTING VERY, VERY EXCITING!!!

God’s glory will be seen in His house.  That’s us!  We are His dwelling place today.  We’ve prayed for revival.  We’ve prayed for America and other western nations to come back to God, but we didn’t expect it to hit us in our wallets at the same time.  Revival is supposed to bring more people (with their tithes and offerings) into our churches so we can build bigger churches and become more famous.

But God is answering our prayers His own way, and if we had understood Haggai 2:7, we may have been more prepared for it.  The wonderful news is that people have actually been praying on Wall Street and in many places in the nation and the world, because of the financial crisis which followed close on the heels of the Hurricane Ike crisis, and then the California train crash.

The reason people are praying is that their other main source of security is being pulled out from under them.  Christians and non-Christians alike have been operating under the same economic strategies for their own personal and family financial security.  Various savings and retirement packages, insurances and investments composed of stocks and bonds, gold and silver, etc., have become our “rock”, our “fortress” and our “strong tower”.  In themselves, they can be good things, but our human nature is to trust in these tangible commodities, more than in an invisible Being, with Whom we are not very intimate.

A HOLY SEPARATION

God is saying, “I want to show the difference between those who trust in Me and those who trust in the best strategies of men.”  Those who trust in God will not be shaken, but those who have been trusting in man’s wisdom will be severely hurt.  I have watched a lot of news in these election and economic crisis days, and observed the anger of those who have lost so much.  They are feeling violated, betrayed and deprived of what they felt was rightly theirs, and they are seething with bitterness and rage.

God is simply pushing over the false Philistine gods in America and the world, because His glory is coming into the house of Dagon.  It’s interesting that the two things that westerners trust in the most – investments and insurances have both been hit hard in this crisis.

SOMETHING “FISHY” IS GOING ON

Dagon was a “Fish God”.  I think westerners have gotten “fished in”, thinking they have secured a comfortable retirement and future prosperity by investing the same way that the world does.  These false gods cannot stand while God’s presence invades His house.

I have traveled a lot to other nations such as Mozambique and India and have seen the difference in lifestyle of the Christians there.  Their only security and hope is in the presence and glory of God coming into their midst.  That is all they have once they have renounced their idolatrous life.  But in the west, we have divided our trust between natural gods and the One True God.

I believe God is saying that we should put away every idol and put our trust completely in Him.  If we put first His Kingdom and His righteousness, all the things the world seeks will be added on to us.  We could invest a lot smarter than we do if we invested more into the spreading of the gospel, not just in making those already saved more comfortable.  God will surely take care of us if we put His Kingdom first.

IT WORKS!

Brenda and I have had to put this to practice.  We have been stretched but we are still going strong after leaving every natural means of security over nine years ago when we went on the road with a van and trailer and two pre-teenage boys.  We had no life insurance or health insurance, no stocks, bonds or other investments, no savings account and no financial partners.  But when the glory of God invaded a church or home meeting, the financial provision came as well.

The most exciting thing is that people have been getting revived in their spirit.  They have come alive with a new hope, new vision, new awareness of value and worth and new zeal to serve the King with their gifts and talents.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I believe that this crisis is a wonderful opportunity for God to show that He is the Living God.  He loves this nation, but He wants to remove our false gods in whom we trust.  He wants us to practice what our money declares, “In God we trust.”

Very shortly God will reveal His secret strategy to fix our root economic problems and show us how much He loves us and the world.  He will facilitate a great transfer of wealth that will bless America, Israel and the world, but it will take wealth from those who have seriously abused their stewardship of it.  God’s plan is to reveal secret treasures, which have been hidden from the eyes of men from before the foundation of the world.  God will use them to fund the most immense and exciting time of harvest this world has ever seen.

A CRISIS WAS NEEDED

For maximum impact of God’s plan, the world needed first to be in a crisis to appreciate the solution to the problem that has been festering just under the surface.  All those who love God more than their money will rejoice with this news.  Those who love their money more than God will lose their joy.

What I have predicted above is a combination of personal revelation and inside information related to the revelation of other prophetic people, which I cannot share at this time.  But I am confident it will soon be made manifest to the world and I am very excited about it.

Is the crisis hurting you?  I am sorry for any suffering you are presently experiencing.  If you have lost your income or home or business, I understand the pain.  We have been very stretched ourselves in recent times.  But hang on to God’s promises.  You will not have to go begging if you trust Him with all your heart.

TIME TO PUT ON A FULL COURT PRESS

It’s time to take the ball away from the enemy.  Let’s put on a full court press in prayer and intercession, and take charge of the financial ball game.  We can do it.  Our prayers are mighty in God and we can take dominion of every mountain of society in the next few years.  It’s been our mandate since Genesis.  It’s our mandate today.  Don’t let any crisis shake you up.  There will be more, but we will ride above the crises.  It will be an adventure and it will be an awesome ride if we stay close to our Guide.

Ben R. Peters

Open Heart Ministries

Kingdom Provision

(This isn’t a theological treatise.  For the most part Papa doesn’t download crafted treatises to me but things come in a flurry of thoughts, visions, feelings, verses, etc.)

A definition that captures much of modern economics is that of Lionel Robbins in a 1932 essay: “the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.”[3] Scarcity means that available resources are insufficient to satisfy all wants and needs. Absent scarcity and alternative uses of available resources, there is no economic problem. The subject thus defined involves the study of choices as they are affected by incentives and resources.

Wikipedia

Economics is often described as a body of knowledge or study that discusses how a society tries to solve the human problems of unlimited wants and scarce resources.

On-line Business Encyclopedia

Kingdom Provision is “how our Papa solves the human problems of limited wants and needs by using the unlimited resources of the Kingdom.”

Economics is the antithesis of Kingdom Provision.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 7:21-27 (New International Version)

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.  I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty.  ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.  ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.

Haggai 2:6-9 (New International Version)

Yet we cry out to God to save our 401K and to re-establish the economic system of the world.  We have “Christian” economics courses that are nothing more than explanations of the world’s system with a little “tithe” thrown in to make it “Christian”.  We store up for ourselves into things that can be shaken because we do not believe that Papa was really meaning Matt 6:19-34.  Oh we speak of “stewardship” but we mean and practice a system which shouts that we are covered if God doesn’t work like it says in the bible.

If all the money that has been lost in Christian’s 401K’s and stocks over the last few weeks had been put to use in the Kingdom…???  And I dare say it could have…would have if we actually believed and practiced Kingdom provision per Matt 6:19-34.  There would be an abundance for every good work.

• When things are shaken where do we look first?
• For your “retirement”(another kingdom oxymoron) what is your rock?
• When sickness comes what is our first thought?
• When mold comes what is our first thought?
• When God says to do this or that and it requires provision where does our heart look first?
• If the youth are standing on our shoulders in the kingdom are we saying “Get in relationship with Papa, hear him, be with him… oh and get your 401K started, too (since this Kingdom stuff only goes so far…)”

Everything in the Kingdom flows out of relationship.  What is Papa saying to do?  Not what “works” in the world’s system.   The point is that in the Kingdom the answer is not necessarily the world’s way but the answer must flow out of relationship not economics…
Maybe the answer is to go fishing (Matt 17:27), maybe it is to give it all away (Luke 18:22), maybe it is to take what little you seem to have and begin using it (John 6:11-13), maybe it is to spit into someone’s eyes (Mark 8:23) maybe it is to touch someone who is unsafe (Mark 1:40-41) …

Or maybe we just need to be practical…. NOT!

7 days with Jesus in a bar

Dedicated to all those who won’t set foot in a bar. (except for alcoholics who shouldn’t set foot in a bar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0w1eQyv2d0

http://www.carlmedearis.com/

Marcha de Gloria en Denver

(see more http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=C41ScUT5b2g)

Awesome!!!  What a marvelous move of Papa!  Over 8,000 people gathered in downtown Denver to proclaim the presence, the love and the glory of Papa and our wonderful Lord Jesus.

On foot and on floats they marched over 2 miles through downtown Denver speaking blessing to the heart of this metropolitan area.  They were greeted by people on the street cheering and clapping at some points.  On each float were people proclaiming Papa’s glory and His wondrous works.  At one point when the march was in front of the state capital, everyone stopped and knelt down.  Even people who weren’t part of the march were seen kneeling on the sidewalks.

After the march many people stayed and gathered in Civic Center park.  Bands played, saints proclaimed and everyone rejoiced.  One of the ministers spoke to the crowd proclaiming the good news and inviting anyone who wanted to come to Jesus to come down to the front of the amphitheater.  300 people responded and made Jesus the Lord of their lives!!!

Another time the Spirit of God was moving in healing.  A child who hadn’t walked in several years got out of their wheelchair and walked up the stairs.  A quadriplegic who could only move from his head up began to feel in his arms, then he began to move them.  He was given a prophetic word that he would be healed, have children and go to the churches and proclaim the glory of the Lord.  At that point his wife cried out and asked the Lord Jesus to come into her heart!  Over 2 hours later the quadriplegic was having feeling in his legs and some movement!

I tell you that Papa is on the move.  He is unifying the Body.  He is reaching out with healing in His wings.  My Lord’s bride is being prepared and we will not leave this earth until we have accomplished His work.  His work is to destroy the works of the evil one and to proclaim the Kingdom.  That is what was done on this day and I proclaim that is what we are to do daily till the whole world is full of His glory and His Kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

All praise and glory to our Papa and to Jesu Christo!!!

The Buckets

Before the trip to Lakeland, the Lord told me to bring 2 buckets with me to be filled with His Glory to carry back with me.  So, I got two five gallon white plastic buckets and carried them on the plane with me. Caused quite a stir with the flight attendants who began calling me the “bucket man”. However, it gave a chance to testify to what the Lord was doing. They didn’t understand how I was going to get the buckets filled with what God was doing in Lakeland. One attendant was concerned with how I would be able to get the filled buckets back through airport security.  😉

Before we left, I was led to print out II Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us”.  Plastic pails are modern- day clay jars, nothing of any special marvelous thing but just everyday containers.  The printout was in English, Hebrew, Greek, French, Spanish and Chinese.  In Lakeland the Lord had me tape all these translations onto one bucket, with the English by itself on the other bucket.  He told me to go to the nations at the conference and have them write the translation of their country on the bucket with only the English translation. Awesome!!!

I had been shown by the Holy Spirit that there are 3 buckets to be filled with His anointing, His glory, His presence and that they will never go dry.  I am a living bucket and the other two buckets are for the overflow. I am to pour out where ever He sends me on whosoever and they will refill like the widow’s oil jars… Filled with Papa’s presence and His glory.  His presence comes first that we may rejoice, play, and enjoy Him.  His Glory comes that we many know His fullness, the depth of His love and His power.  For without knowing His presence and the joy of his countenance we would abuse His glory.  Also the Lord showed me that the buckets are for the nations in me, in my family, in Bridgeway, in Denver, in America, in the world.  So far I have seen that in this case “nations” represent distinct cultures, world views, parts of the body.  This is to bring unity in me, my family, Bridgeway, Denver, America and in the world.

Since returning from Lakeland the Lord has had us pour out His presence and His glory on 3 Men’s leadership meetings in Denver.  We are arranging to go on Prayer One (helicopter)  to pour out over the Denver metro area.  Also preparing to pour out during the Marcha de Gloria in Denver ( http://www.marchadegloriacolorado.com/index.html )

Desperate for Papa

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I I’m desperate for you
And I I’m I’m lost without you

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
this is my daily bread
your very word spoken to me

And I’m, I’m desperate for you
And I’m, I’m lost without you

And I’m desperate for you
And I’m, I’m lost without you.

I’m lost without you.

I’m lost without you.

I’m desperate for you.

I’m desperate for you..

I’m lost, I’m lost, I’m lost without you..
I’m lost without you

I’m desperate for you

(Breathe — Michael W Smith)