The New Outcasts

If you profess Jesus, there is a sign meant for you that will hang in local businesses. It is not there today, but there is a day coming when the sign in the window will say, “No Christians Served Here”. If you walk in, you will not need to tell them that you are a believer in Jesus. They will look at you and know. The same good and moral people today will be the same good and moral people tomorrow except that they will hate you. In fact, it will be their goodness and morality that will cause them to loathe you. In the same way that it is considered acceptable to hate a child molester today, it will be considered noble to hate a Christian in the future time. They will hate you because it is “all your fault”.

Many wish in their hearts, “Oh, that God would allow me to bear his glory!”. The evidence of bearing God’s glory today involves human awe and many natural realm benefits. In the day to come, you will know that you bear the glory of God when you are openly hated without cause. The highest heavenly calling is to love those who hate you, to bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. It is this calling that will accompany the glory of God.

There is a whisper in the air that says, “There is a New Age dawning”. There is indeed, but it will be a day of darkness. The heart of man will grow cold and unfeeling. In this new age, you will be the outcasts. People will look at you and say, “It is a shame, really. They were offered a great deal, but they chose to be obstacles to progress. Shame on them for not getting with the program”.

Today is the season in which we must count the cost. How much do you require of Jesus to be loyal to him? The benefits of professing him are currently much greater than the cost. Many will change their minds about Jesus when the cost becomes higher than the benefits.

Out of Storage

One morning last week, I was on my way to work when I saw something that momentarily startled me. I saw a company truck for a communications company that I thought was a thing of the past. The logo on the vehicle appeared to be faded. When things are “highlighted”, it is one of the ways that God speaks. This is what I believe he was saying.

In the move of God that is soon coming to our nation and presumably to the whole world, we are going to see some older faces. They are those who were part of previous moves of God. Those revivals were amazing, but they are history from our current perspective. Many faithful believers that were part of those heavenly encounters faded from the scene as life went on. They have been in storage, seemly having been put on a shelf. God will going to bring back at least some of those folks for an “all hands on deck” event.

Heaven's Joyful Song

Today was one of those challenging days at work. By the end of the day, I was tired and somewhat discouraged of heart. I ran across a word that God gave me a year ago. It breathed fresh life into me.

From 8/2013:

For those who abide in Christ, there is only good news. There are no "good news, bad new" jokes. There is only increase and growth throughout all the adversity that might come. We are those who carry the standard of Jesus Christ. Our very footprints glow with the Light of the good news. Wherever we go, we go as those who sing the Anthem of the Eternal Kingdom.

Those in darkness have been seen a Light coming. It rises on the Horizon, and that Light is us. We are the sons and daughters of Daddy made manifest in the Earth. Oh, they will say, "The pendulum swings from side. We have good news one day and terrible news the next", but this is only the echoes of the times past. There is a new Kingdom coming onto the Earth. It is being formed from the rough material of humanity as the Spirit of God rises within those who know that they in Christ and in Christ alone.

They are those who rise up as Ehud to deliver the land from wickedness. They are those who are being drawn from out of timidity and hiding to call together an army of the fearless. They rush the streets, calling this one and that to come out of hiding in the natural and to step into their Kingdom identity. Can you hear the sound of them and of the growing footsteps on the pavement? They are an army of worshippers. They fear no man! They carry instruments of worship with which to do battle.

They stand in the noble towers and invade the darkest alley. They are the reborn men and women of God. They range in age from the smallest child to the oldest elder in our midst. They have no sense of age and no fear of man's disapproval. They are filled with the Spirit of the One who is the Ancient of Days and who was born as a little baby. Out they go, they stream from intersection to intercession. The lost and the broken who roam through high school halls and those who shout at the New York Stock Exchange are about to visited by those bearing Heaven's message of deliverance.

That which is wicked and that which has mocked righteousness in the land will soon by overwhelmed by the Sound. What is the squeak of a mouse in front of the roar of a lion? What does darkness have that Light cannot instantly dispose of? Oh, they say, "The World shifts back and forth. Rulers comes and rulers fall. We need someone who carries Truth". It will come, quietly at first and then rising until the news carries the News. The News of the Kingdom will stand more boldly than our Statue of Liberty.

A greater liberty is being declared, a freedom from chains of sin and depravity. A greater anthem will be sung than even our beautiful National Anthem. What is darkness in the face of Light? The song bubbles up in the hearts of the young and the old. It comes phrase by phrase and note by note. It builds and it joins with neighbor's tune. It is beautiful, so very beautiful.

It is composed of Spirit and joined by human hearts in love with Jesus and with each other. There is no one left out, no unneeded vocalist. All remain silent and in awe as each releases the piece that eternity's maker wrote on their heart. It is the very reality of Heaven superimposed on the landscape of our country. They are the choir of Heaven, the evergreens that have overcome the bitter storms of this world's realm. The wind of the Spirit blows between them, among them, and is birthed from them. All of evil's cry is little more than feedback in the speakers. It is the annoying but short-lived response of Hell to the resounding of Heaven's joy released in the Earth.

Time for an Upgrade and for Bigger Dreams

Last night, I dreamed that I was at work. Apparently, there had been plans to do an upgrade or else to do major maintenance work on the computer servers. It would require significant downtime, and so the work had been pushed out another weekend. Specialized people with the necessary technical knowledge would be coming onsite to help do the work. While I was aware of this situation, my boss gave me a creative writing assignment. She prefaced it by saying, “Before California officially made abortion illegal, the people of California first passed a proposition to make it illegal”.

Many of us in the Body of Christ have been aware of the need for a Church-wide “system maintenance” and an upgrade of our relationship with the Lord. Seemingly, it has been deferred, but it will yet happen. God will supply the specialized people needed to assist and to guide this work as well. We have been ready to move forward in our human labors, but God requires that we enter a time of rest so that His work can be done in us. Be ready to move forward into Heaven's rest.

God is about to bring about changes in our country that are beyond what we had imagined possible. When you begin to hear the news of what God is doing in other parts of the country and of the Body, it is an invitation to start dreaming bigger. What God desires to do in your locale will flow from a place of creative dreams in your own heart. It is not automatic. It requires an effort to step into the creative flow, but God will meet you there in that place.

The Agenda of God’s Rest

This week, I dreamed that I was at a public worship event. I sat in a large oval amphitheater. I do not remember anyone singing. It was though everyone present was just sitting in their seats. Suddenly, a fog began to fill the arena. It thickened as it came. Though I have never seen this manifestation in real life, I knew instantly that this was the manifest Presence of God. I closed my eyes and chose to simply rest in this place. Off to one side of me, a man spoke up. He was offering his opinion about what we should do next. He was not prompted by the Holy Spirit. He spoke out of his own earthly wisdom. Immediately, the visible Presence of God lifted, everyone got out their seats, and left the amphitheater. It was very disappointing.

In my teen years, I wanted two things in life more than anything else. I wanted to know/experience/be intimately connected with God, and I wanted to be used by Him to serve others. Experiencing God’s Presence was such a wonderful treat that I determined inside that I did not qualify for it. To make up for that, I made an internal covenant with myself that I would strenuously serve God outwardly and pray inwardly until I felt deserving. It never worked well. The only time that I could really enjoy God was when I used my spiritual gifts to minister to others. It was in those moments that I become a conduit that I experienced the touch of God flowing through me. Of course, I did so with the knowledge that I was serving others mostly so that I could get a taste of what God was giving them through me. I am not exactly where I was in my teen years. I have been healed enough to see how broken I was then, and how broken I am now. The difference might be that I know that God wants to be with me now, right here in my brokenness.

God will allow his people to slave away for him as the older brother did, but then we are not really working with him. The younger brother who has completely failed and yet been lavished with kindness is the one who rests in Father’s Presence. I believe that we are approaching a time when God will manifest in amazing ways, but there is a price to be paid: Our agendas must die. Our labors must cease. We must be willing to rest in his Presence. There will be a time to be used by him and to labor with him, but we must be willing to become saturated in the atmosphere of his glory first. Heaven will not partner with fleshly effort. God is still looking for those who would worship him in spirit and in truth.

Radiant Love

Have you ever stood close enough to a person who is overflowing with the Spirit of God that you felt God’s Presence radiating from them? There are plenty of anointed people who can function in a spiritual gift, but there is a difference when someone is releasing the Presence of God from their being. Those are people that I just want to sit near so that I can soak in that atmosphere.

Last night, I dreamed that a man walked by where I was standing. Later in the dream, I found out that he was another believer, but I did not know that in the beginning of the dream scene. He was an ordinary middle age man, but he had something special flowing from his being: Love. When he walked by me, I felt very tangible love moving outward from him.

As Christians, we try to love people, both through an emotional affection and through practical kindness. Oftentimes, I find that it is a love that is intentionally produced for a specific person or group. This love in the dream was different. It was warm and inviting, and yet, it was an identity in itself. It did not exist solely for my benefit or as a response to me. It existed and was stable in itself. It radiated from the man in the dream. I wanted to walk up to him and hug him just so that I could keep experiencing this love.

It gives me hope that God will yet release a love through us that will be radically different than what our best efforts can produce. This dream also inspires a renewed hunger in my heart for the love that I experienced. There is more to the Presence of God that we can imagine. Jesus is complete and stable in his own person, and he invites us to enter into his Presence.

Ownership of the Harvest

Last night, I dreamed of a coming harvest, an in-gathering, a revival of the peoples. It occurred in the workplace. I saw rapid growth of what had been planted and which had germinated. Jesus said to me, “This is MY flock; I will gather it. This is My harvest; I will grow it”. There is a coming revival that will be different than what we have seen before. Jesus is taking personal ownership of these ones coming into the sheep fold. Notice that he did not tell me that it would be his flock and his harvest, as in a future tense. Even though the flock is yet to be gathered and the harvest grown, Jesus sees them as already existing and as belonging to himself. He has envisioned it, and he will bring it to past.