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Dismal Day

In the early Church the date of February 4 was set aside as “Dismal Day”.

 Dismal Day was a somber day set aside to remember the plagues of Egypt during the Exodus. The name “dismal” itself means “Evil days” and was intended to memorialize the woe and suffering of the Egyptians. Rather than celebrate the victory of the Israelites, the purpose of the day was to serve as a reminder of the consequences of disobeying God. Thus, the reflective and introspective mood of the day.

 At the time of the Exodus in 1446 BC Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth. The Israelites, who had come in 1876 BC, had settled in an area of the Eastern Nile Delta known as Goshen. After the death of their champion Joseph in about 1806 BC, the Egyptian Pharaohs became fearful of the Israelites and made them into slaves. One of the Pharaohs had even initiated an infanticide against the Israelite children in about 1526 BC. It was a survivor of this holocaust, a stuttering 80 year old named Moses, whom God chose to confront the most powerful man in the world.

Of course the Pharaoh refused to submit to God’s command to let his people go, and God sent the famous Ten Plagues of Egypt. Because of their stubbornness, the Egyptians saw their river die, their crops fail, their livestock destroyed, and finally their children die. Then, to top it off, their army was destroyed chasing the Israelites and the entire country of Egypt was later overrun by foreign invaders. Certainly “Evil Days” for the Egyptians.   

 It is unfortunate that the Church no longer sets apart Dismal Day to remember the consequences of rebellion against God. To remember how the most powerful Nation on Earth brought judgment on itself by mistreating God’s people and killing God’s children. To remember how their river died, their agriculture economy shriveled, their children were lost, and their military was humbled. To remember how defiance of God’s commands destroyed the most powerful Nation on Earth. And to seek God because it is beginning to unfold again right before our eyes.  

 For his people, God had set aside the land of Goshen as a place of safety, and they were spared from the seven last plagues sent on Egypt. Today many Intercessors believe that God has set aside Lands of Goshen in America, and that He will make a distinction between those states, cities, and people who follow Him and these who do not. Just compare the economies of places like Texas where God is honored with California where He is not. This is no time to disregard God’s plans and purposes.

 The Nation is in serious trouble as it suffers more and more from its disobedience. The Church needs to humble itself and pray for an Awakening.

Dismal Day would be a good time to start.

Publisher

The Nimrod Spirit

        Most Christians recognize Nimrod as the builder of the Tower of Babel, but few know the whole story and recognize his influence down through the ages.

         The historical Sumerian Kings list records him as “Enmer Kar”, a name which translates into vowelless Hebrew as “NMR” (Nimrod) with the name “Kar” meaning “The Hunter” (as Nimrod is known in the Bible).  The Sumerians credit him with introducing the worship of the “Queen of heaven,” a false pagan goddess which has come down the ages as Inana, Asherah, Isis, Venus, and numerous others.  The Tower of Babel was a Ziggurrat, or a magical model of heaven, where the pagan “Gods” from heaven could be contacted.  Josephus tells us that Nimrod rebelled against God because he hated God for judging mankind in Noah’s Flood.   His name “The Hunter” indicates a violent disposition, and many believe that he was a Tyrant who hunted men.

            Nimrod had set himself above the plans and purposes of God.  After the flood God had commanded mankind to fill the Earth, but Nimrod kept them under his thumb in Mesopotamia.  Nimrod went so far as to set himself up as the “Seed of Woman”, the Messiah promised in Gensis 3:15, to cement His political power. 

            But God sent the Tower of Babel judgment, producing a civil war which overthrew Nimrod and scattered humanity over the Earth.  Sadly, however, many ambitious men had learned from Nimrod and took the Nimrod Spirit with them to enslave their fellow men.

            So we see the Nimrod Spirit echoing through the ages as rulers like the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler and Mao Tse Tung, to name a few, follow Nimrod’s path to power.  The Nimrod Spirit comes upon those who want to rule over other men, establishing tyrannical government and putting themselves above God and His purposes.  The Nimrod Spirit deceives the followers of the Tyrant through a false religion such as paganism, or a false philoshphy such as communism, which legitimizes the power of the Tyrant.  For those who are not deceived, the Hunter rules through fear and terror.

            Even today, the Nimrod Spirit controls most of the nations of the Earth. Nimrod  is constantly looking for ways to subvert those nations with shared power or democratic institutions, as in the African tragedies of “one man, one vote, one time” after Colonialism or the subversion of Venezuela by Chavez.  Even in the United States individual liberties are being eroded by an increasingly powerful government.  Outside of government the Nimrod Spirit is active in large businesses and social institutions.  The Church is also plagued by the Nimrod Spirit as many pastors and leaders are more intent of building their own kingdoms than in building God’s Kingdom.

            The answer to the Kingdoms of the Nimrod Spirit is to move into the Kingdom of God.  God’s Kingdom comes within the believers, giving them discernment to see through Nimrod’s deceptions and power to overcome the fear weapon of Nimrod.  Christians should be on guard against the Nimrod Spirit in their churches, remembering that Jesus established a standard of Servant Leadership which is diametrically opposed to Nimrod.  Churches are to be run by the mothers and fathers, called Elders in the Bible, who are interested in the outcome of their flock, rather than Nimrod Spirit leadership which is often interested only in the income from the flock.

            Let us begin our warfare against the Nimrod Spirit at home by praying that the Nimrod Spirit will be exposed and driven out of our churches.  Pray for a revival of Servant Leadership and a spirit of Unity between church leaders which will bring them together to advance God’s Kingdom, not their own.

            Beyond the Church it is easy to identify the Nimrod Spirit in action.  Washington, D.C. is full of Nimrods, as are corporations, unions, universities, and the media.  Even Christians have been deceived by false philosophies such as socialism or the attempt to submerge individual rights into group rights, as in labor unions, creating group leaders who are often little Nimrods.  We are desperately in need of a Christian Awakening to remove the blinders and drive the Nimrod Spirit out of our government before it is too late.    Only a revival, expanding the Kingdom of God, can save us from the Nimrod Spirit.

            Throughout the world the Nimrod spirit continues its bloody march through history, keeping billions of people in tyrany and the resulting poverty.  As in America, the only answer is the Kingdom of God, which has liberated some two billion of us from the Kingdom of darkness by Satan, the ultimate Nimrod.   In the end Satan will rally the Nimrods of the Earth to fight against Jesus as He returns to establish the outward Kingdom of God, and then Nimrod Spirit will final  be broken.

            Until then, we must use the spiritual weapons of our warfare to keep praying for the expansion of the Kingdom of God and freedom from the Nimrod Spirit.

Publisher

Celebrating Reconciliation

               On Monday, January 21 the U.S. will celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday, honoring the life of an American hero and a Christian martyr.

               Dr. King grew up in a world where many people believed that the black African people were inferior to the white Europeans. This belief, which was used to support slavery in the U.S. and the colonization of Africa by Europe, directly contradicts Biblical teaching that all humans are from the same family and that God commands us to love our brothers. However, the rise of Secularism and a Darwinistic view of the human race gave a scientific veneer to the myth of racial superiority. Modern science has now proven that all humans came from the same mother, as the Bible teaches, and that there is more genetic difference within the races than between them.

               So Thomas Jefferson was right when he said all men are created equal. But making that statement a reality has been a long battle in the U.S. We fought a war to end slavery, and the war brought God’s judgment, as one soldier died for each slave imported into the country and the slaveholding South was devastated. Nevertheless, racial inequality was reborn in the “Jim Crow” system of laws which discriminated against black people in the south. After the Second World War black servicemen who had proven themselves the equal of their white brothers found it more and more difficult to accept their oppression.

            In many countries oppressed minorities had taken up arms, but the U.S. was spared from this fate. Instead, a black Baptist pastor called on his people to use nonviolent Christian principles to bring about change. Dr. King’s Civil Rights crusade eventually bought an end to the Jim Crow laws and led to a broad level of reconciliation between the races. Sadly, he and many others gave their lives to bring about the nonviolent Civil Rights revolution.

            We still have some work to do to reach Dr. King’s goal of a color blind society and full racial reconciliation. But on this day we celebrate a Baptist pastor who used Christian principles and his Christian faith to bring his white and black brothers together.

            Let us pray that Dr. King’s memory will be honored by reconciliation and unity, and that those who would divide and promote hatred, whether white or black, will be exposed and repudiated.

 

Publisher

A Time to Drawback

Dear Intercessors,

Many of you have communicated that the Lord is having you participate in 3 weeks of prayer and fasting this first portion of the New year. My own church is doing the same. Many of us have felt it is a time of seeking God for 2013 and possibly more given the season we are in.
 
Brad Burk here in Dallas got an interesting word I wanted to pass on as an encouragement.
 
The Lord says it is a time of drawing back. Not retreat, as you might think, but preparation. For I have my hand on the string and am drawing back to fire an arrow. I am drawing back on the bow, which is Jesus, with the string, which is the Holy Spirit. And about to fire the arrow, which is the Body of Christ.
 
That arrow has been in the quiver, and a quiver is a protected place to keep the arrow until it is time to use it. Isaiah 49:2
 
So, if you have been in a time of preparation, be encouraged as many others are joining with you, as we prepare for being “launched” by the hand of the Lord !!
 
Be Blessed,
Pat
Publisher

Matt Sorger: 13 Prophecies for 2013

Ministry Today 

Written by Matt Sorger

matt sorgerAs I waited upon God going into 2013, I received these words from the Lord. Some came in the form of impressions, others came as visions and some came as scriptures that God was breathing on for this season. Prophetic words are an invitation from the Lord. I sense these following 13 prophetic insights are to be decrees that we aggressively pursue for 2013. They are invitations for us to lay hold of.

1. Stagnant waters will be stirred in a fresh way. I saw pools of Bethesda stirring again and a fresh healing stir being released. God wants His people to lay hold of the divine healing anointing in a fresh way this year. I saw deep-seated, lingering disorders being healed, even down to the chromosome level. I saw stubborn areas within the soul and flesh being healed that people have battled with for years. In John 5:2-5, 9 Christ performs a healing on the Sabbath. Jesus never did anything by chance or accident. He was very purposeful in His intention. God is calling His people to access His healing and power from a place of rest. The Sabbath is more than just a day of rest. It’s a spiritual position of rest. In Christ we enter into the Sabbath. We receive because of the finished work Christ has done on the cross. Rather than begging God for what He has already done, we are simply to step in and receive the finished work. A new level and substance of faith is coming into the heart to receive the finished work. God is highlighting the spirit of faith and understanding the finished work of Christ. Living from the Sabbath position will be crucial in obtaining all God has for us.

2. A prophetic ear will be given to not only hear but to also listen and comprehend. This hearing will also occur from a position of rest in His presence. A key scripture is 1 Sam. 3:3,10. In a time when there was no widespread revelation and where the eyes of the high priest Eli were growing dim, the light was still burning in the temple near the ark. As Samuel rested before the ark in the presence of God, the voice of God speaks to him. After several times of hearing, but not understanding, Samuel is instructed by Eli to say, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening.” There is a big difference between hearing and listening. God is refining the prophetic ear and the prophetic movement. He is calling His prophets and His people to come into a place of rest in His presence in the light of revelation. From that place the voice of God will speak. Not only will His voice be heard, but it will be listened to and comprehended. A new clarity of hearing and perceiving God’s voice is coming. It will not be by self-effort or striving. It will be from resting in His presence. Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.

3. New language will be given by God to properly and clearly communicate truths God is highlighting and speaking. For example, the term “soaking” was not used until the outpouring of God’s Spirit in the 1990s. This term helped explain the concept of being filled with God’s presence. New language will be given by the Spirit to more deeply and clearly understand truths of the spiritual realities God is bringing forth.

4. God is giving the blueprints for the new wineskin He is forming. In Josh. 3:3-6 the people were to follow the ark into a way they have never gone before. As we follow the moving of the presence of God He will lead us by His Spirit into places we have never gone before. The walk of sanctification will be vital in preparation for the wonders God will do. God is saying to be ready to pull the tent pegs up. When the cloud of His presence moves we need to move with Him. We have to be willing to fold up old structures and ways of doing things in order to stay current and fresh with God. God’s marching orders will be given. There will be new alignments and relational structures to facilitate the move of God.

5. We will not continue to do things the same way. The cloud of God is moving, and with that our activities will shift. Our focuses will shift. Some old structures will have to adapt and morph with the new way God is moving. There will be fresh Spirit-led activity. God doesn’t want us to be busy. He wants us to be fruitful. Forms, structures and even activities we have done in the past may shift as God moves in new ways. Be prepared to let go of some things and to embrace and step into some new things you haven’t done before. It will be vital to go where the Spirit is breathing. Don’t hold onto something God isn’t breathing on any longer. Be fruitful by moving and being led by the Spirit.

6. God will be highlighting and deepening within His people an understanding of the true identity of the believer. Revelation of how to live out of union with God will come forth. We will understand our oneness with God and live out of our inner spirit man. For those who are one with God are one spirit with Him. 1 Cor. 6:17,19

7. God is going to bring revelation into foundational spiritual truths. Things we thought we knew and understood, God is going to have us look again and He is going to give us deeper revelation and understanding into things we thought we knew for years. Look back upon foundational truths and new light and revelation will shine upon them, bringing the manifestation of true spiritual realities.

8. The understanding of spiritual warfare is shifting. We are moving from “warfare” breakthrough to a “decreeing and establishing” breakthrough. This will occur with a deeper revelation of who and where we are. Rather than fighting into the second heaven from being under, we will rule and reign from the third heaven being over. I understand that we wrestle not with flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12) and that even Jesus experienced personal warfare when He was tempted by the devil and overcame by the spoken word of God. But this warfare will not be fought to obtain victory, it will be fought from a place of victory. Christians will live from a third heaven reality, understanding how to establish on earth “as it is in heaven.” A new perspective, a new revelation and with it a new manifestation of Kingdom authority will be released. God is bringing people into a new level of spiritual authority. Eph. 2:5-6 is a key scripture. The church will shift from an Old Testament model of spiritual warfare (Dan. 10:13) into a New Testament revelation of establishing what has already been won (Col. 2:15).

9. This is the season of the fulfillment of dreams. Many are being brought from a time where the word of the Lord tested them. The second dream to Joseph was highlighted to me in Gen. 37:9-11. In it Joseph sees eleven stars and the sun and the moon bowing down to him, speaking of his promotion into a position of authority and influence. Eleven plus two is 13, the number of this year. People are going to step into the manifestation of unfulfilled dreams. The warfare of the last season
is being washed away and a new heavenly perspective is being granted. Just as Joseph’s betrayal and trial maneuvered him into his assignment and destiny, so will the trials and testings in our lives propel us into our destinies. Key scriptures are Gen. 37:9, Gen. 45:5-8, Ps. 105:17-24.

10. God is delivering people from burdens. But it’s not just the removal of burdens. As Ps. 81:6-7 says, He will remove our shoulder from the burden and bring deliverance. This is different than the burden being removed from us. It’s us being removed from under the burden. Get ready for divine shifting that will maneuver you out from underneath burdens into a place of deliverance. In other words, situations or people may stay the same, but you will be maneuvered out from underneath them. It’s a season of deliverance for those who call on the name of the Lord. Psalm 81 shows 10 promises accompanying this deliverance. These include financial provision, divine health, fear of the Lord on the enemy, the covering of His presence, light in the darkness, food, dry places refreshed, joy, lands and nations, and reaping where
one hasn’t labored. Lay hold of these promises for you, your family, church, ministry and business.

11. There is a generational convergence taking place. It’s a season for new young leaders to be mentored and raised up. Generations are converging together and will function together in relationship for the purpose of multiplication. Generational wells and new wells will open together. Fathers and mothers will take their place and sons and daughters will come into their place. Those who have not been fathers will now step into a fathering role. Gen. 26:18-24 is a key scripture for this.

12. I saw a vision of an open door. This is the year of the open door. As we run through it we will come into divine acceleration. New favor, new opportunities and new advancements. Key scripture is Rev. 3:7-13. God will keep us from the hour of trial coming upon the whole earth. It’s time to hold fast what you have so no one robs you of your crown. Have patient endurance. The name of God will be upon us.

13. I saw a vision of the Lord blowing upon a flickering flame. Usually when someone blows on a candle, the flame goes out. But as God breathed upon the flame within us it got brighter and hotter. It will be a season of renewing our first love for God (Rev. 2:2-7). God is bringing both an encouragement and warning that if our works are not done from the place of first love, the candlestick can be removed. Ministry work must be done from the place of first love for Jesus. God is calling people back to the simplicity of worship and living a life in His presence. This will also bring deeper consecration, holiness and divine fire as a result. Key verse is Matt. 12:20. A smoldering wick He will not snuff out.

I encourage you to pray over these 13 prophetic decrees, meditate on them and apply them to your lives as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Publisher

A New World Coming

               By the time December 21 arrived, the Mayan Prophecy that the world would end on that date had become fodder for late night comics. As well it should have.

               But let us not forget that God has promised us that a new world is coming. Jesus will return to earth in power and glory, destroying the forces of evil at the battle of Armageddon and establishing Jerusalem as the capitol of the world. The Kingdom of God, which lives in his people today, will then cover the earth. And the dead in Christ will rise to begin eternity with the Lord.

               Throughout history Christians have looked for this new world, and many have been disappointed in the seeming delay in Christ’s return. The early church expected his return any day, and the Catholic Church once set December 31, 999 AD as the day. After the formation of Israel in 1948, a new wave of expectation was manifested and dates for Christ’s return were set by some in 1988, 1989, 2000, and 2007. Like the Mayan Prophecy, these prophecies became laughing stocks.

               God’s “delay” in bringing this age to a close is simply part of His plan to offer salvation to all who will accept it and to build His Church (see our Special Report “Understanding the Times”). We are living in the time of the great harvest of the Church around the world. As the apostle Peter said, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,” but he is certainly coming. (See 2 Pe. 3:8-15).

               Let us therefore take time at the turning of the year to renew our hope and expectation at the new world coming. Let us pray that we will prepare ourselves to partner with God in the harvest by maturing in our faith, dying to ourselves, and learning to imitate God (See Eph. 4:13-5:2).

               So seek the Lord this New Year and get ready to work with Him.

Publisher

The Massacre of The Innocents

This week we are reminded once again of the evil loosed in our land as twenty innocent children and several heroic teachers were massacred at their school.

 Many were quick to make guns the issue, either their availability to the killer or their non-availability to those who could have defended the children at school. But weaponry discussions miss the point. Children have been attacked with knives in China, bombs in Afghanistan, acid in Pakistan, and illegal guns in Norway. The real issue is protecting our children.

The search for answers may begin with another massacre of innocents long, long ago. One that would have been forgotten in history but for the fact that the target of the massacre was baby Jesus. While the immediate cause of the attack was a paranoid King Herod, the spirit motivating Herod was trying to steal the gift of Jesus from the world, kill Him before he could become a threat, and destroy His destiny. That same Satanic spirit wants to murder all children to steal their gift, kill them before they are a threat, and destroy their destiny (see John 10:10).  

Fifty years ago we began removing the hedge of protection around our children by banning school prayer and driving Godly values out of our schools. That generation of students started the sexual revolution and the drug culture, producing a crop of fatherless, neglected, and, often, abused children. Then, about forty years ago it became legal to kill unwanted babies and the massacre of innocents began in earnest. We’ve allowed generations to be stolen, killed and destroyed.

We should mourn with those who mourn, but we are not “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12 b). The innocents are in heaven with God and He keeps sending us children with their gifts, their lives, and their destinies. There is still hope for the future.

Let us thank God for the gift of children and pray that our society will once again value its children. Our schools are desperately in need of prayer, as so many are failing on a spiritual, social, and academic level. Pray that the parents will rise up in prayer and deed to bring God back to our children.

Fifty years ago we told God He wasn’t needed in our public schools. Now we know better.

Let us invite God back into our schools and ask Him to build a hedge of protection around our children.