Showing posts with label Jehoshaphat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jehoshaphat. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Anne Graham Lotz Gives Prophetic Warning About 2016 - CHARISMA NEWS

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famous evangelist, Billy Graham, recently released a prophetic warning and calls for urgent prayer.
Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famous evangelist Billy Graham, recently released a prophetic warning and calls for urgent prayer. (Facebook)

Anne Graham Lotz Gives Prophetic Warning About 2016


As I look ahead into 2016, I believe our national and global situation will get worse. A good friend has focused my attention on Isaiah 60:1-2 as a word from the Lord for the New Year: "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall rise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you."
I can feel the encroaching darkness of evil that is like a heavy moral and spiritual fog. It's permeating our nation at every level. At the very same time that our nation is enveloped in thick darkness, God commands us to arise, let our Light shine, and the distinctive glory of our Lord will be obvious to all.
These conflicting thoughts of thick darkness and light, of encroaching evil and glory, were on my mind during these days before Christmas. I have been meditating on 2 Chronicles 20 in which Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was warned that a vast army was coming against him. As I put myself in his place, I asked myself, what do we do when we are warned of the enemy's advance? The answer was given in the next verse: "Then Jehoshaphat was fearful and set himself to seek the Lord, and he called for a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah was assembled to seek the Lord; even from all the cities of Judah, they came to obtain aid from the Lord" (2 Chr. 20:3-4). Jehoshaphat led God's people in a prayer that was a desperate heart's cry for help.
I have been repeatedly warned in my spirit that the enemy is advancing. It's something that I know. And I feel compelled, like Jehoshaphat, to lead God's people also in a desperate prayer for help before we plunge past the point of no return into the abyss of God's judgment.
The glory is that God answered Jehoshaphat's prayer by reassuring him, "'Do not fear, nor be dismayed because of this great army, for the battle is not yours, but God's. ...It will not be necessary for you to fight in this conflict. Take your positions, stand, and observe the deliverance of the Lord for you, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be filled with terror. ... (T)he Lord will be with you" (2 Chr. 20:15, 17).
What is the position we are to take up? I believe it's a position on our knees as we humble ourselves, seek God's face, repent of our sin and intercede for our nation. Then, having done all, we stand firm in our faith that God has heard and will answer our prayer. 
For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!
NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

Anne Graham Lotz Gives Prophetic Warning About 2016

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of famous evangelist Billy Graham, recently released a prophetic warning and calls for urgent prayer. (Facebook)
As I look ahead into 2016, I believe our national and global situation will get worse. A good friend has focused my attention on Isaiah 60:1-2 as a word from the Lord for the New Year: "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall rise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you."
I can feel the encroaching darkness of evil that is like a heavy moral and spiritual fog. It's permeating our nation at every level. At the very same time that our nation is enveloped in thick darkness, God commands us to arise, let our Light shine, and the distinctive glory of our Lord will be obvious to all.
These conflicting thoughts of thick darkness and light, of encroaching evil and glory, were on my mind during these days before Christmas. I have been meditating on 2 Chronicles 20 in which Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was warned that a vast army was coming against him. As I put myself in his place, I asked myself, what do we do when we are warned of the enemy's advance? The answer was given in the next verse: "Then Jehoshaphat was fearful and set himself to seek the Lord, and he called for a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah was assembled to seek the Lord; even from all the cities of Judah, they came to obtain aid from the Lord" (2 Chr. 20:3-4). Jehoshaphat led God's people in a prayer that was a desperate heart's cry for help.
I have been repeatedly warned in my spirit that the enemy is advancing. It's something that I know. And I feel compelled, like Jehoshaphat, to lead God's people also in a desperate prayer for help before we plunge past the point of no return into the abyss of God's judgment.
The glory is that God answered Jehoshaphat's prayer by reassuring him, "'Do not fear, nor be dismayed because of this great army, for the battle is not yours, but God's. ...It will not be necessary for you to fight in this conflict. Take your positions, stand, and observe the deliverance of the Lord for you, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be filled with terror. ... (T)he Lord will be with you" (2 Chr. 20:15, 17).
What is the position we are to take up? I believe it's a position on our knees as we humble ourselves, seek God's face, repent of our sin and intercede for our nation. Then, having done all, we stand firm in our faith that God has heard and will answer our prayer. 
For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!
NEW from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

The Micaiah Problem: Who Speaks the Truth? - R. LOREN SANDFORD CHARISMA MAGAZINE

Shouldn't we be listening to those who speak truth, which is not winning them a platform of widespread popularity?

Shouldn't we be listening to those who speak truth, which is not winning them a platform of widespread popularity? (Lightstock )

The Micaiah Problem: Who Speaks the Truth?




Prophetic Insight, from Charisma Media
In my travels and online, I am encountering increasing numbers of people disillusioned with the prophetic movement. There have been too many prophecies unfulfilled, dates set and missed, catastrophic events that never happened, promises that didn't unfold, moral failings on the part of some prophetic leaders and a growing number biblical imbalances.
All of this is taking an increasing toll on confidence in the prophetic gift and it has led some to begin to think that the prophetic gift is not for today. Too much of the prophetic movement has gotten it wrong or wandered off base. Credibility has been eroded.
Consider, however, 1 Kings 22 when kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab convened 400 prophets to seek the will of the Lord concerning engaging in battle to retake Ramoth-Gilead from Aram. Four hundred prophets read the desire in the hearts of the kings, listened to a deceiving spirit (22:22-23) and told them what they wanted to hear, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."
In his spirit, Micaiah alone knew the truth, but initially spoke in unison with the 400. Only when Jehoshaphat commanded him to do so did he relent and speak what he really knew. "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, 'These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace'" (22:17). He continued, "Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. The Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' And one said this while another said that'" (22:19-20).
Apparently, a prophetic movement was underway in Israel such that 400 so-called prophets could hold a convention. Who in that day who truly heard God's voice would have had the courage or the confidence to disagree with the dominant stream, especially with a word that didn't sound particularly encouraging? Micaiah stood alone against two kings and 400 acclaimed prophetic voices only to suffer humiliation when Zedekiah slapped his face for not joining with the majority (22:24). He then found himself imprisoned and fed sparingly on bread and water (22:27).
Ultimately, 400 "prophets" had it wrong, Israel suffered defeat and Ahab was killed, but regardless of consequences to Ahab and the army because of their inaccurate words, Israel didn't scuttle prophecy as a ministry because 400 blew it. Because one prophet had it right, prophecy remained a valid ministry in Israel and, later, in the church. It would seem that the key lies not in how many are speaking a particular word, but in discernment to know who is actually speaking from God's heart. Do we have a dearth of real discernment in the church today? Are we too ready to hear only what excites us and what we want to hear? Have we relegated true prophetic voices, ever the minority, to the sidelines and locked them up because they don't speak with the voice of the majority?
Repeatedly throughout history, there have been occasions and seasons when the truth has rested not with the dominant word being spoken by the majority, but with the less popular minority. These are seldom respected or well known, sometimes until after their deaths. They threw Jeremiah down a well and disregarded his words. Elijah was called the troubler of Israel. And so it went!
Maybe we need to stop listening so intently to the popular voices who speak with the mainstream and whose words we love to hear. Could it be that a purified remnant speaks a plumb line word that doesn't win them the platform of widespread popularity? Can we discern the word of God in a hidden but emerging generation of prophetic voices who might not speak what we want to hear, but who certainly speak what we need to hear? In doing so, might we be more edified and more prepared for the glory to come in the midst of a gathering darkness? 
R. Loren Sandford is the senior pastor of New Song Church and Ministries in Denver, Colorado. He has a bachelor's degree in music and a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has authored a number of books, includingUnderstanding Prophetic People: Blessings and Problems with the Prophetic Gift,Visions of the Coming Days: What to Look for and How to Prepare and his most recent, Yes There's More: A Return to Childlike Faith and a Deeper Experience of God.
Visit Loren Sandford online at newsongchurchandministries.org.
For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!
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