All You have Been Walking Through is NOT for Nothing by Lana Vawser

All You have Been Walking Through 

is NOT for Nothing 

by Lana Vawser

Identity Network

 

I saw the winepress of heaven over the lives of many believers and many in that hidden place of pressing. The pressing has been intense and at times it feels as if the pressing could not increase anymore, but the pressing continued. The pressing from various sources, God has used all of them for the GOOD of His people and I saw such pure heavenly rich, glorious wine flowing from the winepress of the lives of God's people. It was saturated in the fragrance of heaven.

 

As I watched this pressing happening the more pressing that occurred the more the Father poured His love, His strength, His comfort and revelation into the hearts and lives of His people. So even though the pressing was so intense, MORE was being poured in than the pressing was seemingly taking. So unaware the people of God were in this hidden place of deep pressing, but they were actually living in a greater overflow of His love, strength, comfort and revelation than they ever had been.

 

As this glorious wine flowed from the lives and hearts of believers, I saw crowns flowing out in amidst this glorious heavenly wine. There were names written upon each of these crowns.

 

ESTHER

 

SAMUEL

 

DAVID

 

JOSEPH

 

DANIEL

 

These crowns fell at the feet of many believers and Jesus came and placed these crowns upon their heads. As I looked closer, on the front of the crown was one of those names mentioned above but on the back was the name of the believer. Instantly I knew that this pressing had been to bring these ones to the place of preparation where they would carry a similar anointing to the names placed on the front of these crowns, but not identical as they were created unique and individual, beautiful and different, hence their own name. I knew they were going to be used in similar ways to these heroes of the faith.

 

Encourage My People

 

Jesus said to me, "Lana, encourage my people that what they have been walking through is not for nothing, but for a greater purpose, vision and mission than they have imagined." I saw Him smile the most beautiful smile and His face was radiant with joy, expectancy and His eyes danced looking at His people, SO PROUD! With a wink and a smile He says to me, "Lana, tell them, it is going to be GREAT."

 

All of a sudden, I find myself standing before a stage that looked like a runway where models walk to display outfits. But this stage was so different. It was draped in the most beautiful curtains, like robes, that were red and with a smile on my face my heart knew that it was a sanctuary. A place that was so special, an inner chamber and the red curtains all around were reminders of the blood of the Lamb, and all that He purchased. There was glorious heavenly light in every part of the room that filled the room with such warmth and joy, such peace that nothing else mattered than being in this place.

 

It was the place that represented deep intimacy with God, the inner chamber, but also a stage set. I wondered why there was a stage, and into my heart came the words "to be placed on any stage of influence or stage of the world, it is birthed and remained upon by remaining in the place of deep intimacy with Me."

 

Jesus then stepped onto the stage, and my eyes filled with tears as I could feel His pleasure over His people, His complete joy at the release and unveiling.

 

He looked at me with His beautiful eyes and said to me, "It is time!!"

 

One by one He began to bring forth His people wearing crowns, each with the names written on the crowns. They were so beautiful and so wonderfully prepared.

 

"All for such a time as this," He spoke and handed each one a key, and the keys that each one of these were handed unlocked doors to their destiny. I saw them go into the world to begin to release all that was poured into them through the intense period of pressing.

 

In this encounter, I felt to encourage the people of God that ALL you have walked has not been for nothing. It has ALL had a perfect purpose. God has used it all, the good and the bad to bring you to this place, for such a time as this. All the things the enemy threw at you, He has turned, to bring you to this place of release.

 

New Mantles

 

God is releasing mantles right now in the heavenlies. These mantles are not to be treated lightly and they are mantles that have been released to those who have been through the pressing, that have walked the path of great sacrifice and continued to hold onto their Beloved. They have gone deeper into the inner chamber and pressed through when everything else has screamed at them to give up. The place where they have come to a place of such depth of intimacy that every part of them yearns and delights for Him and living before the audience of One.

 

He is releasing you now. He is releasing the Esthers, the Samuels, the Davids, the Josephs, the Daniels into the world. There is going to be an increase in dream interpretation in the Church and in the world, an increase in creative revelation in worship, an increase in the gift of administration and excellence, an increase in open doors to speak before people of influence releasing Kingdom principles.

 

Blueprints from heaven that have been given to the people of God in their pressing, in the winepress, the visions are being released now into the world and are going to be released into large corporations and these Kingdom principles released through these ones will not only bring increase to their corporations but salvations, signs and wonders into the marketplace.

 

Transformation in Governments

 

I felt the Lord wants His people believing for the transformation of GOVERNMENTS. Many of the keys that were released in this encounter were keys to unlock governments and minister to leaders of governments. There is a revival coming within governments. Jesus is going to visit world leaders in tremendous encounters in the night and great favor opening up through these ones being sent in to proclaim the Word of the Lord and bring about a Kingdom shift. Nations is now shifting nations with His love and Glory and He is moving into government to bring a REVIVAL OF HIS LOVE, which will bring even greater radical shifts in nations.

 

His People will Shine

 

I was then taken back into this encounter where I saw many of His people sitting on the floor around the stage of this inner chamber and they were weeping. I watched as Jesus went and knelt down beside each one and I heard their heart cries, "I am not a Joseph, I am not an Esther, I am not a Daniel."  Their hearts were full of insignificance, not knowing their value, and bound in an orphan spirit. 

I saw Jesus touch the chin of each one, one by one and lift their heads to look at Him in the eyes. He spoke with such conviction, such love and compassion and He said, "THIS IS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU" and He stretched out His arms and I could see His heart, and inside His heart, I saw the crucifixion and as I saw Him on the Cross I saw Him look at each one of these and He spoke so tenderly and beautifully, "It was ALL FOR YOU!" and the people of God began to sob and sob as the love and kindness of God enveloped them, healing their hearts and breaking off the orphan spirit. "All so you could be Mine," such healing and restoration was coming into their hearts that I began to weep.

 

He then bent back down and handed each one a scroll. As they unraveled this scroll there were pictures of each moment of their lives, when they were children and fell and hurt their knee, to when they were adults and got a job promotion, dreams coming true and in each picture I saw HIM! Every moment of their life mattered. My eyes then gazed over to the list on the other side of the scroll and it was every hearts desire, every dream and how He had molded, shaped, planned, perfected them and their hearts cries in His presence to bring them into the place of fullness and deeper knowledge of Him and His goodness. The presence and LOVE of the Father was ALL over this scroll with the words ringing in my ears, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." (John 14:9)

 

These ones stood to their feet, free of the orphan spirit KNOWING their value and knowing the unshakeable truth that they ARE LOVED and they are a SON AND DAUGHTER of the most GLORIOUS GOOD GOD!! I saw them go into the world into their day-to-day lives and they were releasing BOMBS OF LOVE through their words and their actions and attitudes and LOVE REVIVALS were happening EVERYWHERE they went. There were deposits of God's love being released everywhere, their feet trod in signs and wonders. 

These ones who thought they were insignificant and of no value, not knowing how LOVED they were, were releasing a LOVE REVIVAL everywhere they went. People were coming to know Jesus at a rapid pace because THEY WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR LOVE.

 

These ones were even ministering in the Church to those who do not know their love, that were caught in division, caught in unforgiveness, bitterness and hatred and were releasing impartations of God's love through their testimonies and others were being set free in the Kingdom, reawakened and revived and then going into the world of their day to day lives and releasing His love. It was a LOVE REVOLUTION!

 

No matter where you are, no matter what you are walking, no matter what you have walked, as you are part of His Kingdom, it is YOUR TIME TO SHINE! It is YOUR TIME TO ARISE! Stay deep in the inner chamber with Him.  What you have walked was not for nothing. It has been for such a time as this. Doors are opening now for your destiny. 

The world is waiting for you. It is time to take your place. The pressing even though was one of the most difficult things you have ever walked, was one of your greatest blessing. You just watch how He is going to use you! The best is yet to come.

 

As He said to me in the encounter, "Tell them Lana, 'It's going to be GREAT!!!!'"

 

Lana Vawser

www.lanavawser.com

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Time of Sifting Turning to Shifting by Doug Addison

Time of Sifting Turning to Shifting 

by Doug Addison

Identity Network

 

Jesus told Simon Peter in Luke 22:31 "Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat."

 

When we step into higher callings or promotions, it requires us to go through a time of testing. We have all been going through this. Notice it says, "Satan has asked to sift all of you." We have ALL been going through a time of shifting and sifting. But this testing time is coming to an end.

 

God is Readjusting Kingdom Assignments

 

Mantles are major callings from God that require years of preparation. Often many people value mantles instead of recognizing God's assignments. But what we miss is that the Kingdom of God operates more along the lines of assignments.

 

We are used to hearing about demonic assignments. Satan imitates the things of God. We know that there are angels and that assignments are given to us to advance God's Kingdom on earth.

 

An example of this is in Acts 1:8 when Jesus spoke to His followers, the apostles, just before returning to Heaven. He gave them an assignment: they got the power of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:17-18 and they became His witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea. But they never ventured outside of their comfort zones to Samaria and the ends of the earth.

 

It took ten years for God to raise up others to fulfill the assignment to Samaria. In Acts 8, it was Phillip, a deacon, who went to Samaria. Then in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas took the message of Jesus to what they considered the ends of the earth.

 

These were assignments, not mantles. As you step into an assignment and go through the testing, it then develops into spiritual authority. An office or mantle can further be established in your life and ministry. It takes years. And honestly, most people give up.

 

Our Gifts are Functions, not Titles

 

When we stay with what God has called us to do then God can promote us into a closer relationship with Him. He grants us greater authority to do the work we are called to on earth.

 

I am a prophet but it has been decades in the making and it wasn't until 2010 when it started to take shape.

 

But after a commissioning time in 2010, I went through three years of extreme rejection. I was banned from speaking in the churches I helped start, people lied against me, there was jealousy and misunderstandings. I had both Christians and the occult praying against me. I ended up very sick, depressed and in debt.

 

But in 2013 I was given prophetic strategies to get out of debt and the favor of God and man is rapidly returning. Jesus also visited me on August 31, 2013 and gave me new strategies for breakthrough.

 

If you resist or give up during the testing times, you then adjust back down to the level of authority you can handle in your life. This is God's grace and love and not a demotion. He does not want you to die - because higher callings can indeed kill you if you are not prepared.

 

Assignments and Callings Reshuffled

 

You have to understand the aspect of assignments to grasp what I am about to share with you. We have assignments and we are being sent by God to fulfill them.

 

"Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them." 1 Corinthians 7:17 NIV

 

I have been seeing assignments being reshuffled and dealt out to new people. This is because others either said no, got under warfare and quit, or whatever. This is the time to ask God for an assignment that has been discarded and the grace to carry it out.

 

Spiritual Promotions

 

Often times we don't recognize when we are promoted spiritually. This is because it usually is not announced but suddenly, we feel extra pressure.

 

Think about taking on more responsibility or getting promoted in your job. You are really encouraged and feel good at first. Then you realize that the new job is stretching you, causing you to learn and use more effort.

 

This is the same as when you get a spiritual promotion. You move into a new season where you are being stretched. And just like with a job, there might be people who treat you differently or are jealous.

 

This happens with the demonic realm and you may encounter some "spiritual bullying."  Promotions are major shifts in our life that after you begin to grow more from the experience you settle into the new authority you have in the spirit.

 

Everything Happens to You

 

The most beneficial thing for you right now is to realize that everything that happens to you is allowed by God to help you mature and grow. Once you realize this, you can gain a higher perspective on your life and the trials you are facing.

 

Life is never without trying times and pain. The key to it all is how you view it. If you think everything that is happening to you is punishment from God, then the enemy has succeeded in short-circuiting your spiritual growth.

 

If you think bad things happen to you because you must have done something wrong, then you will most likely not get out of the loop of discouragement.

 

The fastest way to grow and mature is to realize that God loves you and is not your enemy. Begin to see your pain or disappointments as a time of learning.

 

You can change anything in your life right now by changing the way you view it and how it affects you. Here's some good news for you: people who have a higher calling and great destiny receive lots of discouragement and setbacks. This is because what you will learn through it all goes into a firm foundation that God can build your tall calling on.

 

Doug Addison

www.dougaddison.com

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Prophecy: God Is Restoring the Signs and Wonders Movement

12/2/2014 RYAN LESTRANGE  CHARISMA MAGAZINE

(Flickr/Patrick Emerson)

It seems like so many times recently during prayer I am reminded of the Prophet Elijah casting his mantle on Elisha. In that single moment a spiritual calling was released and an invitation to come up higher was given. This moment would not be recorded in Scripture if Elisha did not discern the weight of what was taking place. 

 

"So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him" (1 Kin. 19:19).

 

Elisha was being called by God to take the mantle of a prophetic father and advance! I so clearly hear the rumbling of revival in this hour. There is a transition that is taking place, and a generation of people are arising in the earth who long for the outpouring of the presence of God. 

 

We have read the books about the great healing ministers, powerful prophets and renowned revivalists who have gone on before us. When they died they left their mantles on earth waiting to be claimed and taken to the next level. It is time that this generation makes spiritual history! It is time that we have a fresh outpouring of power, miracles and awakening.

 

In a time of prayer recently a powerful word of the Lord came to me about the mantles being released:

 

I am calling this generation forth to move in the supernatural. Even as the church in the book of Acts went from place to place with power and demonstration, so am I calling this generation to move in power and demonstration. No longer shall the hand of man prevail; no longer shall the wisdom of man stand. 

 

I have invested the power and authority of My kingdom inside of My family, My sons and daughters. There is an awakening unto fullness, fullness of sonship, fullness of covenant, fullness of position and grace in Me, there is an awakening to the fullness of My power, My kingdom that I have called you to carry. There is a banner of fire being cast over this generation, and I am raising up voices who will release My wind and My breath upon the embers in order to fan the flame. 

 

This generation is called and marked to burn for Me. This generation is called unto the supernatural. I am raising up and establishing healing ministries in the earth as a sign and a wonder. I am sending forth prophetic ministries in the earth to awaken My people from their slumber and call them back to My heart. The spirit of slumber has blinded the eyes of many and they have been asleep at the wheel while destined journeys and planned exploits have crashed in the spirit and not been fulfilled because they were driving with their eyes closed! 

 

I am calling them to wake and move with Me. I am casting the mantle upon My people! I am casting the mantle of supernatural ministry upon My people. I am calling them to arise into the kingdom. The kingdom is supernatural. My sons and daughters are supernatural people called to signs and wonders. There is a generation that is arising in the earth that shall walk in uncommon faith and do uncommon exploits by my spirit.

 

Friend, I believe that this is the word of the Lord for you and me! God is calling His people to move in the supernatural. A new era of revival is beginning, and you have a part in it. Heaven has no small assignments! Let us be like Elisha and recognize the moment that we are living in. Jesus is inviting us to move deeper and allow Him to shine brighter through us. My prayer is that we receive the mantle of fire and go forth blazing with the fire of revival! "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).

 

Ryan LeStrange has been preaching the gospel for more than half of his life. As a young man, God led him to leave his home and travel to Tennessee to study and train under Dr. Norvel Hayes, who later became his spiritual father. Pastor Ryan shares the apostolic call of Dr. Hayes to establish churches, ministries and bible colleges, and to train leaders in the body of Christ. Ryan hosts a weekly television show on God TV called Power4Today. Ryan is the Apostle and leader of Impact International Apostolic Fellowship, a network of churches and ministries around the world with a single vision to birth revival. He has founded two bible colleges, served as an associate pastor and traveled as an evangelist. Visit him online at ryanlestrange.com.

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RESPONSE TO EVIL by Morris E. Ruddick

RESPONSE TO EVIL (c) Morris E. Ruddick "Lord, You have set up a banner for those who fear You, a standard displayed because of the truth. That Your beloved ones may be delivered, save with Your right hand and answer us." Ps 60:3-5 Mind-sets are a compilation of assumptions that influence how we live our lives. They are the predispositions of our attitudes which determine how we respond to the circumstances around us. Mind-sets shape an individual's behavior. Cultural mind-sets mold the identity shared by a people. Working with believers in cultures where freedom is at risk has often challenged me to take a closer look at my own individual and cultural mind-sets. One culture I've worked with in particular includes a number of leaders who have spent extended time in hard-labor prisons for their faith. The intent of these incarcerations of brutal conditions was to undermine their faith. It had the opposite effect. In each case, I've been struck by the strength of character, decision-priorities and genuine humility of these friends who bear these brand-marks of their faith. On the other hand, what I have not observed is the focus that the West can give to issues that impact the soul. In conditions designed to break their spirit, those issues included severe deprivation of such essentials as having enough food to live and the realities of facing death. In short, what I have witnessed has been a distinct absence of a victim's mentality. In lands of persecution, almost everyone has a story of tragedy and serious loss. Yet, contrary to Western predispositions, the choice has been to put their tragic pasts behind them to more fully live in "the now." "Forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth for that which is ahead." Phil3:13 Paul's admonition is not to "stuff it," but rather to renew our minds and make a choice to transform our thinking by giving focus to remembering those things that are true, noble, just, pure and of good report (Phil 4:8). That's the rallying banner. It's the standard upheld by those we regard as heroes of faith. Foundations to How We Respond At the core of the way of the Kingdom is how we respond to evil. Our mind-sets play a significant role in this response. The first premise is that we cannot hope for much by responding in our own strength or cleverness, no matter how much we verbalize it. It takes a great deal more, even for the most talented. The opening Scripture is about that added dimension that only comes through God. It is from a Psalm describing a people who have strayed and lost the power and protection of God against evil. It outlines the need to be restored and highlights what is required to maintain that place in which God intervenes on their behalf. Over the centuries, the Lord has imparted banners and standards for the good of His people. They serve an initial function to help us avoid the subtleties of evil. When ignored, they still provide the means of deliverance, although at a higher cost when evil inroads can only be met by judgment. The banner displayed gives first priority to embracing the unequivocal fear of the Lord. That calls for a choice. The standard then sets the stage to unveil the truth and the reality of God that empowers deliverance. It is the foundation from which we can cry out to the Lord and expect the manifestation of His power. Bondages result when God's supernatural standards are watered down with the natural. Within the Body are many who enjoy God's blessings yet are constrained from crossing the boundaries into what is represented by the fullness of their callings. The constraints typically are self-imposed, driven by precepts of men, with the standards influenced by both individual and cultural mind-sets and predispositions. The response to evil draws a line in the sand. Not recklessly or arbitrarily, but rather as a choice and a priority to uphold the standard. That choice is contrary to the way the world responds. That sometimes means sacrifice. Yet, that choice is the very foundation that Jesus imparted to His followers during His three year earthly ministry. The Subtle Influence For years I have worked with men and women of God being prepared with modern-day Joseph-type callings. The calling of God in the marketplace is not one of position or status, but a calling of influence. The influence evolves around establishing God's standard against evil, harnessing resources, and bringing deliverance and transformation within the infrastructures of the world's systems. Yet, again and again the pressures and subtleties faced by these modern-day Josephs bring challenge and distortion to their mantles. With the distractions and deceptions, the result is being drawn into safe-places, of spiritually treading water. As an illustration of the subtleties that distort and diminish the standard, the Western media has long advanced a cultural mind-set that turns returning military heroes into victims. It has undermined the standard of the cause of freedom with subtle, downgraded and distorted moralizations. The brand-marks of true heroes are then dishonored and reduced to pity. Pilate's challenge to Jesus was based on this very premise: that Jesus was facing death and Pilate had the authority to release Him. Jesus' response to Pilate was that his authority was limited and defined only by the Father. Figuratively speaking, Jesus spit in the face of death. Jesus was never a victim. His response refused a mind-set of pity, as He held to the standard. Jesus said He came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill, to bring completion to them. He drew a line in the sand with destruction and death. Yet, until the time He was turned over to Pilate and Herod to face crucifixion, the focus of His earthly ministry dealt with the response to evil within the household of faith. "From the days of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force." Matt 11:12 The Evil Within The evil within the household of faith is far more subtle than the evil from outside the community of God's people. Ranging from factors such as obsessive introspection leading to majoring in minors and spiritual myopia to outright misuses of authority, the result has long been a people of feeble power, fragmented and divided. Nevertheless, overcoming these vulnerabilities represents the cohesive foundation needed to maximize the power in responding to evil coming from the world's system. No one group has the total picture, which is why we need one another. The level to which the evil within the community of God's people is properly addressed will be the level destabilizing and diluting the impact of the evil lurking outside the camp. "Do not be afraid of the sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being taken." Prov 3:25-26 The inroads of evil into the household of faith find their seedbed in mind-sets, the most devilish being religious mind-sets. Instead of being the influencers and overcomers, the Body has systematically become culturally compliant and spiritually anemic. The perception is viewed as the reality. Most purveyors of news are no longer presenting facts, but rather the spin of events within the view of a creeping system of godless values and evil-intended priorities. In God's eyes, the reality is based on the standard. God's standard is the driver for our mind-sets, the factor that determines what is right and the priorities we ascribe in stewarding our destinies. That standard is then wielded to the degree that our thinking and actions are in oneness with Him. "Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads and look. Then ask for the ancient paths where the good way lies. Then walk in it and you will find rest for your souls." Jer 6:16 When God's people are in alignment with Him, His glory will manifest. God's glory manifested when King David brought God's people together. That was King David's greatest accomplishment and will be the standard for the model in the millennium. To grasp the dynamics needed to realize the release of God's glory in the face of evil requires a closer look at what pride really is, how true humility upholds the standard and the role of suffering. With that is the need to understand how the Word of God defines wickedness within the ranks of the household of faith. The Seduction of Pride. There is a fine line between pride and honor. True honor comes from God. Pride, however, is self-created and rails against the knowledge of God. Self-righteousness is based on pride. It seduces and distorts. The Bible says that pride is like death and cannot be satisfied (Hab 2:5). Jesus addressed this dynamic manifesting with the Pharisees. They reached for the standard and missed. Their elitism and self-serving ambition for status and power pushed them away from God. It manifested in the mind-sets and the priorities they gave to the way they lived their lives. Jesus called them hypocrites because of their spiritual myopia. The history of God's people is filled with stories of "strays" who have misused their authority and operated under short-sighted, prideful illusions of their own significance in their stewardship of God's power. The Bible describes them as wicked. Proverbs 12:5-7 draws a sharp comparison between the righteous and the wicked. It applies within the boundaries of God's people. The divergence is between being just and operating with treachery and deceit. It speaks of the wicked seeking to entrap, of being ensnared by their own words, while the righteous maintain their integrity through backlash to emerge not only whole, but with new dimensions of purpose and enlightenment. Remember Job's response to his "friends" and the later end for Job. "When Job prayed for his friends the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as before." Job 42:10 It is the way of the Kingdom to respond to evil with good. In short, the root of the righteous, defined by this standard, cannot be moved or uprooted (Prov 12:3). It emphasizes our complete dependency on God and the importance of humility and a listening heart in maintaining the standard to stay the pathway. Humility and a Listening Heart. At the core of a righteous heart is the humility that comes from a genuine listening heart. We continually need to be hearing from God and the truth of His Word. We likewise need the wisdom from those who have gone before us as well as the God-fearing whose orientations are not constrained by our own search for what is truth. "[The Bereans] were more fair-minded.... in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."Acts 17:11 That's not to suggest a potpourri of opinions, but rather the discernment of the essentials needed to grasp the biblical standard guiding the steps of the community of faith. The need calls for more than a doctrinal statement on a web-site. The world we live in, along with today's factionalized Body demands strategic-level wisdom in establishing the scriptural common ground of how we come together and how we operate as the community of faith -- in a way that draws the world. "You are the light of the world, a city [community] set on a hill that cannot be hidden." Matt 5:14 The homosexual community mapped out just such a strategy roughly three decades ago. They have exceeded their goals. But then Jesus observed that the sons of this world can be more shrewd in operating with their own kind, than the sons of Light. To have a story to tell begins WITHIN the household of faith, with the degree to which we are listening to one another. The common ground involves how we OPERATE together. That will require humility. Humility toward God and others is a Kingdom key. It is an igniter for unity. Humility is the shield against pride and the fear of man. Paul described the ultimate spiritual enemy we are dealing with as death. True humility inoculates us against the fear of man and the age-old seductions of death and destruction. The Response and Role of Suffering. People who have faced death in combat and survived, understand the reality involved in face-offs that "cheat" death. Winston Churchill was a man who over the course of his life had many encounters with death. He was intimately acquainted with how evil operated. His demeaner was fearless. His consistently big-picture response was to uphold the standard against evil. When he was made Prime Minister, what he was dealing with was a faceoff with death. Hitler's machine had conquered most of the European continent. Churchill was surrounded by those seeking to appease evil. As irreverent and as unorthodox as Churchill could be, he was much like a modern-day Cyrus. God knew and called Cyrus long before Cyrus knew there to be such a One as the God of Israel. In the world of 1940, Hitler may have been the human mechanism, but it was death that was on the march. In its grip were the chosen of God, with the anemic stewardship of the Lord's standard in the crucible. Churchill's response to death, to this amassing evil was to draw a line in the sand. Not unlike King David, with wisdom beyond his own brilliance, he rallied the free world and brought them into unity. The response involved a time of extreme sacrifice and suffering. Historically, times of great revival have been directly correlated with times of sacrifice and suffering. So it is that we find ourselves today with evil amassing before us. The Big-Picture Response These are times described in Isaiah 60 as when darkness is covering the earth and deep darkness the people. Evil has aggressively come out of the closet. The clarion call for the household of faith is to give heed to the big-picture and gird up the loins of our mind-sets. Humility and listening hearts, along with facing the realities is no longer an option. "While following the way of your judgments, we have eagerly waited for You. At night my soul longs for You. Indeed my spirit seeks you diligently. For when the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." Isa 26:8-10 The need is to redirect the focus of the energies given to the fund-raising soap boxes, and sweep aside the idols occupying our minds (Ezek 14:5). In responding to the big picture of what is happening around us, is the need to draw a line in the sand, calling the evil within for what it is and to begin giving focus to the strategies needed to fully draw on our Great Equalizer in facing the realities. Peter notes (1 Peter 4:17) that judgment first comes to the household of faith. Jesus said that each would be seasoned with fire and every sacrifice seasoned with salt (Mark9:49). That's the mix, it is the cost required to be carriers of His presence. In facing the disarray and division, it is time for the household of faith to uphold the big-picture standard, serve as God's calling card, as He draws all men to Himself. "We have a strong city [community]. Lord, You have established and strengthened our walls and ramparts. So, open the gates, that all who are righteous may enter, the ones who have remained faithful. The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. For in You we have an everlasting Rock." Isa 26:1-7 ___________________________________________________ Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" and "Leadership by Anointing," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesandNoble.comand other popular outlets. Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the persecuted church to be the head and not the tail. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card atsign@strategicintercession.org  Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your congregation on the wisdom the persecuted church has for the times emerging in the West.  2014 Copyright Morris Ruddick - sign@strategicintercession.org Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org