'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 2:9
Something inside me is burning. I can’t let it go. I yearn for
that touch of the master’s hand that will shake the very foundation of my life
and the lives of those around me. My heart is pounding in anticipation for
Jesus to encounter his church like never before. I long for revival, true
revival that is sustained for the long hall, a revival that grows from glory to
glory, and does not dissipate through the years. I long for a touch of God on
the land that will be greater than anything before it. I burn inside to see
this generation leek with the presence of God. I long to see the reflection of
Jesus on the face of His bride. I long to hear his heart beat and feel his
embrace.
I grew up in the church in the midst of revival. The year
was 1979. The Jesus movement was in transition from a beach salvation movement
to a power encounter movement. John Wimber of Vineyard Christian Fellowship had
sparked something inside my heart that would forever change me. John had
taught me that I could get as close to God as I wanted to, that I could serve
Him with a level of intimacy that would overflow with prophecy, healings,
signs, and wonders, to a starving broken planet. He taught me that “doing the
stuff” was my birthright as a child of God, and that pursuit of his presence
was the Kingdom.
Vineyard was birthed from a handful of burnt out pastors to become
a major force in equipping the church worldwide to passionately seek the face
of Jesus and reach out to the world through power encounters. We truly believed that
when we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in
Heaven,” we meant it, and so did Heaven! We were a church in the midst of
revival.
Since the days of Pentecost, great revivals and awakenings
have occurred through out the centuries. But they have always faded away
between the generations. Sure they have left their residue and incredible
benefit to the body of Christ, but the burning heart nature of what we call
revival – that heart pounding desire to seek his face – fades, and so often, in
the wake we are left with another denominational spin off, but the heart of
what birthed the revival disappears.
People have always asked, why in the space of a couple
generations do revivals dissipate? They go from a blazing fire of Glory to
barley a flicker… then nothing – a puff of smoke – and its gone? We haven’t
changed much since the times of Joshua. In Judges 2:7-11 when Joshua became
leader, the bible says:
“The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of
Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord,
died at the age of a hundred and ten. …
After that whole generation had been
gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the
Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the
Baals.” - Judges 2:7-1
To be honest, that is my fear for this generation. The truth
is, faith, anointings, ministries, mantles, gifts, and mighty moves of God
cannot be transferred from generation to generation without personal power
encounters and the desire of a people to burn for and seek after, with all
their hearts, the face and presence of Jesus.
The good news, for this generation, is that God is on the
move. There is a sense in the air that something big is about to happen. The
gap between revivals is getting shorter and shorter. God is agitating our
hearts. He is stirring the pot of our souls. He is shacking our very foundations.
He so longs for a sustained move of his presence that he is not letting go. In
a real sense, he has taken hold of the hem of our garment, and will not let go,
until the healing has begun. He is causing a desperation inside many that is
truly making us miserable and it will not relent until we see and receive the
fullness of what he longs for in this new era.
In my lifetime alone, since that incredible day in January
1979, when Jesus yanked me from the fires of hell and brought me into his
presence as a child of the King, we have seen revival hit in pockets around the
world. We saw the birth of revival in the Vineyard movement; we saw the flames
of fire hit Toronto, Pensacola, Reading, Kansas City, Charlotte, and Mobile. This
isn’t just a western move. Today, God is beginning to take nations. He is establishing
his army around the world for a global harvest. However, what we are seeing
today is just a trickle.
What Jesus desires to do for this generation is far beyond
all of the moves of God in history. Jesus is waking the bride of Christ. We are
so overdue. The coming move of God will
be the sustained move of God. It will be unlike any before it. He is
going to do a new thing. He is about to put his imprint on cities, states,
regions, and countries, and, he is going to do it through everyday people.
There is a personal outpouring that is going to take place that will reach the
ends of the earth, and it will come through and be upon average Joes, like you
and me.
Over and over the Lord keeps showing me this very thing. He has
not relented, and I cannot shake it. Just yesterday, while driving to work, the
Lord gave me a vision of the Shekinah Glory of God coming as a cloud. As I
looked at the cloud it became a funnel cloud, and I heard the Lord say, “I am
about to pour out my Shekinah glory on the individual. Like a funnel in the
spout of a bottle, I shall pour my presence upon them and in them and they
shall see and know my glory like no other generation.”
This personal outpouring will be rich with power and
authority, but it will be wrapped up in a people, who, like Moses, have been to
the mountain top, and have seen the lover of their souls … face-to-face. The
anointing that is about to fall on the bride is thick with his presence, and
will come upon all who seek after him and the beauty of his being.
The power and personal nature of this next move of God was
reinforced in a dream the Lord had given me recently. In this dream I saw a
faucet in a bathroom like one would see in a typical home. The faucet was
turned on full force and out came thick black oil, like petroleum. When I saw it I knew in my spirit it was the
oil of anointing. When I woke, instantly I saw visions of the earth, and inside the earth, I saw caverns of the deep filled with hot molten oil. They were just under the
surface and scattered throughout the earth. As I looked I saw oil wells sprouting up across the land. I saw layers of black shale just under the surface of the
earth and the children of God holding clumps of shale in their hands. As they
held the shale it liquefied and flowed from the palms of their hands.
When I asked the Lord why the oil was black, he said, “Just
as the blood of Able cried out from the ground for justice, so the residual anointings,
life missions, ministries, destinies, and dreams form all of history are, even
now, crying out to me. I have reserved, for this generation, an anointing that
is so thick it reeks with the history and legacy of my saints. Every lost
dream, every shortened life call, every unfulfilled destiny, ever mantle from
every martyr, every mandate from every missionary, from every child in my house
who has gone before you is stored up in me and is ready to be released upon the
land. That is why it is thick, and black like oil, like petroleum. It is full
of energy and power and this generation, more than any before it, knows what it
means to be without it and the high cost it takes to obtain it. This anointing is
redemption oil, redeeming all the lost anointings of history."
Then he said, "Do you understand?”
“Yes Lord,” I responded. And in that moment I understood the
thick blessing and rich heritage of the saints. I understood that this
anointing was an answer to the heart cry of the saints in Revelation chapter 6.
“When he opened the
fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because
of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How
long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the
earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and
they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow
servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.” – Revelation 6:9-11
I understood that the judgment of God in these last days would
begin with the love fest of the bride. It would begin with the fresh release of all the anointings throughout history, reduced and condensed into a mega-blast of his presence. I understood that Jesus will take the residue from
all who came before us and smear us with it. He is about to give payback to the
enemy. He is throwing down the trump card, and the power and presence of the
past will be more than our floor, they have become seeds - germinated for a new
generation. I also understood that we have to press in and remember all that
God has done before us. That we have to declare and decree with hearts of fire,
that greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world. God is about
to flood the marketplace with saints smeared with his anointing. But we have to
remember how great and awesome our God is and believe his testimony. The bible says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. All his wonders are available for release in our lives, today!
The word says - Remember
the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your
elders, and they will explain to you. -
Deuteronomy 32:7
And again… "I will repay you for the years the locusts
have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my
great army that I sent among you. - Joel 2:25
Paul understood the heritage of the saints when he counseled
Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 1:
“ I am reminded of
your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your
mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into
flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us
timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. - 2 Timothy 1:5-7
And in Colossians he says:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have
not stopped praying for you. We
continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the
wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good
work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according
to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who
has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us
from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he
loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. - Colossians 1:9-14
Even the writer of Hebrews in chapter 11, understood the
power of this rich thick anointing when he points us to the great cloud of
witnesses.
All these people were
still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;
they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were
foreigners and strangers on earth. -
Hebrews 11:13
He continues in verse 32
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about
Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was
promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed
foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing
to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced
jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by
stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute,
persecuted and mistreated— the world was
not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves
and in holes in the ground. These were
all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been
promised,
And get this…
since God had planned something better for
us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
- Hebrews 11:32-40
So his heart cry to us is this… in Chapter 12:1
Therefore, since
we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us,
- Hebrews 12:1
You see…
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did.
By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his
offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
- Hebrews 11:4
But in Hebrews 12:22-24 he says…
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have
come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of
the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to
the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to
Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a
better word than the blood of Abel.
-
Hebrews 12:22-24
The blood of Jesus is speaking today. The blood of all the
saints is speaking today. And it is Christ’s joy to anoint each of you, and
your household with his payback plan.
When I was worshiping the other day at church after the Lord
had given me the dream of the faucet being turned on, I saw Jesus, in a bedroom
with a pillow in his hand. He was having a pillow fight. The room was filled
with joy as he swung the pillows around. The pillows were so stuffed and full
that as he swung they burst open and feathers were flying around everywhere.
The room was so full of feathers that all you could see was a cloud of soft
white feathers.
When I was praying about this I understood that trapped
inside the pillow were dreams, dreams that that the Lord had placed in the
hearts of his children, dreams of destiny and purpose, and the Lord's desire to
bring breakthrough and release to long forgotten dreams. As I was praying for a
release of destiny in the lives of people in the church I saw the Holy Spirit
fly in like a dove. His wings were dipped in the dark oil. As he flew over, a single
oil dipped feather began to float down. As it approached it became a quill pen.
I then saw the pen begin to write. It was writing a signature – like a John
Hancock, if you will. I understood that The Holy Spirit was writing the dreams
of promise, identity, and purpose on the hearts of his people. That He was
engraving his purpose in their lives and signing his very name to it - like a
decree. Like the signature on a check, you can take this note and deposit it.
For it is decreed in heaven and engraved upon your hearts.
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of
the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name
written on it, known only to the one who receives it.” – Revelations 2:17
The Lord wants to tar-and-feather us. He is so concerned
with our destiny, and the impact that this generation will have on the world,
that he has not, and will not relent until his bride looks like him. He is redeeming
the time. You are a chosen generation. Do not under sale the impact that you as
an individual will have on this planet. The last picture the lord showed me
regarding this anointing I saw an ocean size pool of this oil cover the whole
earth. The one drop fell from heaven into the ocean of anointing causing
ripples to flood the planet. Don’t underestimate that one drop upon your life.
In Gods math drops become oceans.
Let us cry out and be smeared…. tarred, and feathered!
"The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who
repent of their sins," declares the Lord.
"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the Lord.
"My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I
have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your
children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and
forever," says the Lord.
- Isaiah 59:20-21
Reread Joel Chapter 2...
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.
Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste—nothing escapes them.
They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale.
They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows.
Before them the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine.
The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?
Rend Your Heart “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
The LORD’s Answer , Then the LORD was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. The LORD replied to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. “I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things!
Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things!
Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
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