Healing The Land Beneath Our Feet
This article is reprinted from The Elijah List
by Francis Frangipane
Jun 13, 2009
As a speaker in citywide and regional prayer conferences, I am often asked to unmask the "spiritual power" opposing the Body of Christ in the conference region. City leaders and intercessors have even asked if I knew the "name" of the principal spirit that is resisting the Church in their area.
"Do you want to know the name of the most powerful spirit opposing most Christians?" I ask. Eager faces respond affirmatively.
"It's Yahweh."
My questioners, who suddenly look like a tree full of owls, are always bewildered by my answer. They are sure I misunderstood their question. Then, I explain. I remind them that, according to the Scriptures, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). So, if we are divided in our hearts from other churches, if we instinctively look down on other Christians or if we are at all self-promoting in attitude, we are walking in pride. As such, the Spirit that stands to resist our endeavors is not demonic; it's God.
The Lord will not excuse our pride just because we sing three hymns on Sunday and consider ourselves "saved." God resisted lucifer's pride in Heaven and He will oppose our pride on earth. What is most sad is, religious pride has been so homogenized into our Christian experience that we don't even perceive it as being wrong. Yet it is without doubt the most offensive blight upon God's people.
The Lord does not want the lost added to churches where they must assimilate the poison of pride at the same table as salvation.
The One Who Seeks and Judges
Jesus said of Himself, "I do not seek My glory..." Yet, how many of our actions are expended doing the exact opposite of the nature of Christ! Our choice of clothes and cars, homes and roles in life so often have self-exaltation working in the background. Jesus continued, "...there is One who seeks and judges" (John 8:50). Listen carefully to His words, for every time we seek to exalt ourselves we run face to face with God. One dimension of the Father's heart is that He "seeks (glory) and judges" those who, through pride, exalt themselves. Indeed, my friends, consider with godly fear our American tradition of self-promotion. Though it is highly esteemed among men, it is actually "detestable in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15).
The Old Testament is replete with examples documenting the Almighty's opposition to man's pride. Time after time it was not Israel's enemies that thwarted national prosperity; it was God. From generation to generation, the Lord allowed Israel's adversaries to humble His people, to drive them toward desperation, humility and finally repentance. There, in brokenness and honesty, God could deal with their sins and finally lead them into national revival.
Listen how the Lord pleaded with Israel: "Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries" (Psalm 81:13–14).
So also with us. We need the might of God to be unleashed against our foes. For truly, terrible powers of darkness have invaded our land, and our adversary stalks our streets seeking whom he may devour. Our hope, however, is not merely in confronting the enemy, but in allowing God to confront us. Our victory over the enemy is directly attached to our full surrender to God.
If we truly learned of Him, we too would be "meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). And God, who gives grace to the humble, would rescue us from the spiritual enemies of our nation.
Heal Our Land
The promise of the Lord is familiar. He says, "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). You say, "But I'm humbling myself and praying." Yes, but our humility to God is not complete until we learn to humble ourselves to one another.
The fact is, because of pride, we have yet to accept what the Lord means in His words, "If My people." We still interpret His phrase, "My people" to mean "our people"—our limited circle of friends, relatives and Christians whose culture or style of worship is, more or less, like our own.
However, when the Lord thinks of His people, He sees a more expansive group. He includes all who have been born again in a city. All of us who "are called by (His) name," though we are diverse in gifts and assignments, must find unity of spirit before Him. And this begins with an amazing strategy: we must humble ourselves.
I know this goes against the grain of our historic church relationships. Satan has not only divided us from others, he has made us proud that we are separate. We think being separate is a virtue. But consider: only one group of people consistently found the Lord confronting and resisting them in the New Testament: the Pharisees. Literally translated, the word "Pharisee" meant "the separate." Of all the religious groups in the first century, it is the pride of the Pharisees that, today, the Church most resembles.
We pray, "Lord, heal our land." But the land He intends to heal first is that which exists beneath the feet of the humble. It is the world of the praying meek, who find the transforming power of God as their companion.
The Lord's remedy for our society is hidden within the life-relationships of Christians. We are always so mindful of what others have done wrong to us, but where have we failed others? What can we do to heal the land that exists between us and those whom we have hurt?
You see, as we become those who "humble themselves and pray" about what we have done wrong, healing from God begins to flow. When white Christians humble themselves and ask for forgiveness from African and Native Americans, God begins to heal the land under their feet.
If God resists the proud, remember also, He gives grace to the humble. Grace is more than being covered; it is being cleansed and changed by the power of God. Grace is God's transforming power doing in us what we cannot do for ourselves.
When we pray, "heal our land," it is the land beneath the feet of the humble that God promises to touch and restore to blessedness.
Let's pray: Dear Father, You said the healing of our land begins with the humbling of ourselves. Master, reveal to my heart those with whom I am estranged. Grant me courage to forgive and honesty to see where I contributed to the strife. I long to be an ambassador of reconciliation. Therefore, lead me to bring healing to the relationships in our world, and so bring healing to the land in which I dwell. In Jesus' name. Amen
Francis Frangipane
Ministries of Francis Frangipane
Email: francis1@frangipane.org
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
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“I AM OPENING YOUR WAY: New Wars for New Blessings!”
This article is reprinted from The Elijah List
by Chuck D. Pierce
Jun 4, 2009
Dear Radiant Ones:
You might want to print the following word from the Lord. I would encourage you to read it each day for a week. I believe the Lord is really attempting to encourage us with this revelation.
On a previous Sunday, I saw sovereign openings and opportunities coming to God's people. However, I saw many leaning on their own understanding and mixing in their own desires, which brought leanness in their souls. I then heard the Lord say:
"I am opening up a way for you. I'm causing that which was closed yesterday to be opened today. Watch carefully for your opening! You won't see all that I have for you in the beginning, but I am calling you to the other side. You must go through the opening when you see it form before you. You must make a move to go through! I have brought you to this hard place to make a move of faith. Today is your day of salvation. Move by faith and I will change the complexion of the other side where I'm sending you.
"We must work together at this time. I've been working to get the place open for you to go through, so step through and I will come and meet you on the other side. I sent the disciples forth at the right time and said, 'You cross over.' Then I came out on the water and walked to the boat. Today I say to you, 'You make the move and I'll meet you in days ahead, even in the times that seem rugged.'
"Watch for the sovereign opening that I am creating on your behalf. Be ready. Don't make a list of what you are looking for on the other side. Just step through the opening! Your present demands are hindering the development of your future. Step through by faith! You are waiting in your own strength. Step out and mount up when I send the wind. Even adverse winds can cause you to rise through and into new places of victory.
I AM not working to give you strength for where you've been. I AM working to give you strength to step through and into a place that you cannot understand. Let My place open up, and step through into it. You will be offered an opportunity."
"You Are Becoming My Weapon for Days Ahead"
"Some of you are trying to stay in the old war you've been in instead of hunting for your next war to get into. You're trying to make sure you are healed up from the wounds of the old war instead of taking all that junk you learned in the last one and say, 'Let it become my weapon in the future!' Make a shift! Make a shift! Make a shift! For you are becoming My weapon for days ahead.
"Quit looking at the wars behind and start looking at what is ahead of you. Do not be afraid of the war ahead. Most of you will not be going back the way you've come. You keep trying to find your way back even when I am saying step through and into. When the way opens up, step through it. Don't worry about going back.
"Many have even warred on the wrong side of My plan in the past season, but I am going to breathe on you and you will be transformed. Go through and into the new. You will forget the errors of the past and allegiance to the wrong side, and immediately find yourself on the correct side.
"You are anticipating the war ahead and it is creating a fear within you. What you have been through has already built within you the ability to go in and gain My victory. You are watching the resources on this side but you have not stepped into that which I have in days ahead. I will give you eyes to see how to take one and make a hundred, but I'm going to use different skills in you and I'm going to be creative with things that I have stored up.
"So step through! You are calculating with what you know you have, but I will multiply you with what you do not yet know of when you step through."
"I Have Made Your Wounds From the Last Season Your Battle Ax for the Next Season"
"The evil eye has been stalking you in the last season. My eye will be guiding you as you go forth into this new season. Your wounds from the last season are causing you to stop short of the best I have ahead for you. These wounds are stopping you from warring for your promises in the new season. I have made your wounds from the last season your battle ax for the next season. You go and I will subdue! You go through and I will subdue! This is a redeeming window.
"I am going to buy back all of what you did wrong. I am going to buy back where you've been held captive. I am going to open up a way, and when you step through you'll be hidden even from that past mess you were in. What is ahead might not be pretty or seem glorious in the beginning, but take advantage of this new opportunity and you can create the glory in the realm that I am calling you to experience.
"You've been marching in one army but I am transferring you to another. You've been marching to one beat and one drum but I am bringing a different sound and saying, 'Now MARCH!' Make your shift, and when you see the opening, go! You will be marching in a new way and I will set the course for your victory.
"I will be with you to open up supply. Let go of the supply storages from the past season that had to be sacrificed. Nothing that was sacrificed by a heart set on Me will be lost. Let go and watch a new plan for your storehouse arise. March on! New supply is on your road ahead."
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion Ministries
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
While Laughing Uncontrollably, God Told Us, “You’ve Just Entered The Highest Realm Of My Glory!”
This article is a reprint from The Elijah List
by Bill Yount
"...Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee...And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves...And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."—John 17:1, 13, 22-23 (emphasis added)
We hadn't planned on this. We just wanted to get together for fellowship over a meal. Just a few couples, and one we hadn't seen in years. I am sort of a caveman when it comes to getting together with people for fellowship. Being tired and feeling I needed a vacation away from planet earth, I forced myself to go, since we were invited.
I wasn't feeling spiritual and I wasn't in the mood to hear how God might be blessing others when I felt so spiritually dry.
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full...if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."—1 John 1:3-4, 7 (emphasis added)
"Our 'Downs' Became Our 'Ups'"
It seemed to begin at the table right after we had eaten. There came such freedom to share our ups and downs in our life as well as in ministry. Even as we shared our discouraging times and even the bloopers we made in ministry, something began to take place...A joy unspeakable and full of glory began to descend upon us!
Such a freedom to share our hearts and become real people to each other seemed to untie heavy yokes that had somehow wrapped around us through everyday life and the mundane stuff that goes with ministry. This joy began to trickle down from on high and, amazingly, our "downs" became our "ups" as the joy of the Lord began falling like an avalanche! I sensed the Lord saying, "You have just entered into the highest place of fellowship with Me!"
I Saw Us Inside a Huge Washing Machine Being Washed in Laughter as the Gentle Cycle of "MERCY AND GRACE" was Being Pushed!
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."—1 John 1:7 (emphasis added)
It was dawning on me the power of being in fellowship not only with God—but with one another! I believe there is a cleansing stream that is released as we fellowship one with another in the Body of Christ.
In the old days, they used to have to wash one piece of clothing at a time with a scrub board. The clothing got a rough washing and that one piece of clothing could be seen getting washed by everyone. I am learning late in life that even in ministry and having God in my life, I better not be alone but connected in close fellowship with others so the Lord doesn't have to wash me by myself where others can see my dirty laundry! We will get dirty at times, for we live in a fallen world. But God's plan to wash us is so different.
When my wife washes our dirty clothes, she tosses them all in together into the washing machine. As they are being tossed around inside the washing machine, you can't really tell one piece of dirty clothing from another because they seem to become one as they become meshed together. No one piece of clothing can point to another and say, "You are dirtier than I." Likewise, we are all being washed and cleansed together. This often happens through fellowship without us even being aware of it. God's love in us for one another is perhaps the most powerful cleansing agent on earth besides the Blood of His Son, for "love covers a multitude of sins."
"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'"—1 Peter 4:8
It's easy to judge the dirty laundry of others when you are standing outside of the washing machine. But beware, for the scrub board may be on its way to your ministry and doorstep! "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Even Two Are Better than One
"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."—Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity...for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."—Psalm 133:1-3
As an earthly father I am so blessed when love flows freely between my children and me. But my joy is complete when I see my children loving one another and having a great time. When they are loving one another they are actually loving me, since they are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh! The closer they become in their relationships, the closer they get to my heart. For my heart for them is to love each other.
Bill Yount
Blowing the Shofar Ministries
Email: theshofarhasblown@juno.com
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Stand In Awe As I Reveal In The Next Few Months How I Will Bring Peace In The Elements
This article is a reprint from The Elijah List
Prophesied on April 24, 2009, in Ashtabula, Ohio:
by Kim Clement
"Cast Your Nets into the Deep For a Great Catch"
The Spirit of the Lord says, "There are people watching from all over this nation. They have mocked and they have ridiculed the Christ that you serve. I'm about to break forth and prove something. Even as I spoke to Simon Peter and told him to launch out into the deep for a great catch, there is a great catch that is about to take place; it is not in the shallow waters and it is not in the nighttime, but it is in the daytime when it is an inappropriate time for catching fish.
"The fishermen fished all night long and caught nothing, but it was the right time to fish; and when Christ came it wasn't the right time to fish, it was the inappropriate time. But at the most inappropriate time He told them to, 'Cast your nets into the deep for a great catch.'
"Now, when it is inappropriate for us to talk about abundance, when it's inappropriate for you to talk about some huge catch and some huge thing you're going to do—at this inappropriate moment"—the Words are coming from the Spirit's mouth— "Launch out into the deep for a great catch which will cause you to be a testimony unto this nation.
"This Nation Shall Come Alive in the Summer of this Year"
"People all over are crying out, 'God, what shall we do?'" The Spirit of the Lord says, "Your economy is a disgrace, but it shall be easily and quickly and swiftly recovered. Hear Me, there is no recession in the Kingdom of Almighty God. That which shall be shaken will be shaken.
"Notice the boats that are sinking, and you will see greedy men—I am capturing them. Hear Me tonight, this nation shall recover speedily, this Nation shall recover swiftly. People will say, 'What do we do to get out of it?'—You're out of it already. The prognosis of the media has strangled your faith, strangled your life, and given you an overdose of exaggeration. The exaggeration shall be exposed by My Spirit, and this nation shall come alive in the summer of this year. The summer of this year it shall come to life," says the Lord.
Prophesied on April 25, 2009, in Ashtabula, Ohio:
"I Will Take You to a Place of Deep and Utter Protection Where Nothing Will be Able to Touch You"
"The Spirit of the Lord speaks to the nations of the earth. There is a line that has been drawn in the sand. There is a mark that has been placed where the powers of darkness have no access beyond that place. There is a line that most people have not seen where the power and the presence of evil, where the power and the presence of darkness cannot stand. For," the Spirit of the Lord says, "there is a line that I have drawn, and angels have drawn this line. Your enemy is waiting for you to get into that place and say, 'You've come this far and no further, you can get no further than this.'"
God says, "Once you get beyond that line, once you get beyond the veil," the Spirit of the Lord says, "I will take you to a place of deep and utter protection where nothing will be able to touch you; nothing can touch you, nor harm," says the Spirit of God. "I've drawn a line."
"Your enemy has operated and stood in the nation's door, in the capitals of this nation. Stop!" For the Spirit of God says, "In the capitals of this nation, the enemies have stood and declared war on the governors and the senators, the leaders, the spiritual leaders, the pastors, and the gatekeepers of this nation. The enemy has endeavored to take My people and bring them to shame. But have you forgotten that you will not suffer shame? Do you not realize that the blessings of Abraham have come upon you? Do you not realize that tonight there is a line that has been drawn and the enemy has no power to cross that line? Come beyond that line, come beyond that line," says the Lord. "Let Me take you into that place."
"Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice!"
The Spirit of God says, "Hear Me. Hear Me, hear what your prophet says tonight, for there have been prayers that have gone forth, there have been prayers that have come from the chambers of hell to lucifer their king, endeavoring to try and bring upon this earth the judgments before their time. They have caused the people to go into fear, and to say that, 'The seals have been opened, and judgment has come upon this nation and upon the nations of the earth.'
"But," God said, "this is not the time spoken of in Revelation, Chapter 8. This is not the time spoken of in Revelation 7 and Revelation 6. This is not the time for them to be opened," says the Lord. "This is the time for refreshing, this is the time for restoration, this is the time for revival, this is the time for the earth to rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!"
A Prophetic Word for Pennsylvania and Ohio
"Listen to the word of the Lord, for there is something coming tonight in Ohio, and it is going to Pennsylvania." For the Spirit of God said, "I am taking these two states and I'm causing a union to take place between Pennsylvania and Ohio. For," God says, "where there has been war I will bring peace. Where there has been friction I will bring unity," says the Lord.
Why am I telling you this? "For," God says, "as you gather, it is far greater than you realize. Spirits of darkness have come around and they have stood over these states, as if to say, 'I will bring them to poverty, I will bring to nothing. They will be ashamed and be put to shame.' But even as the prophet stands on your soil, there is an address that is going forth, for the powers of hell have endeavored to cause My people to fear."
But God says, "Tonight I'm getting you to understand that this is what's about to happen, and hear the word of God: The kingdoms of this world are going to become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and this shall take place NOW," says the Lord!
The Spirit of the Lord says, "Stand in awe as I reveal in the next few months how I will bring peace in the elements; where there will be a time of a peaceful summer, where the hurricanes will not rage, where the tornadoes will not have control of the atmosphere and of the cities. There will be a wind that shall blow upon the mid-section of America, and," God said, "you in Ohio will feel this wind. It is an unusual wind that I will bring. This shall not be a destructive wind. But they shall say, 'Something came in and it has settled down.' It will settle as a protection over the people of Most High God."
"Yet You Will Recover All!"
God said, "When you look in the Book of Revelation and when you see the revelation of Jesus Christ, many have trembled and many have feared, and they have said, 'Is this the day for the Lion to roar?'" But God says, "Hear what I tell you today, the dragon of old has no power or authority, for I have gathered you to a place of protection where you will not be affected by the presence of your enemy. You will not be affected by the presence of the economy. You will not be affected by the presence of things that have been coming against you," says the Lord.
"But I will cause multitudes, multitudes of birds. I will cause a multitude of birds, for there will be a sign that shall come to you.
"America, you have been waiting for this day. It is not the day of judgment. It is the day of an outpouring of a kind that you have never seen before," says the Spirit of God!
For the Spirit of God says, "Hear tonight, for there are men and women crying out for the manifestation of God's men and God's women, and they are saying, 'Where do we go, where do we run? But don't you understand that there has been too much grief, there has been too much pain.' There will be a swift recovery that will take place in your economy. There will be a swift recovery that will take place in the economies of nations throughout the earth."
For God said, "There has been a raging bull that has come against you." But what is this that is happening? What is this that I'm seeing? The Heavens are opened up wide to bring a brand new light that will shine, arise and shine upon you, for the glory of the Lord shall come upon you and you will be changed.
"This Next Move is a Physical Move"
Listen to this: "What is about to take place," says the Spirit of God, "is literally going to affect your personal lives and your bodies. This next move is a physical move," says the Spirit of God, "where you will literally feels things physically. This will be a physical move where you shall no longer have to take the ephod and put it upon your shoulders to hear the voice of God."
For even as David went and he said to the priest, Our children have been stolen, our wives have been stolen. Our families have been taken by the Amalekites, and God said to them, "Yet you will recover all"—(but before that, David said to the priest, "Give me your ephod that I may hear from the Spirit of God"). The Lord said, "You will no longer be going to need the presence of the ephod that was resting upon the shoulders of the priest; they could not hear correctly, and they were to throw dice to hear the word of the Lord."
God said, "Not so anymore; you shall hear My voice clearly. You shall hear My voice as the prophets of old heard. You will know what to do, and," God said, "you shall no longer walk, but you shall run," says the Lord!
Kim Clement
Prophetic Image Expressions
Email: hope@kimclement.com
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
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