"What's on Your Heart, Lord?"
Rhema words received by Pastor Larry as he asks 'What's on Your heart Lord?' Brief comments that convey the sense received with these words will help convey the intent. E-Manna should be considered prayerfully for personal edification and encouragement and not assumed to be always applicable to personal circumstances.
e-Manna 2
"Let My Spirit Go!"
The Lord God Almighty issued a similar word to Pharaoh through Moses. Pharaoh,
a leader motivated only by his own will, stood in God’s way. God wanted
to take His children from a place of servitude into a promised land.
God wanted His people to go from a place where their only significance was
what they could do in the natural world, to a life where they could achieve
their spiritual destiny.
We stand in a similar place today in the Church.
God wants His children to move from a life limited to what they can accomplish
with their natural talents to a Spirit-led life that fulfills their spiritual
destiny.
Will we hear our God’s cry--- “Let My Spirit go!”, or
will we stand guard on the Church we’ve built in our own image and
likeness?
Around the world, God has been turning loose His Holy Spirit to bring the
supernatural crashing through the limits of our natural realm. In his prophetic
book, “Megashift”, Jim Rutz chronicles the sweeping worldwide
outbreak of Holy Spirit-inspired empowerment among ordinary Christians.
The Lord seems to be by-passing those with restrictive limits and constraining
theologies. The recent outbreaks of revivals marked by God’s sovereign
moves and healing miracles bear ample evidence that God is choosing to move
through ordinary believers and men who do not restrict the flow of the Holy
Spirit.
Megashift may be our generation’s “writing on the wall”,
and if we miss the message being written by God’s finger, we do so
at the peril of missing the mark and selling our spiritual birthright for
the potage of “order”.
Has our established and routine Sunday Order of Service tied up and imprisoned
God’s Holy Spirit?
Have we sacrificed Spirit-led experiential spirituality for a more easily
contained and controlled “same-old, same-old” orchestrated performance?
Will Church leaders have to go through 10 plagues as did Pharaoh before
we heed the call, “Let My Spirit go!”?
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: have we not seen the beginning of the
10 plagues in our midst already? Are we half way through the 10? Consider
the following 5 realities the Church is experiencing around the world.
What we have seen:
1. Persecution
2. Slavery of Christians
3. Spiritual dryness in an arid land
4. Works as faith’s only expression
5. Corrupted and intimidated spiritual leadership
What’s next? What could we see happening in the future as the next
5 plagues are released?
What we may see:
6. Greater demands on the Church with reduced resources
7. More plagues (disasters) released on the earth
8. Civil leaders pursuing and attacking the Church
9. Impending disaster for people of faith
10. Divine intervention as the Church becomes dedicated
to living for God.
Some of these are taking form even as we watch the nightly news.
(The above message, including the warning about the 10 plagues, was first
received on Nov. 8, 2007. In obedience to the Lord, I am in the process
of writing an article/book which adds the following to the above.)
Greater demands on the Church with reduced resources
Society seems to be placing more expectations on the Church for the welfare
of its citizens even as Church financial resources are dwindling. In any
disaster, the Church responds--- and is criticized for not being more responsive.
The world seems to be saying, “Yes you helped, but where are all
the other churches? If the Churches would act together, the Government and
our taxes wouldn’t have to meet every need”.
There is irony in this common attitude of those in the world with a secular
mindset. They want the Church they are trying to marginalize to relieve
them of responsibility for aiding the needy and the survivors of disasters.
Many call for Church property to be taxed and question the tax free status
granted to the Church. Those who don’t understand the role of the
Church and its purpose will try to relegate it to social services. While
we are to demonstrate our faith in good works, it is our faith in a loving
God that is to be made known--- not the fact that we lower the tax burden
by being socially active. Follow the money in this self-centered scenario.
The un-churched are angry that the Church isn’t meeting their expectations!
More plagues (disasters) released on earth. No one knows why every
event happens, although we may rightly ask if God is trying to get a message
to us through events.
The Bible is filled with examples of God intervening in the affairs of man
to show His love and mercy.
When God’s chosen people turned their back on Him and worshiped other
gods and idols, He effectively gave them what they wanted. If they didn’t
want Him for their God, if they did not want to live in a way God knew was
best for them, He released them. They were taken into captivity by another
nation and no longer had to live in God’s world. God was a scorned
lover!
God wanted man to live His way because they loved Him for loving them. He
wanted them to grow spiritually, understanding all they were--- and had---
was a result of His love and care. God wants mankind to realize they are
loved and should therefore love in return. To love is to be as God, for
that is His nature. (1 John 4:8)
The world’s generations are born in ignorance of God’s love
for them. Those who know God are to tell of His love and mercy. When we
fail to bring the truth and understanding of God, we expose them to the
ways of man alone, or more significantly, to our spiritual enemy’s
ways.
Why call disasters an “act of God”? Shouldn’t
they be called an “act of the enemy”? When massive
numbers die without knowing God, isn’t that an act of our spiritual
enemy?
A loving God gives us opportunities to grow in love by helping those afflicted
by disasters. But we should never lose sight of our higher calling: to lead
the lost to their spiritual Father.
(Look for the release of the complete article/book at a later date.)
Action steps
What can we do to obey God’s charge to “Let My Spirit go!”?
1. First, as always, pray and intercede for spiritual leaders.
We are commanded to pray for them for a reason, i.e., they are the enemy’s
prime targets.
2. Study 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 as a commandment regarding
Church worship. Note that God seems to desire the operation of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit in our times of worship.
3. Respectfully encourage Spirit-filled Pastors to prayerfully
consider establishing openness to the Holy Spirit in times of worship. There
should be a time of preparation for changing our Church worship culture.
Teaching is necessary regarding the proper use of the gifts in worship as
well as Pastoral guidelines for maintaining order and orthodox doctrine.
For over 30 years our Church had an “open mike” policy where
members could bring forth what the Spirit led them to share. In those 30
years, we had to make only two corrections. Remarkable proof of the Spirit’s
desire to edify all through everyone. We stand ready to assist any Pastor
who wants to let the Spirit of the Lord free!
- Blessings,
Larry
e-Manna 1
"Pick up your pen and write."
On my birthday I thanked the Lord for the years He has given me and asked
how I could bless Him for blessing me. I heard the familiar direction, "Pick
up your pen and write", (hereinafter called PUYPAW):
"The length of years as man measures time is but a thought to Me.That
which is granted to you in length of years is but a season, your time on
earth. Measure the days well by how you have grown in the Spirit, for this
is the reason for man's existence and all time granted to him, that he will
come to know Me, My love and will. Celebrate the growth. Help others grow
spiritually".
The sense I received while writing these words was that we all have a tendency
to lose focus on our life's main priority - growing spiritually by knowing
God, His love for us and His will. As God's creations, we are spirit, soul
and body - or two-thirds spiritual beings. Yet the immediacy of our natural
world and the 5 senses we rely on to interpret our environment can blind
us to this primary reality: all this shall pass and only the spiritual elements
of our lives will matter.
Do whatever you can to grow spiritually. Go beyond developing a relationship
with Jesus Christ in salvation. Receive prayer for the baptism of the Holy
Spirit which will release the power of the Holy Spirit in your life for
growth and helping others. Your life's greatest fulfillment will come when
you are using your spiritual gifts to help others.
