Revival: pitchers and torches

June 29, 2013

Last night as I was about to fall asleep, the Lord spoke to me about the revival that is happening around the world.

He showed me an image of an army with pitchers in their hands. Inside the pitchers were lit torches, unseen to the enemy until exactly the right time.

Those torches are the fires of revival around the world, the Lord said. Right now they are hidden to the enemy.

They won’t see the light — the fire of God — until I give the call to break the pitchers and reveal God’s fire.

That was all he said to me then. I asked him to remind me of it this morning so I could look up the scripture about that.

I found it in Judges 6. Gideon was called by God to raise up an army and defeat the Midianites. It’s a fascinating account.

Gideon’s army held trumpets (rams’ horns) in one hand and torches hidden in empty pitchers in the other hand. No swords!

When Gideon’s army shouted “The sword of God and of Gideon,” they sounded the trumpets, broke the pitchers and revealed the fire.

When the Midianites heard the shout and the trumpet, then saw the fire of God, many destroyed each other in terror. Others died in the ensuing battles as the desperate enemy fought back. Did some of God’s warriors fall too? Probably.

Thoughts:

It took time for God to prepare Gideon. To persuade him. To instill faith in him. It took time for Gideon to prepare the army. To select those who would obey God.

I can just see some men saying, That is ridiculous. Trumpets and torches? No weapons? I don’t believe that. That’s not God.

But it was.

And that is what is happening in the world today. Some are saying, Revival is ridiculous. Miracles, signs and wonders? I don’t believe that. That’s not God.

But it is.

The fire was revealed when God and Gideon gave the word, and when they did there was no more time for preparation.

How much more time does the world have now?

The door is closing

Saturday June 22, 2013

I asked God this morning – How long will this last, Lord? The revival that is going on around the world right now…

He showed me a huge door coming down slowly, like one of the locks of the Panama canal.

Not much longer, he said.

Revival is happening around the world in many nations, thousands are being healed, delivered, with creative miracles, signs and wonders demonstrating the power of God.

The blind see, the deaf hear, the paralyzed walk. On every continent, God is moving in power. Spiritually hungry multitudes are coming to Christ when they realize God is real, he is powerful, and he loves them.

And at the same time, people are dying by the thousands in disaster after disaster, chaos, destruction, war. Floods, fire, typhoons, earthquakes, new diseases. It’s growing very dark in the world.

I thought about the subdivision on the west coast where houses started sinking into the ground several months ago.

If that had happened when people were asleep, they could have been swallowed up without ever knowing they were in danger. If they weren’t believers, they would be eternally lost.

I went online and searched for death tolls just this year so far. It is incredible how many are dying in disasters. I finally quit recording the numbers.

So many don’t see the danger coming. Who is warning them?

Is the American church asleep? Sick, weak, tired, self-absorbed with their own problems? They come to church sick, they go out sick. They can’t seem to help themselves. How can they help anyone else?

They need to be hungry! Make them hungry, Lord!

The door of this revival is closing.

The Healer is in the room. The Healer is in you!

I was teaching an Old Testament survey class one evening, substituting for my brother who was the regular teacher. (1970’s)

The class was made up of adults who came to class after getting off work. I didn’t know any of them personally.

I don’t remember what book we were studying but in the middle of the class, a lady raised her hand.

I’m deaf in my left ear, she said, would you pray for it to be healed?

Oh, Lord! I said in my mind — suppose I pray for her and nothing happens!?

If you don’t pray for her nothing will happen, he said.

I laid my hands on her ear, commanded it to be healed, and it was.

She rejoiced, the whole class praised God with her and eventually we went on with the lesson.

I looked normal on the outside, I suppose, but inside my spirit was jumping up and down, going Yippee, yippee, thank you Father!

That woman was never the same. She was changed.

So was I.

I’d had an encounter with Jesus the Healer, who loves people.

We are conduits for the power of the Holy Spirit. Like water hoses. The hose doesn’t create the water!

If you don’t fasten the hose to the faucet, nothing will happen. And if you don’t turn on the nozzle, nothing will happen!

Read the last chapter of Mark. The last chapter of Matthew. Obey him.

Assassin’s Target

Acts 10:38 (You know what has happened…) “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (NIV)

Matthew 4:23-24 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.”

Mark 3:14-15 “He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”

Matt. 10:7-8 “As you go, preach this message: the kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Ephesians 4:27 “… do not give the devil a foothold.”

I Peter 5:8-9 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”

Ephesians 6:11-13 “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

II Cor. 10:4 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

I John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (spirits of antichrist), because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

John 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Matt. 28:20 (Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations) “… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Mark 16:20 “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

Christians aren’t the Assassin’s target. If we’re disciples, then we’re the assassins.

Is God judging America?

Is God judging America, someone asked me recently? They were talking about the many weather disasters, fires, floods and tornadoes.

I answered from my spirit without having to think about it.

I don’t know, I said. But if a soldier was dressed in body armor because an enemy was shooting at him, and he decided he didn’t need the armor any more and took it off, he’d be dead. The enemy would kill him.

America has taken off its armor. Whether God is judging America for sin or the people have removed their armor, the result is the same. Death and destruction. Chaos. Tragedy.

The gospel, the blood of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, the armor of God is our only protection when the massive storms rise.

Where is our nation’s armor?