Category Archives: Be prepared; hold on.

As we approach the last days, sound doctrine will be diluted in many churches to appease the spirits of liberalism as large in the world, and persecution of those believers who hold on to the fullness of the gospel message will intensify. We need to “build ourselves up in our most holy faith” so that we can be prepared for whatever the enemy might throw at us, and be ready at the last, a spotless bride, to receive our Lord into the Kingdom of our God and His Christ.

Be prepared; hold on., Prophesy and the prophetic

The Waters are Rising (2)

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I believe that the recent floods in Valencia, Spain, are prophetic of what the Lord will be sending onto the world. I believe He’s saying this:

“My flood waters are rising. They will be coming down from my mountain, pouring across the Earth, and sweeping systems and structures before them. They will sweep away religion like a straw house. They will be flowing around the hills and the mountain sides, through the valleys and through the towns, so do not try and climb the mountains that face you, or walk over the hills. Do not seek me in the solitude of the valley or the throng of the people. Yes, I am there, and you will find me while you have to be there, but do not go there to seek me. For it is time to wait and to listen for the rushing waters. When they come they may look dangerous and alarming, but trust me to let them carry you to new places. The waters will lift you and they will carry you. You will not sink, but if you try to swim you will only splash fruitlessly and swallow water, and you will not propel yourself anywhere; for the river is too powerful for you. It will take you to where I intend to put you, and not to where you have decided to go. You will see the flotsam of the world being carried along with you, but do not hang onto it. I will carry you like I carried the ark in the days of Noah, and you will come to rest on a high mountain where you will know My presence and my provision. It is this mountain that will be your place of safety in the flood. And when the waters have subsided, you will go down into the debris and the ruin that has been left, and you will bring my salvation to the world.”

About six months ago I sensed that The Lord also gave me a word on rising waters. At the time I was on a birdwatching visit to a place where the high tide floods a saltmarsh. I sensed then that the flood was coming over the low marshy places, but that “that a time will come and is coming shortly when the flood will speed up.” I think we are now in that time of increased momentum. Time is short: we need to let the waters take us to safety – even if it seems to be the most dangerous thing to do.

(Footnote: Spain is a stronghold for religion and religious spirits, so the floods also demonstrate what will happen to religion when the waters rise.)

Be prepared; hold on., Knowing God, Living by Faith, Walking in the Spirit

Pure Joy

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A few weeks ago a visiting speaker came to our church. Before she started speaking, she said that the Holy Spirit had highlighted a certain gentleman in the second row, three seats along … It was me. She brought a very encouraging word, with enough detail about myself (she had never seen me before) to confirm its accuracy, but the thrust of it was that ‘a door would be opening to me that would draw me closer to Him.’

Don’t we love it when someone brings an encouraging prophesy, underlined by another gift of the Spirit, the word of Knowledge, that speaks into our spiritual life and affirms us in our walk with God? I did not know what door she was referring to, but open doors often speak of opportunities. More time with Him and therefore less time at work? Ministry opportunities? I didn’t know and didn’t try and guess, but I certainly left church feeling good and played the recording of her word to me a few times over.

A couple of weeks after that we were praying for each other at School of Prophesy. One of the guys said that he could see our business going down a waterfall. There would be churning in the pool at the bottom; we would come out afterwards, but the watercourse would be different. That too was accurate: two days later our expected sales for this time of year plummeted, and there is definitely churning going on as I write. I have had to hold on  to the Lord as the water takes us on its course.

Then a few days ago the penny dropped: this was that. The open door that would draw me closer to Jesus is the waterfall that is rocking our business. When God speaks to us of blessing – and to be drawn closer to Him has to be a promise of blessing, because “at His right hand are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11) – our flesh tends to interpret that, in some way, in terms of advancement and comfort. (Well, mine does anyway…) But God has a different angle:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1: 2-4)

When the Holy Spirit spoke to me of that door that was going to open, did it ever occur to me that it was going to be an opportunity for my faith to be tested in order to produce perseverance? I think not. Did I imagine a trial, or a mountain top experience? Certainly the latter.  But God’s ways are not our ways. How different are the values of His Kingdom to those things our soulish minds hold dear. We value our comfort and advancement, our security and the approval of our peers; God values that we “act justly, … love faithfulness, and … walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) The Narrow Way has a totally different trajectory to the way of the world. God’s priority for us is that we walk with Him, and that we “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” And it is only by faith that we can take any steps with Him at all, so if trials are the best way to strengthen our faith and bring us into that place of blessing which is increased closeness to Him, there is a good chance that trials are what we are going to get.

My business is a tiny little pool: the world itself is going through a state of churning, and none of us know what the watercourse will look like when it comes out the other side. But one thing is true: we all need to let Jesus draw us closer to Him, because there is no other place that is more secure. One of the worship songs that came out of the charismatic movements starts “This is my desire, to worship you…” We love to lift our hearts and voices, and probably our hands, and tell the Lord how much we want to come close to Him. The Son shares our desire, and expresses it to the Father just before going to the cross: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John17:24) We lift our voices to draw near to God; Jesus lifted His body onto the cross to have us close to Him. His Spirit in us will always be working towards that goal, because that is His desire. This was the joy set before Him.

Probably the best-known “resurrection psalm” is Psalm 16, where, by the Spirit,  Jesus expresses that joy through the words of David:

I have set the LORD always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16: 8-11)

Jesus faced the greatest trial of all for the joy of seeing our faith bring us into the glory of unity with Him and the Father for ever. So when we are facing trials, let’s remember to “consider it pure joy” as Jesus did: our faith is being tested, to enable us to persevere in the things that really matter.

Be prepared; hold on., Living by Faith, Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

For the Trumpet Will Sound -And We Will Be Changed

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This is a guest blog by Helen Mitchell, a Christian who lives in Israel, published here with her permission. For Helen’s own site, visit Higher Than Me – What It Means To Be Strong

“For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:52

I don’t believe it’s any coincidence that Iran decided to launch 181 ballistic missiles into Israel the day before the Feast of Trumpets, or Jewish New Year.

The Feast of Trumpets is all about waking up from slumber. Jewish tradition says that this was the day when God finished creating the world. Although the Bible doesn’t make a direct link between the Feast of Trumpets and creation, the Hebrew month of Tishrei – where this feast falls – was generally seen as the beginning of the agricultural year in Ancient Israel. After the long, hot Middle Eastern summer, this was the month when the first rains began to fall.

To this day, the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah as it is known in Hebrew, is seen as a highly significant holiday in Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. Jewish New Year is not a day of frivolity and parties like New Year’s Eve in the Western calendar. It is a holy day where the sound of the trumpet or the shofar (ram’s horn) ushers in ten days of soul searching and repentance in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Just as the first rains of the year wake the ground from slumber and prepare it for the planting of new seed, the sound of the shofar wakes the Jewish people from spiritual sleep and ushers in ten days of tilling the soil of their hearts to get ready for God’s mighty work of atonement.

I have lived in Israel now for more than 15 years as a non-Jew grafted into the Jewish nation. During these years, my feelings towards my adopted homeland have shifted at different times between love, despair, exasperation and pride.

But on Tuesday night I experienced a new feeling towards Israel. I felt in a real and tangible way the grace and mercy of God over this land. It suddenly became real for me, after all these years, that I am living in the middle of the world’s greatest love story, dating back thousands of years, between the God of all creation and His chosen people.

If I’m honest, I’ve often struggled with the idea of God having a special relationship with the nation of Israel. Sometimes it has felt unfair, even racist. I find it particularly hard when God’s name gets tangled up with an ugly sort of religious nationalism – when hardline religious groups believe they have the right to behave unjustly towards non-Jewish inhabitants of the land. I also struggle when I hear Christians in other countries idolising Israel and the Jewish people as though they are without sin.

Colin and I spent the first ten years of our lives in Israel living in an Arab village. Our beautiful adopted children are both Jewish and Arab by descent. We have experienced God’s compassion for the Arab people and other non-Jewish groups in the land. We know on the deepest, most intuitive level that God’s purposes for Israel must also bring blessing and prosperity to non-Jewish people living in the land.

Now, maybe for the first time ever, I am beginning to understand things that never really made sense to me before.

This past year has brought Israel to the lowest point in her history as a modern nation. Long before the events of 7th October, the land was torn apart by political and religious division. Then 7th October happened – a monumental intelligence failure leading to the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. Since then, Israel has been defending itself against drones and rockets on multiple fronts while being cast as an international pariah and vilified by the world media.

Israel today is a country in deep grief and trauma.

But yet, out of these ashes, something new is beginning to be born. It’s hard to put it into words. It is like an embryo that is not yet fully formed. It is a sound barely louder than a whisper. But if you put your ear to the ground and listen hard enough, you will hear that there is the faint cry of collective faith rising up.

And God, in His mercy, is responding to this cry.

Tuesday night was a miracle of biblical proportions. Yes, Israel used advanced military technology to intercept those rockets, but the fact that 181 ballistic missiles resulted in not one single death within Israel (sadly, one man living in the Palestinian Territories was hit by shrapnel and died) took more than just military might.

I can’t explain it in any other way than the God of Israel listening to the cries of His people as they sheltered in their homes and called out to Him in whatever way they knew how.

These last few days, I have been reading testimonies of October 7th survivors. The thing that strikes me most about these stories is the faith. These people – both Jews and non-Jews, both secular and religious – found themselves face to face with wicked and murderous terrorists, and they responded with prayer.

I read one story of a young man who had grown up as an ultra-orthodox Jew but had become disillusioned with religion. On 7th October, he was at the Nova music festival with a group of friends. While running away from Hamas terrorists, he found himself hiding behind an abandoned tank with a group of other festival-goers.

As terrorists closed in on them, a car exploded nearby and several people in the group were wounded by shrapnel. Everyone was shouting, screaming and panicking. This young man, who had long since abandoned his faith, shouted into the chaos, “Quiet! Everyone! Quiet! Some of us are wounded, and some of us are fighting. Everyone else – pray!” He describes how the little group of people – religious and secular Jews, as well as two Bedouin Arabs – quietly began saying the “Shema” (“Hear O Israel”) and reciting the Psalms.

This young man survived the 7th October massacres, but many of his friends did not.

(Source: The Miracle of the Jar of Vaseline: Daniel and Neriya Sharabi’s Story in “One Day in October” by Yair Agmon and Oriya Mevorach, 2024).

God’s purposes for Israel are not like unfair privileges bestowed upon sheltered and spoilt children while the rest of the world is left to starve. The Jewish people are not finely dressed princes and princesses feeding off the fat of their father’s estate.

God chose Israel to be a servant nation. He has called her to lay herself down to bring peace, hope and restoration to the rest of world.

The world media has twisted the narrative of this war to make it seem like Israel is the aggressor and the orchestrator of injustice. Certainly, Israel has made mistakes. There have been occasions where she has fallen short of the high moral standards that she seeks to achieve. But we mustn’t forget that, right now, Israel is standing on the front line against an axis of terror fuelled by a murderous and hateful ideology that poses a threat to the entire world.

Israeli soldiers and civilians are shedding their own blood to free the world from terrorists who care only about inflicting death and destruction.

Don’t be deceived. This isn’t a matter of Jews versus Arabs, or Israel versus Gaza or Lebanon. We have Arab friends living in the Palestinian Territories who we are exchanging messages with and praying as the missiles explode. We have dear Arab brothers and sisters in our own congregation who we are standing together with, shoulder to shoulder. We know of Christians in Lebanon who are crying out to be free of the bondage of Hezbollah. We are aware of secret believers in Iran who are drawing strength right now from the God of Israel.

This is not a war being fought along racial or national lines. I believe with all my heart that Israel – for all her sins and flaws – is fulfilling her call right now to be a servant nation. I believe that she is being used as a tool in the hand of the living God to bring freedom to the world and a revelation of God’s glory.

On Tuesday night, as God delivered Israel from 181 ballistic missiles, I don’t believe that I was the only one in the land who heard a sound over and above the blaring of sirens and the interceptions of rockets in the night sky. I don’t believe that I was the only one in Israel that night who heard the sound of a trumpet.

As we enter into the Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, I believe that a trumpet is sounding all across the land of Israel. I believe that God is calling His people to awake from their slumber. I believe that the Father is calling His firstborn back into His arms, and that He will show them that He has already made atonement for their sin.

Be prepared; hold on., Christian Life, Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

Count to ten and wait on the Lord

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Wait on the Lord I say! (Psalm 27:14)

We often read and hear testimonies about how someone (quite often a parent praying for their children) trusts in God’s faithfulness to answer their prayers for many years before they see that answer manifest. A well-documented example is Saint Augustine, whose mother prayed for his salvation from his infancy, and yet who seemed to wander further and further off the narrow way in a dissolute lifestyle until his dramatic conversion at 31 years old.

One of the unchangeable attributes of God is His faithfulness. In the midst of his darkness Jeremiah testifies of it in Lamentations 3:22-26:

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not

They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.

It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.”

 We know that God’s word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11), and many of us have held onto that truth in the middle of an empty place for many years before God has filled it with what He has promised – often in a completely unexpected way. We know that “those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength…” (Isaiah 40:31) and again many of us have personal or apocryphal stories of how God’s power and provision have carried them on an impossible journey as He has answered their prayers.

But I have been thinking about waiting for much short periods of time, and in a different context. The theme I’ve come to a few times on these pages is the need to tame the tongue. I probably keep returning to it because I keep finding that I still don’t succeed in that area! But there is a very simple strategy we can use to tame our wild tongues. What’s more we have probably all seen, read, heard and even spoken of it ourselves more than once. Quite simply, it’s “count to 10 (or three or five).”

Waiting a few seconds before we open our mouths in an emotionally charged conversation is in itself good advice,  and you can find it on Wikipedia and wherever else you might look for worldly wisdom. But Christians just have to add two words – “and pray“ – to take it to another level, where we have a practical and powerful example of waiting on the Lord. Because along with the advice comes the promise, as Jeremiah says in the verses quoted above: “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him.”

The Holy Spirit doesn’t need Long if we open the door to him: He will immediately start to bring peace, transforming negatives into positives, curse into blessing. He will always be good. “Cypress trees will grow where now there are briers; myrtle trees will come up in place of thorns.” (Isaiah 55:13

Paul exhorts us to take every thought captive, (2 Cor 10:5) but  if our thoughts are running away down negative tracks, we can’t take them captive unless we stop.  When we do, that simple act of stopping and waiting on the Lord is enough to let the Kingdom Of God take seed in even the most rancid situation.

Try it. Stop, count, pray. Wait on the Lord, I say!

Christian Life, Discipleship and witness, Holiness: You shall be perfect, Knowing God

The Mind of Christ: Approving What is Excellent.

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“But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16)

“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2: 1-5)

It’s easy to allow these verses to be eclipsed by the famous passage that comes next, in which Paul lifts Christ as our pattern of “lowliness of mind,” of doing nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, of looking out for the interests of others. Love and Unity, writes Paul, will result If we have “this mind” in us; that to be like-minded is to have the mind of Christ, the mindset that took Jesus to the cross and brought Him glory. When we read this, our own witness to His light in our lives can seem like a flickering candle against the blazing sun of Calvary. But is this what Paul means?

The Starting Point
Let’s look at verses 1-2 again:

“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

Paul wrote in Greek, not English. These are the words he used:

 “consolation“ is paraklēsis. It has the same root as the word paraklētos, which is the name that Jesus gives to the Holy Spirit in John 15:26 and is variously translated as the Helper, the Comforter, the Advocate, depending on which emphasis the translators of the different versions have given to the word. Basically “consolation” is everything that the Paraclete brings.

“Comfort” is paramythion. Whether this is translated as “comfort” or as “consolation” (not to be confused with the paraklēsis brought to us by the Holy Spirit), this has one meaning in Greek: it means “persuasive address.” This is about the impact on our lives by God’s love. Are we touched by it, or not?

“Fellowship”, as we may know, is koinonia. It means intimacy, communion, close fellowship, joint participation. It marked the lives of the early church communities, and we seek for it to be the same for our churches today.

Affection (splagchnon ) and mercy (oiktirmos)  are related: affection means “bowels” and is translated as such in the King James version. The “bowels“ were considered the seat of the tenderer emotions such as mercy, kindness and compassion that also characterise much of the fruit of the Spirit, and is the same word that Jesus uses for the place within us from which the living waters of the Spirit flow. Oiktirmos describes the emotions that flow from the splagchnon.

Basically verse one is saying “If there is actually is  any expression of the Holy Spirit in Christ… if love has any impact on you at all, if there is any mercy in your heart , then the very least you can do is be one mind, care about each other, set aside your own ambitions and pride, and have the same mindset as Jesus when He went to the Cross.” When we look at what Paul has actually said rather than what our translations have made of it, one thing is clear: true unity, the unity of the Spirit, is the starting point of our Christian walk, not the destination. Wow.

The way forward
Fortunately Paul gives the Philippians, and ourselves, a way forward as his letter unfolds, that enable us to ”press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ.” (Phil 3:14) It is not a series of ministry sessions or intense or prolonged Bible study; and it is not an expectation to spend an hour and a half from 5:30 every morning seeking the presence of God before going to work- although all of these may well have their place at times.  They start in Phil 1: 9-11:

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.“

The “things that are excellent” that our love will abound in when we let the mind of Christ fill our thinking are defined towards the end of the letter, in chapter 4:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil 4:8-9)

Pressing out
In Pentecostal/charismatic circles we often talk about “pressing in” to the presence of God, and seeking His peace. The challenge to us in these verses is different, though. 1 John 1:5 tells us this: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all,”  and Jesus tells his disciples: “the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” (John 14:30) There is nothing in the mind of Christ that is not excellent. The challenge to us is also a promise: if we fill our minds with the sort of things that Christ has in His, and if we live our lives out of them as he (Paul) did, God’s presence, and His peace, will manifestly be with us.

This is how we “approve what is excellent.”  This is the filter for our lives. This is the place where we take our thoughts captive; where, along with pressing into God, we press out what isn’t of Him. It is how we “renew our minds,” and is central to seeing the fruit of the Spirit (“The fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ”) abound in our lives. When Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, he is returning to a theme he had already expressed to the Romans three or four years earlier, when he wrote: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

If we want to know the transformation that will result in us shining as lights to the world in this crooked and perverse generation, we start by filling our thinking with the light of Christ.

Holiness: You shall be perfect, Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic, The word of God

“Go your way, your son lives.”

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“So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.” (John 4: 46-50)

The man “believed the word that Jesus spoke,” and at that moment life entered his dying son. The Greek used here for “word” is logos, carrying a meaning of decree and declaration. Jesus, Lord of Lords, decreed that the boy would live, and it was so. Just as God spoke and there was light, He spoke now and there was the light of life. Locked as we are into the dimensions of time and space, it can be difficult for our human brains to fathom that a word spoken many hours’ journey from the situation it affects can have immediate, life-changing impact. We read the story and to a degree we probably gloss over the dynamics of it. But I think it’s important to understand (as much as we are capable of understanding) that words of power and authority decreed into the spirit realm can have immediate material effect anywhere in the world, just as they did here. Jesus saw what the Father was doing, and decreed it into existence. The word of authority – the King’s decree – that He spoke, and that the man believed, was a “logos”  declaration of God’s will, and effected an immediate change in the spiritual realm that transformed the situation on Earth. God’s will was done in Heaven, and so the boy lived.

Our responsibility
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)  God is in and through all things, therefore so is the Word. The Word, Jesus, is at once personal (with God) and universal (He is God). In union with the Spirit He is both an infinite dimension and a living entity within that dimension, carrying spirit and life. He spoke the words “Go your way, your son lives,“ and that word of life was released in the spirit and transformed the dying child. It was not the boy’s father who carried it, but the Spirit; so the man had nothing to do except believe and go his way. When the life and the authority of God’s words are released in the spirit to transform a situation, it is not our responsibility to make it happen, other than to believe that it has already been done. From the moment that Jesus spoke, the son lived, because Jesus knew He was speaking into faith. The word and faith are like the two poles of an electric current: if one is missing the circuit is no longer live. But when they are both there, and you turn on a switch in one place, something happens somewhere else because they are connected by the electric current that runs between them. So it is when the word of God is declared in the Spirit and faith is present. As I have written elsewhere, our job is to find the switch.

The light of Life
Psalm 119 :130 says “The entrance of your word gives light.” Jesus tells us: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) The true light has authority over darkness, as we know from John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it..” The very first “logos” decree recorded in the Bible was the beginning of Creation: “Let there be Light.” The creative words of the Son of God have authority over darkness and death.

Immediately after Jesus demonstrates this release of logos power, He smashes the religious framework of the Pharisees, and speaks His life into the paralysed man at the pool of Bethsaida. John follows this double whammy with Jesus’s first confrontation with the Pharisees, where He makes the following declarations (among others) about himself:

  1. The Son has life in himself, and “gives life to whom He will,” and
  2. His life is carried by His voice: “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God, and those who hear will live. As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgement also, because He is the Son of man.  (John 5: 25 – 27.

Living and Active
The word of God is living and active. His voice carries His life. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God. When we hear the words of Jesus, we hear His voice, and we receive His life; and when we speak the words of Jesus, we speak with His authority and release His life in the dimension of the Spirit, speaking life Into dead situations. A logos degree is transformative. It has the power over life and death. But it also carries with it His judgement: it is a weighty matter. Jesus Himself said: “I can of myself do nothing. As I hear I judge; and my judgement is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the word of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30) My point here is that I think we have to be careful not to prophetically “decree and declare” too lightly. I don’t think that we can decree matters which we judge to be righteous (I have seen this done in political contexts, for example) and in line with what we understand to be the will of God,  unless we have specifically heard the Holy Spirit speak those declarations. If we have not heard the logos in the spirit, we are surely not decreeing the Father’s will, but our own. We are not in righteousness but religion, and our words, however fine sounding, are barren and empty, and possibly worse.

Our God is a Consuming Fire
Jesus is rewiring His Church. It is a holy and powerful operation. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever: when Aaron’s sons Nabab and Abiihu “offered strange fire before the Lord” (Lev 10:1) they were destroyed. Although we are under grace today, and we have the covering of the blood of Jesus cleansing us from all our sin, we do well to remember the lesson of their tragedy and approach His wiring in awe and the fear of the Lord. But when we do, and the Holy Spirit gives us a logos to decree in faith, we can speak the life and light of God into the darkest places:

“The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3)

In His grace, our God of “consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24; Heb 12:29) invites us into His  awesome presence through the cross of His Son. So let’s believe He will sometimes hand us His decrees as we stand before Him, and let us handle them with reverence.

Be prepared; hold on., Prophesy and the prophetic

The waters are rising

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Every year there is a wildlife spectacle on the Dee estuary (in NW England), when the high Spring tide floods the saltmarsh and sometimes comes right up to the sea wall. Hundreds of small animals are driven inshore; the roosting and feeding birds fly up and wheel around – and the gulls and birds of prey gather for the feast, Birdwatchers came from all around to watch the spectacle. I was there on the day of the highest tide of the year – over ten metres – standing on the rocks of all that remains of an old ruined quay, and as the waters ran in across the marsh and past where I was standing I sensed the Lord speaking through it:

“The waters are rising. The waters are rising and covering the low ground. Those who dwell in the marshes will rise up and panic, running from the racing tide or wheeling around and crying: “Where is my resting place? Where is my supply?” But I say I’m flooding the marshes. Even now you are seeing My waters rise, and have seen the floods begin, but I say that a time will come and is coming shortly when the flood will speed up. There will be times of suddenly, when the waters break through in different places one after the other, and men will run between them with their sandbags to try to plug the breeches, but the waters will continue to rise and the streams run together until they change the landscape completely. This will happen quickly. Nothing will stand before My Waters. So I say to you now, come onto higher ground, find your resting place on My rock. Come now, while you can. I will feed you and keep you safe, I will give you all that you need as you watch in amazement what I the Lord am doing. And when the floods recede you’ll see a different landscape, and you will walk with Me in the places where I will take you.”

Hebrews 6: 16-18 says that we “have fled for refuge to lay hold of the Hope set before us. This Hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stead fast, and which enters the presence behind the veil.”

The only safe place where we can flee for refuge is in the Presence of God. While the world flees from the waters, we must flee to the One who holds them in His hand. He will “show us the path of life, and in His presence is fullness of Joy.” Psalm 16:11. The call to “come up higher” has been echoing round the Church increasingly in the last few years, whether this has been in prophetic words given at large and small assemblies, released in prophetic forums or written in books. It tends to be an exhortation that some run to, thirsty for more of the Holy Spirit, and which others leave for those that do the running. The “higher ground” is seen as that place of more intense spiritual experience; of deeper love and more profound worship in the presence of God, where we may well walk in greater spiritual authority and more effective ministry but which is not so relevant to our day to day lives. And indeed Jesus does want us there because He loves us and wants to surround us with His love. But this is only part of the story: He is calling us to higher ground because it is the place of safety, the place where we will receive His directions and practical provision, as well as the anointing for ministry to those who are struggling in the flood and are reaching out to be pulled onto the rock themselves. It is an urgent call as well as an exhortation, and those who ignore it risk being among those caught in the flood. Jer 12:5 (which I’ve referred to elsewhere on these pages) becomes increasingly relevant with each passing day:

“If in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?”

So what’s stopping you? The waters ae rising. Come up higher!

Be prepared; hold on., Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic

A Trumpet Call to Build the Ark and get on Board

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In these end-time days of financial shaking, God is building an Ark of resources to provide for His people. The poem below was given by Holy Spirit to Andrew Baker at a prophetic gathering four or five years ago, and he has just sent it out to his contacts again as it is a word for these days. Andrew is a prophet who ministers in the financial realm whom a small number of readers here will know, but who doesn’t have, or seek, a public profile. I was at the meeting when he brought this word: it was entirely impromptu and unprepared. If, like me, you believe it to be a trumpet call from Heaven to all of us, ask the Lord what He wants you to do with it.

The Call to Build the Ark and Get on Board

 In these end-time days of financial shaking, God is building an Ark of resources to provide for His people. The poem below was given by Holy Spirit to Andrew Baker at a prophetic gathering some years ago, and he has just sent it out to his contacts again as it is a word for these days.

This is the day of new things and new things it shall be
Whoever grasps these new things shall walk in victory
Put down your human thinking and listen well to Me
For these are things that are written in Bible prophecy

There is coming a confrontation, so you ought to be ready
A shaking of the nations from their financial stability
A rising of the evil one to take My things for his own
He’s calling in his harvest that evil men have sown

Finance and business he’ll take over while men just stand and stare
And soon he will just take control, and no one will seem to care
The same spirit which rules Babylon, Antichrist it will be
Is now standing in the arena very comfortably

Men of God just stand in fear as they see the scene is so
Fearful of losing what they have but what to do they just don’t know
A trumpet call from heaven says, “Line up, get in your place!”
For I have something to say to you if you will seek My face

Instead of fear there must come a change and faith must begin to rise
For I am God, and all false power can look to their demise
Who would dare to stand against Me, do you think to Me it never mattered?
For now, it’s time for Me to rise and let My enemies be scattered.

So now man’s kingdom I will shake and fall it surely will
First to the Antichrist himself and then comes the Great Until
You have waited for this day and soon you will see it with your eyes
When the saints will say in one accord “God has now answered our cries”

So, while the financial systems fall to the plans of the evil one
My people shall be provided for because I’m the All Sufficient One
The ark shall be built with those who look with faith for My secure plan
Seeing and obeying My purposes and not fearing devil or man

It shall be built from heaven, and it shall be a safe place
While the spirit that’s from Babylon rises to show his face
Then men will run to the ark and their finances will combine
And they will catch My holy plan for harvest at the end time

So, soon I’ll call you to your part and understanding I will give
Get on board the ark I’m making, and you will surely live
I’m God and no demon’s plan will take Me by surprise
So, listen to My instructions, that is, if you are wise

While many men are shaking, their lives just full of fear
Join with what I’m doing; Come on over here!
This financial plan that I’ve arranged will take back what is Mine
The only way this can be done is by a plan that is divine

The Ark I’ll build and just the same as in the days of old
Some will help Noah and get it done and others will mock and scold
Remember when the waters came it was too late to decide
So it is now, yes now’s the time to line up by My side

Finally, I tell you that your instructions will come soon
A trumpet call from heaven, playing a divine tune
You’ll know it’s Me, simply respond, “Yes, your call we will hear”
And I’ll show you your part in the ark with words loud and clear

So now rejoice for it is time for the divine plan to unfold
It will require a people of faith as in the days of old
A land to take, an ark to build, there is much work ahead
As you take your place I will arise, and we will build what I have said

Holiness: You shall be perfect, Knowing God, Walking in the Spirit

Power Stations

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Christmas is always a very busy time in the church calendar, and January is usually when church leaders look back over those Christmas activities and evaluate them. Or at least, one would hope that is the case. But what do we evaluate our activities (Christmas and otherwise) against? In the business world, we look for a return on investment, and in our Father’s business it is no different. Jesus talks about it in the parable of the talents: the master expected a return on His investment. Jesus invested everything in us when He went to the cross, and the Father who sent him is looking for fruit that endures (John 15:16) as His return. Jesus fell to the ground and died to seed a vine that would bear fruit. It follows that whatever activities we do in the name of Jesus (and Colossians 3:17 exhorts us to do everything in His name) should be directed toward His purpose, which is to bear fruit; to give our Master a return on His investment; to see the Kingdom of God extended on Earth.

As far as I can see, the Bible only defines Christ’s purpose in three ways. Jesus himself talked consistently of two of them, which was to reveal the Father and His Kingdom, and John adds a third strand, which was to destroy the works of the evil one (1 John 3:8). These are most famously and succinctly summed up in the best known of all quotes from the New Testament, John 3:16: God sent His only begotten son into the world, that (i.e. with the purpose of) we should not perish (the work of the evil one) but have everlasting life (in the Kingdom Of God). Jesus also defines everlasting life as knowing the Father (John 17:3). John 3:16 really is the church’s mission statement.

So we have a clear lens through which to view the activities in which we invest time, manpower and money. To what extent are they in keeping with Jesus’s mission statement for His church? Are they, directly or indirectly, manifesting the Father? Are they preaching the Kingdom, taking it by force (Matthew 11:12) and destroying the works of the evil one in doing so? Are they equipping others for this work (Eph 4:12)? If they are, then we’re on mission; if not, we need to focus on what is, “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)

As we well know, the only way we can do the work of the Kingdom is in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to give life and that in abundance (John 10 :10) – everlasting Life. Being vessels for abundant life is always the goal of our mission. We are called to be power stations, individually, and as churches, generating that abundant life, bringing the everlasting energia of the Kingdom of God into this world; bringing Heaven to Earth. Our Father, the vine dresser, is looking for fruit that endures on His vine; He prunes the dead wood, and throws it in the fire. Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit, and with fire (Matt 3:11). Jesus said “I’ve come to set the Earth on fire; how I wish it were already kindled!“ (Luke 12:49). We can only guess at what Jesus was thinking here, but I believe He was looking beyond the cross to the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire came and set the kindling wood of His first church alight. Fire burns the fruitless branches of the vine, and it also brings holiness. In a power station, it is the source of the energy. We can’t have the power without the fire. We can achieve nothing for the Kingdom of God, unless it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, and along with the power of the Holy Spirit comes the fire that sooner or later burns up whatever is not of Him.

So let us always that check that the branches in our part of the vine are bearing the fruit of abundant life, and allow the pruning and the fire if they are barren.

Be prepared; hold on., Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic

In the coming storm: hold on, rejoice, and follow!

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The message for 2024 from Andrew Baker, who heads up the Eagles prophetic ministry.

I, Andrew, was asking the Lord for a word from His heart for the coming year. Sometimes I receive a “Thus says the Lord” word, but this time I was clearly led to some scriptures, already in a set order. Here is what the Lord showed me.

Philippians 3:13-14 is a well-known passage; “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching towards those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Most prophets are warning us of the change of season and that this new time will bring many things on the earth that we have not seen or experienced before. Indeed, we do not need to be a prophet, or even a believer, to see that these things are already coming upon us. I have no intention of listing such things here, as that is not what the Lord seems to be centring on today. We are aware of the present issues on the earth but many more that we have not thought of will touch the nations in the coming days. These will include certain nations taking a deliberate path in order to bankrupt the West.

God is moving His people who will, by faith, believe Him, into a completely different scene. It will be like the old circular stage at big West End Theatres in London. There was one scene showing (on the front of the circular stage, facing the audience at that time) and then, the button was pushed and the whole stage revolved 180 degrees and what was hidden behind the curtains (another scene, standing on the back half of the circular stage), suddenly arrived for the audience to see. It was a new scene completely, with new props, new view and new furniture and equipment on it. The only thing that would remain the same was the cast, of course, they simply moved from one scene to the next. So it will be in this new year and the season we are now moving into. The stage of the whole world is revolving, and we are starting to see what the new one will look like (from human perspective, not so very good). However, the Lord is not only saying that the world will change but that our world, as believers, will change just as much. The Lord says get ready to move into a scene and set that you have never seen or walked on before. Everything will be different except for the cast.

Hold On

As believers, I see that Lord telling us to hold onto, inside, the solid things of Jesus and the word; these things will be so, so important to us in this new world. However, all other things around you will change and you will need this new equipment, positioning and all that makes up this new scene, in order to function and have victory for souls and resources in this world that is changing for the worse in these latter days.

The Lord is saying to us all today that He foretold many of these things about a changing world in His Word, centuries, even millennia ago. Such is His ability to see ahead because He does not live in time but rather created it, and is before, during and after time; using it and yet outside and master of it. The Lord wants to remind us that when He walked the earth, He spoke clearly of these difficult times that would come in the last days. There is no doubt that the nations of the earth will be in the centre of all kinds of troubles, and we are seeing the beginnings of that right now.  However, as His message today adds in Philippians chapter four, these matters should not concern us or cause us fear. These things are coming on the earth but believers are taught and shown how to walk through these days in joy and victory, being led by the Spirit and seeing God’s hand upon those who will listen and walk in the way He leads.

Rejoice in the Lord

Philippians 4:4-9 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always”. Let’s take a moment with this. In the middle of even his own catastrophe Paul says rejoice, laugh and have lots of heavenly joy! This is a message, at the time, from a man who was in the deep dungeon with the rats, probably chained to the floor! I mention this because we may say that this message of joy cannot be shared with someone in a war zone, or someone who has just lost a loved one, someone in deep debt or who is suffering a terminal illness. I believe we would be wrong. I believe that we can heed the words and exhortation of Paul because he was in such dire straits himself at the time and had been many times before. Paul was experienced in listening to the Lord and following His divine advice, which is often so much different from human counsel. Yes, this is a word for us all for the coming year, as the world sinks to lower levels of evil but the Lord wants to carry His people through, round, over and past it all.

Remember Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength”, and Jesus who prayed that we would have His joy fulfilled in ourselves (John 17:13), that our joy may be full (John 16:24) and that His joy may remain in us (John 15:11). Yes, this Jesus was described in Luke 10:21 as having outbursts of joy too: “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said…”. Jesus knew what was ahead of Him but He concentrated on things above and the joy that was set before Him. Throughout these coming days, joy will be such a weapon and such a defence shield, along with our faith, that we had better start operating in this wonderful gift right now.

Many have been the days when the Lord just made me smile and then laugh and then continue to be filled with joy. It usually happens when I am becoming too serious. Today, sit quietly in the middle of the storm and allow the Lord to cause you to laugh, as He does. He is God, He can do or change anything. His thoughts are way above ours; His ability makes men’s wars and ‘threats’ look like a young child having a tantrum. God is on the throne. Paul knew this in this passage from Philippians, and we need to remind ourselves of just who the Lord is now.

Psalm 2 is relevant in this context. Verses 1-2 and 4 say this : “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed…He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.”The Lord saw their hearts and ways back then, and He still sees now. Men’s hearts have not changed and neither has the devil’s desires and lies. Jesus has had the victory, and so all this stuff may appear terrifying to mere humans, but when viewed from the Lord’s balcony, it is futile, even to the destroying of the entire planet as we know it, because the Lord simply can makes us another when necessary!! We need to see things through His eternal eyes, not through our temporary ones.

We need to learn to relax in Him, trust His guidance and follow His leadings. Whilst we do this, we need to laugh a lot and give out a message of faith and hope that the Lord will always be on hand to bless, help and support those who are His and to help them rescue others from the stormy seas and bring them to eternal safety too.

Be Anxious for Nothing

Back to our passage. Verse 6 tells us: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” After telling us to meditate on good things (instead of the troubles) we can settle our concerns and receive the peace of God in our anxious hearts. In another passage the Lord talks about things coming on the earth that will cause men’s hearts to fail with fear (Luke 21:25-26). This message in these verses is not for the believer! It is about those who do not know God! For us believers, when the fire gets hotter, the divine help, closeness, covering and grace get stronger.

We should know and understand what is happening around us, yes, don’t put your head in the sand, but the issue for us is to keep our eyes and meditation on the things of the Lord and our ears open to His direction. I am not saying that there are not among us some who are called to understand the things happening on the earth; neither am I saying that we should all stop doing everything and just sit around; I am certainly not saying that you should not continue with your call, mission, business, ministry and life’s work, but I am saying that our apostle Paul knew plenty of troubles but kept His eyes and ears on the things above. He knew which was temporary and which was eternal. He knew which would get him through the mess and what thoughts would bring confusion and possibly even his downfall. Eyes and ears on the Lord, follow His leadings very sensitively, and as you think upon the Lord and who He is, be filled with joy, laughter and faith that will lift you above the mess and help you through to the other side, along with enabling you to be a useful person to God to help others though too.

So let us see that this kind of joy will remove our anxiety. Be at peace and know that He is here in our midst, living inside of us and prepared to walk together with us and bring to the table all His abilities and attributes. This way we shall find personal victory, success in prayer for others and a way to complete the call and mission on our lives. We will also find the enabling us to steer clear of many problems before even reaching them on our walk and knowing His heart of love to melt us and help us in our own lives and relationships, too.

Luke tells us over and over again in chapter 12: “do not worry”, “do not have an anxious mind”, “do not fear”. He is not telling us to do something we cannot do. He knows that the Holy Spirit within will help us and settle our hearts when we keep our eyes on him. Isaiah 25:3 says: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you.” I know that I may have sent articles with some of these verses in before, but I have learned that the Lord wants us to constantly remind ourselves of truth. That is one reason why he asked us to break bread and take wine regularly, too.

So, as we rejoice, relax in Him, put our thoughts and eyes on Him, so His peace will flood in and bring us to the place where all things begin to disappear in the face of His glory and grace. Do you think you can’t do this? Well, read verse 13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Enough said!

Raise up the Josephs

The final verse the Lord was pointing out to me was Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Whilst dark days may be ahead for the world, and much lack and many shortages may be their lot, yet the Lord will not only help and bless His people but will take care of every need we have if we follow His ways and directions.

Many of you have heard the testimony of Carole and me – of God’s provision over the years. We must all now learn to walk with the Lord by faith in His ability to make a way and to provide in famine. Even if the fields are dust and there is no rain, the Lord can still cause 100 fold to come forth as we follow His instructions. We look not just for our own provision, but we need to be helping raise up the Josephs that we are being called to help bring onto the world stage at all levels. It is Joseph time now. This will be the year to begin the season of the impossible being possible, of miracles of provision of all types and of gathering the harvest of souls and resources that we, as Eagles, have played our part of prophesying for the last 14 years or so.

It is now time to look forwards and not back to the ways things were accomplished before. Keep the Lord, His word, prayer, praise and worship and His ways central to our lives as we learn a better way to live by faith in Him and walking in the God dimension. Don’t be anxious but rejoice in the Lord always and know that God will fill you with peace even with war around you and will provide for you, as you are led by His Spirit. Forward into 2024 with these things in mind Eagles.

Come out from the Hidden Place

Over many years we have all been learning to have faith in God at a higher level. Now the Lord is telling us that we must start to teach and move in this way on a wider way and to a wider audience. It is time to start coming out from the hidden place we had previously been told by the Lord to operate and spend much of our time in, and to help bring the word of the Lord to all who will listen, as the winds of change blow over this world. We need to show people that God is real and that He is the One to trust.

I believe that the Lord will entrust us all with helping many people into the ark of provision that He is building in these days and, as a result, will see many new converts won. This is the season for the world to see the Lord bring wave after wave of His love over the people. As the devil tries to resist the last days plans of the Lord, we need to be a part of the army of believers who will usher in the harvest, be supportive of His ancient people and prepare the way for the return of the Lord. Father envisages nations being turned around. Jesus is preparing His return. The Holy Spirit knows all the plans of man and devils for the coming days yet is 10 steps ahead. Eagles, many are the plans of men, but the purposes of God will prevail!

With calmness and the stillness of His presence inside us, and the fire of His power surging through us at the same time, it is now time to follow His leading like never before. This is not a year for our own plans, but a time to be led to cooperate with the plans of the Lord. This will be a year and season of the miraculous. Have a wonderful New Year, Eagles, as we play our part in drawing in the harvest of souls and resources for the Kingdom of God. May you have great joy and blessings as we all seek, together and as individuals, to be a blessing to Him and those He puts across our paths. Amen!

Love, power and blessings to you all in Christ Jesus,

Andrew and Carole Baker