For all the pilgrims who are on a healing journey (or soon will be), and for all the witnesses accompanying them (or will be), this is for you. A PILGRIM is one who journeys, especially long distances, to a holy place for a religious or spiritual purpose; one who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred; a traveler of literal travels or of spiritual and healing journeys. A WITNESS is a close observer; one who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced; one who furnishes evidence or serves as a sign; one who is to be present at or have personal knowledge of; one who can testify to.
For many who feel they go one step forward in the Lord and then two steps backward, be encouraged. I sense the Lord saying, "I count the one foot forward and two steps backward as forward progress." In football, when the team needs one yard for a first down and the player carries the ball forward one yard yet gets pushed back two yards, it's still marked as a first down. They call this forward progress and so does the Lord. He counts your one step forward, not your steps back. I'm convinced that many who feel like quitting are actually making progress.
"Break up your unplowed (fallow) ground and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Jer. 4:3b-4a). As we head into 2019, we must comprehend the season that we're about to enter. According to 1 Chronicles 12:32, the children of Issachar were men who understand times (seasons) and were able to know what Israel should do next. I believe that these types of prophets exist now and can speak as an oracle of God, so that we may be provided with divine direction. Some things that we hear, in reference to declarations for the impending year, come from a fleshy or sensual place, instead of the Holy Spirit.
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:11 Our enemy the devil is well aware that the moment you learn to receive God's grace, you will start to reign in life. So he has been working hard to prevent you from receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. The devil has been using controversy as a device down through church history to prevent believers from having access to the most powerful truths of God.
There were and are prophetic schools for those who had/have interest in the prophetic, but most of the leader prophets, had callings that extended out and beyond the schools. They were noted by others as such and often would teach at the schools. A school cannot make a prophetic calling, but it certainly can yield prophetic support! And called prophets can be helped by attending prophetic schools, but if they really have a calling they will often also be called apart from the schools (and comfortable places) to deliver their messages. Some messages are one-time messages (as we see in the Bible) and some are seasoned callings over an extended period of time. (If you are trying to put God in a box here, it won't work, except in your mind.)
At the end of December 2018, I had a vision. In this vision I saw a huge hawk swooping down from high, thrusting down into the grass to grab snakes that were hiding there away from plain sight. I believe the Lord was showing me that the snakes are like the enemies attacks against your life. I believe the hawk represents how the Lord wants to reveal to you what is hidden and bring exposure to it, so it can be eradicated and rendered powerless in your life. In review of the Jewish calendar, January 22nd, 2019 begins the year 5779. The year 5779 is part of the "Ayin" decade (2010-2019) and the letter "Tet" has the numerical value of 9.
Scripture has many verses and passages about the power of our thoughts. One such verse is Proverbs 23:7, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." This verse is simple yet profound. It teaches a person is her thoughts. Whatever a person is manifesting in life is due to that person's thoughts. Outward reality is a product of inward reality. What is happening in the mind is happening in the world of experience. If this is true, then it is imperative for a person to be intentional about what she is thinking. The quality of her life is then boiled down to the quality of her thought life. The better her thought life; the better her actual life.
History has been marred by wars, rioting, despotic leadership, geopolitical challenges, ethnic cleansing, environmental erosion, and diseases that threatened to wipe out all of humanity. Yet in spite of these threats to our very existence, we are able to look through the pages of history books to identify individuals who kept hope alive and pointed us to the possibility of a better and brighter future by the power of their vision. Proverbs tells us that, "where there is no vision, the people perish"(Prov. 29:18), they stumble in the darkness of despair.
God has destined us for victory. He has created us to be overcomers in this life. He who is born of God overcomes the world and our victory is intimately connected with our faith. (1 John 5:4) We realize that God has already given every man the measure of faith. (Rom. 12:3) As well, we also know that faith "comes" by hearing and that our faith needs to be in God's words coming alive in our hearts. (Rom. 10:17) Do we need more faith? Most likely not. Luke 17:5-6 "And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."
As we begin this New Year, I was praying and asking God what He wanted to focus on. He showed me a rollercoaster, and as the cars began the ride, they started up the steep incline. For many 2018 was like the beginning of a rollercoaster. It was a slow process. It felt uphill or like you were having to really push through. As you get closer to the top where the rollercoaster releases, a few things happen. First, you hear click, click, click of the track with each inch closer you get. These, spiritually, have been moments of 2018 that were moments it "clicked." They were moments of revelation where God spoke something or taught something to your heart and it took you one notch higher.
Follow Up
