TONIGHT WE BEGIN! “The Warrior Mantle” with Jon & Jolene, October 24-5, Rock Road Chapel, Berne NY. More info at http://rockroadchapel.org
Wednesday night’s call with James Goll was extraordinary. To listen and review, click here.
AFTER 44 days of shining, today marks the culmination of the Burning Lamp Watch. Jolene and I are grateful for your faithful vigilance over this crucial hour of America’s history! I hope many of you can make it tonight in Albany for “The Warrior Mantle.”
We started out in September with the “911 Watch,” focusing on forerunning prayer for Davids Tent and for homeland security over September 11. Then the Lord spoke to immediately transition into a “Burning Lamp Watch.” In early October He admonished us to continue until today.
What a journey. We together received God’s war mantle for this season… and it turns out we needed it! From ISIS to Ebola, from Davids Tent to a vulnerable Secret Service, from an Oklahoma beheading to Mideast warfare and the global release of Isaiah 19, through DC tornadoes and eagles taking flight, you your prayers have intervened and prevailed!
You might recall that we started the year with a dramatic vision of Jesus weeping over the lampstand. It is only appropriate that we close out this season of intercession with this word. Lets continue shining with first love devotion to Jesus Christ, and exposing and restraining the usurper of His covenant dream.
TENDING THE LAMPSTAND, EXPOSING THE USURPER
(posting January 19, 2014)
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war (Revelation 19:11).
Vision: Jesus Tending Our Lampstand
Yesterday morning I awoke to a vision of Jesus dressed in a deep red robe, holding a menorah. It was flickering, barely burning. And in the vision, the menorah was the only light that illuminated Him.
I was aware that this lampstand first represented Jolene and me. In other words, though He was conveying His work on a broad basis over many regions and people, we needed to take this first as a deeply personal word with personal application.
That said, we were attending “Holy Spirit Over Metro DC,” a key regional conference, when the Lord awakened me with this experience. And it’s clear to me that the vision He gave literally conveys Holy Spirit’s work over Metro DC in this hour. He is tending the corporate lampstand of the metro DC region, the light against the darkness, which is in danger of flickering out.
Jesus cradled the menorah in His hands. He then wept into the menorah, and as His tears and breath fell upon the fire it literally began to blaze.
Friends, this describes our heart and yours! Nothing matters more than the fire of this first-love devotion. Watching the vision, I was so grateful that Jesus Himself was holding our lampstand close and tending it with such affection. All that the lampstand represents—your passion and intimacy with Jesus, your Throne Room access and ministry effectiveness, even regional breakthrough—He is desiring to tend for you and with you this year. This is really good news!
When the vision ended, Holy Spirit spoke to me a word that at first seemed totally out of context. But I later realized He was exposing an enemy who was trying to quench the fire of our own lampstands, personally and regionally.
USURPER. This enemy reflects a dimension of the Baal principality. And this year the Lord Jesus invites you to receive His deliverance from the Usurper.
Matt Sorger Brings Confirmation
More on this later. But after the early-morning encounter, Jolene and I went to the morning session. Matt Sorger began to minister spontaneously by Holy Spirit to people in the back of the room. My eyes were closed. Soon, Matt began to speak of a flickering flame that suddenly became a massive flame. Opening my eyes, I was surprised to find his piercing smile right in front of us!
Rarely have I had a prophet speak back to me the personal dealings of the Lord— especially in prophetic encounters. But the Lord was confirming beyond a doubt His passion and labor to cause our lamps to shine with brightness. Further, I was aware that Holy Spirit was accomplishing this immediately, in real time, as Matt spoke.
Exposing the Usurper
In this hour, part of Jesus’ work in your life and mine is cultivating the fire of manifest intimacy with Him again. This must be our top priority. And as part of the fulfillment of this priority, He is judging in your favor. He is bringing us into a new level of deliverance this year—specifically from the Usurper!
We will explore this more ahead in our postings. But the first aim of the usurper is to usurp your first-love devotion for Jesus Christ. In the face of challenges, you may feel like your prayers have been neutralized, your hope drained, your clarity of direction gone. Don’t give up. God is for you, and He is Faithful! Instead, partner with Jesus to see this enemy restrained and your flame burning bright!
Secondly, the enemy aims to usurp your destiny—your capacity to maximize callings and opportunities given by God’s generous heart. The Usurper is a “political spirit,” a manifestation of Baal who works underground or behind the scenes to undermine and overtake your intimacy with God, your work and authority.
It was this tempter behind King Uzziah’s violation of the separation of power among the branches of government, and it is the force behind much of the violations of covenant in Washington DC and nationally today. Again, it is a manifestation of the Baal principality that God is dealing with in His people and in our covenant land.
At the Point of Birth
In this stream of revelation, the Lord showed me how the Usurper came against Jesus. The enemy sought to abort the Savior of mankind at the point of birth. Why? Jesus was born King of the Jews. He was and is God’s rightful heir! And when the wise men informed Herod that God’s King was born, his rulership was threatened.
Listen, when God’s government is birthed into the earth, the enemy generally perceives it long before His own people. Because God’s government always brings a restraint to the enemy’s reign and releases deliverance to His people. That’s why the enemy often tries to usurp God’s move at the point of birth.
And like Miriam and Joseph, you cannot just birth a baby and think your work is done. No, that’s truly when the work begins—to protect, provide and mature your child by the Spirit through these seasons.
In 2013, the Lord promised a new move of His Spirit—literally, a new birth of freedom. He first mandated that we focus on receiving a national breakthrough regarding abortion. We saw how this breakthrough came directly from His courtroom verdict of Isaiah 28.
This year, in 2014, the Lord wants to mature and accelerate His move. And He is summoning us all to Heaven’s courtroom to receive His verdict against the Usurper. By God’s decree, the enemy was forbidden to abort God’s move. And by court order, this enemy is now being restrained from undermining and usurping God’s creative work.
God’s Verdict
As pictured in Revelation 19:11, Jesus is again rendering judgment—and making war. Next in this stream of revelation, the Lord quickened to me that His verdict today is the same He verdict He gave against the Rabshakeh.
Now this story was very vague to me. I knew that in the days of Hezekiah, Sennacherib and his armies were coming against Israel to usurp their government and overtake their land. The Rabshakeh represented King Sennacherib as his ambassador, announcing his decree to the leaders of Jerusalem. At the decree’s release, they were all paralyzed by fear.
But what stunned me was Hezekiah’s prayer. He humbled himself, tearing his garments and clothing himself in sackcloth before entering the temple to seek God’s face. And there he prayed, “Lord, the children have come to term, but there is no strength to deliver.”
What! Once again, the threat of the Usurper is likened to the peril faced by a child at its birth. No strength to deliver!
In the warfare of this season, maybe you feel like Hezekiah. What you hold most precious has come to birth, but there’s not enough strength or resources to complete the work. The decree of the Lord is good news for you! But for you to receive this verdict, you must position yourself like Hezekiah. Humble yourself. Give voice to your distress.
Restraining the Usurper
I want to close with this. Prophetic statesman James Goll, a mentor to us, called unexpectedly this past Friday as we were headed to the conference. We asked him for discernment regarding a situation we are praying into, and he immediately saw the number “21.” He then saw a high level spirit contending against an answer from heaven that had already been released from the Throne. James saw that God was calling us to pray like Daniel, who fasted 21 days until the principality holding back heaven’s answer was restrained.
What was this principality? James didn’t know. But he felt the Lord would show us. And only a day later, I awoke to this revelation from the Lord.
James receives our postings, and knows we are already in a 21 day season of consecration. But God is calling for another “back to back” season of intensive focus and fasting. Again, this is like the days of Daniel and Hezekiah. It may seem your direct leading from Holy Spirit has been hindered on very key issues—like you haven’t heard from heaven.
Can I admonish you? Do not move forward until you do! Choose instead to wait on God, move by the Spirit and receive the tangible breakthrough God intends. I’m not saying to in any way neglect your responsibilities. Be faithful!
But God wants to render His verdict in your favor against an enemy who is seeking to usurp your destiny. During these 21 days ahead, He desires to heal us and cleanse us from the enemy’s influence. And He wants to governmentally restrain the Usurper in our lives, families, churches and world.
The Lesson of the Lampstand
Now that’s worth the extra watch! Friends, lets continue to wait on God for direction and breakthrough on key issues and circumstances we are facing. Not by might nor power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord! You can see in Zechariah 4 how this is the lesson of the Lampstand.
From an open heaven, Zechariah perceived a new move of God’s Spirit—represented by the lampstand—with oil continually flowing to keep the lampstand burning. He was told to prophesy GRACE! GRACE! To the circumstances that would try to abort this work in the days of small beginnings. Then the Lord admonished him, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.
Many of your directives are actually bigger than you think, because they are tied to breakthrough and deliverance that sets a new course for your life, your sphere, and perhaps even your nation. This is how we advance together this year!
God’s governmental verdict will be worth the wait as He brings deliverance from the Usurper. And the stream of breakthrough will carry both the directive of the Lord and the provision to carry you through. YOU AND YOUR CHILD WILL MAKE IT THROUGH.
