STATE OF UNION TONIGHT! BALANCE OF POWER
DAVID BRADSHAW JOINS PRAYER CALL WEDNESDAY! 9pm EST. David is a strong east coast prayer leader and director of the Prayer Furnace of Fredericksburg VA. We together will be sharing a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. Conference call number: 641-715-3605 access code 552-690. Use *6 to mute/unmute. Invite your friends to join us!
Welcome to Turnaround Tuesday! Only 44 Tuesdays left until America votes for a new President. I am at a prayer meeting at the Family Research Center. Some holy thunder just swept through as we prayed for God to turn the battle at the gates!
Tonight President Obama is making his final State of the Union address. Please pray for the President to hear and articulate God’s heart alone for our nation in this historic moment.
South Carolina governor Nikki Haley will be sharing the response. She has overseen two extraordinary challenges recently, the Charleston shooting and then statewide flooding, and piloted the state through to restoration and healing in a way that sets the course for our nation’s future. I do not say this lightly.
Please pray for Gov. Haley as well, to clearly hear and articulate the heart of the Lord for this land and people.
Now as always… No King but Jesus!
BTW tomorrow’s prayer call will be very important. David Bradshaw of the Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace joins us for an important announcement. Get ready for a great adventure!
As I was praying for the State of the Union address, I felt strongly impressed to share a posting with you today on upholding the balance of power. Note that this posting was our word and theme for 2014. Pay close attention to the balance of power.
UNVEILING THE UNSHAKEABLE THRONE
CROWN & THRONE shares key revelation to help you get on God’s timetable for this new year. Order your copy today at www.lamplighterministries.net
Six years ago this January, Rick Ridings prophesied from Isaiah 19 that God is riding on a cloud swiftly into Washington DC. And the gods of Egypt and the thrones of Egypt will topple in our lives and world. Rick also prophesied about a movement that would be emerging where Holy Spirit would emphasize the “Crown and Throne” much has He has emphasized the “Harp and Bowl” through the past decade.
Therefore it was extraordinary to enter into 2014 by receiving communion together, and inviting the Lord to sit enthroned as Judge over the Washington DC region. I had been led unexpectedly to share on Exodus 2, where courtroom hearings before God’s Throne brought His verdict to bear upon the taskmasters of Egypt. To receive their deliverance, God mandated that each Israelite family share a meal that invoked His verdict into their spheres.
And then in a moment, God’s verdict was completely executed, and the gods and government of Egypt gave way. A chosen people advanced into freedom!
Year of Deliverance—Jesus as Judge
When we together received the Table of the Lord, I knew He was setting our course for the year. We were invoking our own deliverance by God’s sovereign hand! A pervasive, supernatural awareness of Christ’s holiness accompanied this act. And it was then that the Lord invited us to invite Him to sit as Judge over our region.
Our cry—Lord take Your seat! And with that request, a sense of completion was as immediate as our response. Words cannot fully express what I am attempting to convey. But am sure that God is now seated in a new way as Judge over the metro DC region and our nation. And a movement of deliverance by His hand will enforce His verdict. As Chuck Pierce wrote in January, 2014 will truly be a year of deliverance!
Covenant Establishes a Throne
In a romance, your adoration alone does not establish a marriage. Your legal covenant does. In in Christ, your worship does not establish a throne for the Lord—your covenant does. God sits enthroned on the praises of His people (Ps 22), but your covenant establishes the throne that He rests on.
Your covenant not only establishes a throne, but it also establishes protection at the gates of your life. Over Passover, the Israelites were commanded to apply the blood of the covenant—the blood of the lamb—over the gateways of their homes. Because of the blood, the death angel had to pass over them.
We are in an age where the gateways of many lives remain open and unprotected, both spiritually and naturally. Again, your protection is sealed by God’s covenant. For those who have aligned covenantally with the Lord, watch for His glory to come through your gates this year. You have established a throne for Him, and He is bringing a divine convergence!
Crown & Throne: Unveiling the Unshakeable Throne
Isaiah 6 conveys how heaven and earth are converging this year as His “Crown & Throne movement” begins. The government of man is shaking. But an open heaven is unveiling an unshakeable Throne!
“In the year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a Throne, high and lofty, with the train of His robe filling the temple…” (Isaiah 6:1).
Isaiah the prophet was forever changed as this Throne room convergence became a commissioning unto union. It’s so important to note that he was seeking God in the Temple when this experience began. He was waiting on the Lord. Friends, we are in a time to wait upon the Lord again with extended times of prayer and fasting.
In the previous few years, we have enjoyed instant access to God’s counsel, with Holy Spirit emphasizing our unbroken union at every moment of our lives. This will continue. But the watch of the Lord is converging with our communion with Holy Spirit. Just as the Lord sanctified times and seasons in His feasts, He is sanctifying specific times of watching and praying.
Suddenly the Lord broke in on Isaiah’s watch—just like He will do on yours this year. Keep faithful to your times of watching and seeking before God’s Throne! May our testimony be like Daniel. “I kept watching until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days took His seat…” (Daniel 7:9).
Note that Isaiah’s encounter occurred “in the year King Uzziah died.” In other words, in the year of a government shutdown. Holy Spirit quickened to me that as it was in Isaiah’s day, so it is in ours. Directly after the Feast of Tabernacles in 2013, America’s government shut down. I believe many will experience a “Throne room convergence” similar to Isaiah. Heaven will open, and you will receive a vision of God’s unshakeable Throne!
This convergence is not meant to be a one-time event. Instead, just like the prophet Isaiah, it is meant to be a commissioning that demarcates union with Christ. With continual access to His unshakeable Throne.
Understanding the Balance of Power
It’s important to note that King Uzziah and Prophet Isaiah both saw the Lord in the same year. Uzziah saw him by judgment as his reign was cut short. Isaiah saw Him by glory. How we align covenantally determines how we experience His visitation.
Remember that thrones are established by covenant. Uzziah was disciplined for violating the covenantal boundaries the Lord set in place between the office of the king and the priestly ministry. From II Chronicles: “When he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense” (II Chron. 26: 15-16).
From the beginning, the Lord demanded what we call “checks and balances” in national governance. Israel was founded with three branches of governmental leadership, demarcated by the prophet, the priest and the king. These offices are roughly equated with our branches of government today, founded by a covenant known as the Constitution, with the judicial, legislative and executive branches. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king” (Isaiah 33:22).
- The prophetic office is similar to the judicial branch—keeping in mind that many Israelite prophets also served as judges.
- The priestly office is similar to the legislative branch—keeping in mind that the priests not only ministered to the Lord, but represented the people of Israel before the Lord.
- The kingly office is similar to the executive branch—with the president serving the “kingly” duties of governance.
Trampling the Balance of Power—Consequences
By burning incense in the Temple, Uzziah sought to literally usurp and bypass the priestly office—the legislative office of his day. Friends, as it was in Uzziah’s day so it is in ours. Both pride and insecurity can blind us to the consequences of these violations. Because we are powerful, we assume we can bypass our foundational covenants to get what we desire, or achieve what we want. The ends justify the means.
But from the bedroom to the boardroom to the White House and Capitol Hill, God is presiding over the foundations of life and governance dedicated by covenant to Him. And His justice will neither be deterred nor evaded. Friends, this should all bring us to humility and repentance before the highest court in the land… the Throne of God.
“In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people; a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate” (Isaiah 28:5-6).
No King but Jesus,
Jon & Jolene
