Serious food for thought and prayer from Tommy James
John Havener March 28th, 2007
Preview of 2007
1. Mostly, things will continue as in the last few years with a greater separation occurring between the spiritual church and world systems. The worldly oriented Americans, who call themselves Christians, will continue to trust politics, both domestic and foreign, to make things different, hoping that by human effort, the world will be made a better place. Americans will continue to be content in very small personal circles of family and employment giving not much thought or concern to the role they might play as representatives and citizens of the Kingdom of God. This coming year will be like the days of Noah that the Lord Jesus spoke of. The Christians of America will not be too much different, but there is a remnant, those who follow the Lamb where ever He goes and hunger for the Presence of God, even secretly, and who are poised and ready to do the will of God in overt, power filled ways.
American life will change, but it will change slowly, so as to not alarm too many citizens at once. “We can’t have a rebellion in America!” the world leaders have decreed. Not yet anyway. Personal liberties and ‘civil rights’ will give more ground to government so that we may feel safe from terrorists. The peoples of the world have proven that they will sacrifice personal liberty for the sake of personal security. The rulers of this dark age know this and will continue the squeeze in order to fully control everyone everywhere. The loss of freedom will seem to be an acceptable price to ‘feel’ safe. “Perception is everything” while reality is changing.
2. The Spirit is saying expressly that this is a time to focus on covenant relationships. Covenants exist in all relationships whether they are written, spoken, assumed, agreed to, or not. Covenants, in simplicity, define the operating rules and boundaries, the benefits and responsibilities for relationships. All covenants should be of holy purpose, be equitable for all parties, and be conducted with righteous behavior.
We each have covenants with the ruling spirits of this world through submission and obedience of our ancestors and through that of our own lives. There are many ‘stealth’ covenants that exist between God’s people and unclean spirits. The Spirit of God says that we have a fresh opportunity to review all covenants with the world lords, to renounce them, and to ask the Father, the Judge of all the earth, to issue a divorce decree for the unholy alliances. These ideas promise a new and very great level of existence and fulfillment for the people of God. Few of us know that we are bound, in some measure, by bad covenantal relationship, but we are.
Once again the cry goes out, “Come out from the midst of them my people, be separated from them, and I will receive you to Myself! I will be your God and you will my people!” In this process there will those that will be ‘marked’ as the property of the Lord. A parallel phenomenon to Ezekiel 9:4 where the angel marked a remnant with the Hebrew letter Tav, the form of a cross, so that they would carry the brand of God in secret. Christians should seek God to be marked and identifiable to spirits. This mark carries with it authority, protection and power to work supernatural feats for the Lord. Those that bear the mark of God will have no fear of the loss of security and many will be beheaded, without fear or pain, at the hands of the servants of the false christs.
All covenants with other people should be reviewed and perhaps renegotiated. Some covenants are to be abandoned, some are to be strengthened and new ones are to be formed. Every covenant that restricts us in an ungodly way should be brought before the Judge for judgment and removal. See Psalm 103: 6.
3. The Spirit showed me an aerial picture of a church building. The roof was gone and the camera zoomed in to reveal a blast crater in the center of the meeting room. There was no one there. The floor, remaining fixtures and the crater were all black with soot as from a very powerful and destructive explosion. I have no further understanding at this point, but would instruct the reader to ask God if this vision has any significance at all for their local situation. This was a frightening scene for me to behold.
4. The school for Overcomers will intensify. (let the reader see Rev:2&3) and the day of unveiling comes closer but is not for this year. There is a promise to the potential members of this elect class in each of the seven churches of Revelation. Therefore there are candidates within each local church to answer the call of the Spirit to follow the Lamb. The tuition for this school is high. It will cost the candidate all that he owns and all that he holds dear. All that interests him in the natural will be taken so as to learn of all that is hidden in the spirit. Galatians 2:20, 6:14-15 will give a view to what is being worked out in real time, in real life; a transformation.
Beyond all other ideas that have been given my by the Spirit lately, the most pressing and persistent is this: Prepare for the coming of the Lord. Understanding that there are as many scenarios of how the ‘parousia’ will work out, the focus to me has been on the first ‘out resurrection’ of the dead and glory to be shown in those who are worthy to be included. Preparations to be found worthy, would include 1. Seeking to understand and harmonize with the Spirit of God who is our School Master. (We buy the oil for our lamps from Him. Matt
25:1) 2. Crucifixion of the old nature so as to be found ‘In Him’. 3. Giving complete allegiance and obedience to the Lord Jesus. 4. Completing the training exercises as they unfold out of the spirit into the natural. 5. Becoming more and more teachable.
5. Local Churches: There are many ‘Spirit filled’ congregations that linger in the realm of seeking God for Him to ‘do something’. But the Spirit specifically says that it is time for these congregations to seek God for individual marching orders and to begin to be the agents of God’s Kingdom rather than the seeking Him for hand outs.
The Word of the Lord is for all the churches that are stuck in a First Corinthians level of maturity, to transition, grow and mature into being like the Ephesians, ‘seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus’. The Corinthian church was a boot camp for post-Acts assemblies and instruction in many areas from church justice to recognizing the difference between the natural and the spiritual to prophetic protocols. Learners, full of mistakes and overemphasis’s, but teachable.
The Ephesians, by contrast, had matured in spiritual life and were proficient in spiritual warfare. These were called by the apostle to be “In” Christ in all things and in him to recognize and function in the authority and responsibilities of sons, (huios) rather than petitioners.