PROPHETIC WORDS FOR 2014?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  I am so thankful for you taking time to read my blog and I am just thankful for you!  I pray that the Lord would cover you with much peace at this time of the year.  The gift of Jesus is all yours.  Let Him be your trusted friend.

The older I get the more I fall in love with the story surrounding the birth of Christ.  I used to look for new meanings, new angles and new revelations when it came to what we know as the Christmas story of Jesus, but no more.  No matter how often I may have read them, Luke chapter 2 and the second half of Matthew chapter 1 will do me just fine thank you.  Find some quiet time and read them again and then just be still and allow God to romance your heart.  I think about the beauty of the Christmas hymn "Silent Night" and I want to fall in love with Jesus all over again.

Jesus has so much He wants to bring you this season.  You are unique, special and one who carries great qualities within, whether you realize it yet or not.  Maybe take some time out and for the next few days and just rest in Him.  For some of us there have been some pretty trying times this year.  It's good to rest.  Be still and know that He is your Savior and allow Him to bring new energy and new life.  For others, things are well and good.  I still encourage you to take some time and just rest; meditate on the Lord and build yourself up in Him.  New things are on the way.  Allow the Lord to prepare you for them.

I am hearing 3 specific things as 2014 approaches and I'm hearing them pretty clear and loud.  I'd like to just kind of touch on them and allow you to seek the Lord and pray.  See if He will confirm these things to your spirit also.  Of the three, there are two which I am hearing in a way that I've never heard before.  There is a mystery behind them; a great unknown with a depth to them which God will soon reveal.

The first thing that I have heard and heard again over the last couple of weeks is a plea from God to know Him, to seek Him.  I was in an office reading my Bible not long ago when I came across Hosea 6:3.  As I read this a source of energy ran through me in such a way that I knew the Lord was speaking, wanting to prepare me (us) for something that is soon to come.

"Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.  His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth."

Just a couple of days later I was lead to this scripture;

"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."  (Jeremiah 29:32-33)

In these scriptures, here is what the Lord is saying.  In these days many of us are looking for answers and solutions to issues, problems and just life in general.  There's a lot of weird stuff going on in both the natural and the spiritual.  We often spend a lot of time trying to figure out a way to solve a problem.  Depending on what's going on, we even lay awake in bed at night losing sleep, trying to figure out how we can make something happen, or wondering how in the world something will work out.  God is saying to stop!  Stop looking for the solution that you can't find and seek Him instead.   He already knows the plan, He already knows the thoughts.  He already has the answer.  Seek Him and in doing so He will reveal the way.  To the world this is foolishness.  But God's ways are different, better than the world's ways.

So the first thing I'm hearing from God for 2014, is to know Him better.  To know Him in deeper ways than we have before.  To seek Him and find Him while He may be found.  There is a reason for this.  I am going to tell you of the second and third things that I've heard regarding the immediate year and you will understand the importance of knowing, seeking and running after God.

A little over a week ago while at church, during worship we were singing a song which contains these lyrics:

"YOU SAID, MOUNTAINS WOULD MOVE
KINGDOMS WOULD FALL
WHEN I CALL ON YOUR NAME.
YOU SAID, OUR LAND WOULD BE HEALED
NATIONS WOULD BOW
WHEN I CALL ON YOUR NAME..........."

As I sang those lyrics I heard these words come back to me in such a way that I was silenced before God.  The Lord said with much clarity to me:

YOU HAVE NO IDEA AS TO HOW MUCH THE WHEELS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SET IN MOTION WITH THIS.

Those words were instantly burned on my heart.

I forget which song we did next, but I began to worship with every ounce of energy that I could burst forth and I'll never forget what I heard next................

YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE ME DO THINGS THAT YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS NEVER SAW.

I was stunned.  I wasn't expecting that.  To hear from the Lord in that way just messes with you............but in a good way.

Now tonight, I sense the Lord wanting me to pass those three things on to you.  Go back and read, especially the last two, again.  I believe these three things are of the prophetic nature that won't take much time to come to pass.  In the coming year we are going to witness a surge of God's power that will begin to dwarf any power or principality that is currently in place.

That's it.

I'm not going to expound any more as to what I believe this all means.  What I am going to do is ask you to put these words and thoughts to prayer.  YOU seek the Lord on this and see if He doesn't begin to confirm these things to you in the immediate, coming days.  I am confident that He will and when He does it will stir you, just as it has stirred and shaken me.

And by the way, make sure you click on the song that I was referring to.  May God speak to you today or tonight also.  In fact my prayer is that the Lord will suddenly just surprise you.

Much love and many blessings,
Mark S.

BOLDNESS UNPLUGGED!

AND WHEN THEY HAD PRAYED, THE PLACE WHERE THEY ASSEMBLED TOGETHER WAS SHAKEN; AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THEY SPOKE THE WORD WITH BOLDNESS.  (Acts 4:31)

A couple of nights ago I had a dream.  While it was short, it was intense and a right to the point dream.  It was one of those dreams where when I woke I remember thinking and knowing that there was no doubt that the Lord had sent it.  While this dream had a direct meaning for me and the people of our church, I also know when God wants something shared.  He wants this dream to be shared.  There is something to be revealed here that will impact your walk with Him, especially if you are sold out and committed to following God with reckless abandon and want to change the world.  I hope that's you!!!

Sometimes you have a dream that is a little foggy when you recall it.  You might tell someone of your dream with words like, "it seemed as if I was," or "it was like I was in" and then you continue on.  Hopefully you know what I mean.  You can kind of recall the main focus of your dream, but the exact details aren't real clear.  This dream wasn't like that.  I knew exactly where I was which was in the community center where we currently hold our church services.  The dream follows:

It was nearing the end of service and there was a prompting for everyone to go forward and pray together.  A circle was made around the podium where pastor Tony preaches and along the stage.  As we were standing there nobody seemed to be quite sure as to why it seemed that the Lord was instructing us to do this, but suddenly the Lord began to give me some words for this moment and I began to speak.  "Just stand quietly in His presence and meditate on Him.  The Lord wants to do something, give something to us that we need.  Don't be anxious, just rest and wait on the Lord to do this."  Quickly it came.  We could feel a heavy presence.  I remember speaking, "Ah, here it comes."  We all could feel something coming over us and the Lord began giving me the words to speak out......................
                                   BOLDNESS.  TODAY I AM GIVING YOU BOLDNESS FOR IT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU LACK.  YOU DESIRE TO CHANGE GOVERNMENTS AND NATIONS BUT YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT BOLDNESS; FOR THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU FEAR MAN.  HOW CAN YOU CHANGE A NATION WHEN YOU ARE AFRAID OF WHAT MAN CAN SAY OR DO TO YOU?  SO TODAY I GIVE YOU BOLDNESS, FOR UNTIL YOU HAVE THE BOLDNESS OF PETER, WHO DID NOT FEAR BEING ARRESTED, OR THE BOLDNESS OF PAUL, WHO DID NOT FEAR THE CHAINS, YOU CANNOT DO MIGHTY WORKS IN MY NAME.  STOP FEARING MAN.  I GO BEFORE YOU, WHY SHOULD YOU FEAR?  AM I NOT THE GOD WHO CREATED MAN?  WHY FEAR HIM?  TODAY I GIVE YOU BOLDNESS, FOR I KNOW YOUR HEART AND SEE YOUR DESIRE TO FOLLOW ME.  BOLDNESS!!!  AND THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SAY, "IN THE NAME OF JESUS I COMMAND...........!"  BOLDNESS!

And then I was awake and did not feel that I could immediately speak.  Nor did I want to!

I have to be honest with you.  Until that dream I thought that boldness was something that just comes as you try to become more like Christ.  Something that comes the more you read and understand the Bible. Something that you desire to have.  That dream showed me that while those things certainly help, it is only by God that such boldness can be given.  Today I decided to study the word "boldness" as it relates to God.   I understand it better as a divine gift.  A key to the Kingdom.  That is why the apostles prayed for it.  Look at Acts chapter 4.  The apostles had been warned not to speak or preach in the name of Jesus, but look at part of their prayer:
                                          "Now Lord, look on their threats, and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." (verses 29-30)

Here also is part of a commentary that I found today.  I quote from the "Spirit Filled Life Bible" pertaining to how the word boldness, or "parrhesia" (strongs concordance #3954) is used in Acts chapter 4. "Here it denotes a divine enablement that comes to ordinary and unprofessional people exhibiting spiritual power and authority.  It also refers to a clear presentation of the gospel without being ambiguous or unintelligible.  Parrhesia is not a human quality but a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit."

Wow!  Read it will do you good to read that again.

While I believe that God wanted to give this word to the people of our church, it is not exclusive for for us.  There are many churches and many followers of Christ who have awakened and are ready to take on the ungodly things of this world, advancing the kingdom of God.

Tonight as you sleep, I pray that the Lord will visit you with a gift and a deeper level of boldness.  As you wake tomorrow, may you feel empowered to do His work with complete clarity and determination as never before.  May we also be mindful to pray for those who are in prisons around the world for already bodly proclaiming the gospel of Christ.  They already understand the concept of fearing no man.

Let's do this!
MarkS