The ‘neck’ of the Body
While at NIRSA I saw a picture of our company as the neck of the church. The Lord has been calling and using us to re-establish His headship over the church by our own surrender unto Him. As we laid down title, position, privilege, calling and crown, He has re-commissioned us to be the connecting joint (neck) between Him as the Head and the rest of the body which has lost its way.
This is a true intercessory and prophetic work – standing in the gap between the Lord as the Head and the rest of His body the church. Yet, it is also a truly apostolic work as we laid down our lives to see new life being birthed in the church. Whereas many others are called to pray for the Lord to visit and refresh His people, I believe we are also called to actively lay down our lives and ministries and be forerunners of those who would only have one Head and Lord, the Lord Jesus Himself.
As mentioned during my visit to Pretoria in January we have been called by the Lord as a bridge which the Lord will use to usher many in the church into the place of His rule (kingdom). Yet, for this to happen His Headship over the church has to be secured and we have not only embraced this theologically, but in practice we have pressed on in the Lord. Many of us have paid a high price to see this come to pass in the natural, yet the results are now becoming visible in the spiritual and will soon manifest in the natural.
I share this as an encouragement from the Lord to those who have struggled with this calling from the Lord during the last 14 years, but especially since 2001.
Eyes and ears of the Body
I see that the Lord will continue to use us as a company of ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ to serve the whole body of Christ in South Africa. Whether we are known or recognized is of no concern. The real issue at hand is that which is seen, heard, prayed and spoken in the Spirit.
Mentors and couches
The Lord has taken many of His most courageous and faithful servants on a completely new journey during the last seven years. They have been led from being leaders of ‘children’ and are now being re-commissioned as mentors and couches of a generation that will strive to take possession of the Lord. I believe that this generation will be much more hungry and thus willing to pay a far higher price than previous generations due to the darkness that is descending upon our land. This generation will not seek ‘kindergarden’ Christianity, but will be ready to ‘trained’ as an army of the Lord.
Positioned to be trained and released
Many have been praying for years for this outpouring. Yet, it will not primarily be an outpouring of ‘blessing’. It will be an outpouring of power and fire. Those who will be empowered and used by the Holy Spirit in the coming moves of God must now position themselves to be trained in the Spirit by the Lord. They will be commissioned and released by the Lord, and not by men. Yet, for their growth and maturity the Lord has raised up and re-commissioned mentors and couches to help and guide the army of the Lord. Now is the time for the mentors and couches to dust off their shoes, cast of their depression and shame and present themselves unto the Lord. Many have felt that their work for the Lord has come to an end as He called them to lay aside their ministries and callings. Yet, they have only been prepared and re-positioned by the Lord to fulfill His calling in this new phase of the Lord’s work.
Many the Lord have positioned in the marketplace from where they will both work, serve and minister and help to release the army of the Lord ‘behind enemy lines’.
Prototyping in faith
I see that those that have been faithful in allowing the Lord to do a new work in their midst are being called to step forward. The Lord has raised up new ‘prototype’ assemblies during the last seven years and now the Lord will take that which is from Him and build upon that. Many who have walked by faith, not knowing where they where going, will now see the purpose and plan of the Lord and they will rejoice. For much of the old will become more and more obsolete as the pressure of the world and the darkness sets in. The Lord is raising up new communities that will be able to grow and thrive in the midst of adversity.
Servants above all
I sense a special warning from the Lord that those whom the Lord is calling and will be used by Him during the next 7 years, must remain completely humble and broken before Him and his people. The power of His love to heal, nurture and empower the army of the Lord can only flow from broken and humble vessels. If these will be faithful the Lord will call them to even greater heights in the years that follow the next 7 years. This is not a time to gather a following. It is instead a time to lay down our lives to serve as bridges for the next generation to pass through to the land of the Lord. Also we are to be positioned as foundations for the next generation to be raised up above us. This is indeed a true intercessory calling.
The danger of revival
Revival is beginning to break forth in South Africa. All the prophetic words and pictures that we have received over the past 15 years point to this. Yet, the real issue at hand is not revival! This is critical for all of us to understand and process. The purpose of revival is to ‘revive’ those who are dying and to bring fire to those who have gone cold. Revival heals the broken. Yet, only the ‘rule of Christ’ (kingdom) establishes something lasting and ultimately transforms society. We have to press beyond revival into the kingdom! We have to look pass the excesses that revival brings and endevour with all the Lord’s strength to help those who are revived to press on and loose their lives and cross over into the kingdom. We have to help them journey with Jesus and thus come into maturity. This journey both heals and destroys. It heals my pain, but destroys my pride. It sets me on higher ground, but humbles my heart. We dare not loose sight of the fact that the purpose of revival is to shake men loose from sin in order to follow Jesus and become like Him. We dare not use revival again to gather a following after ourselves and start new flows and denominations. We dare not use revival again to make a name for ourselves and become filled with pride. I for one will pray that the Lord will keep His pressure on this nation so that in the midst of revival we will remain desperate and hungry to become like Him. Unless we help people press through Christ’s cross, shame and suffering and mature as sons much will be in vain!
The sons of the kingdom
The purpose of revival as stated above is to shake men loose so that they might enter and inherit the kingdom of God. This entrance and possession is dependant upon men being humble like little children and broken before the Lord. It is only when the pride of the sons of Adam is broken, that they can truly mature to stand as the sons of God. Today in Africa, creation cries out for the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8). These men and women will be used by the Lord as the liberators of societies wherever He might position them. They will usher in the rule of God wherever they go. This will not be an institutional ‘rule’, but a very personal invisible rule as they are living under the direct command and instruction of the Spirit of God. These will not be those in religious positions, but will be the nameless and faceless ones called to simply hear and obey the Spirit of God.
Breaking down the walls
Part of our purpose as an apostolic/prophetic company is to break down walls and barriers. We are also called to be the bridges that connect different parts of the body in this nation. To this purpose we have to continue to be a people who reach beyond our own culture, race, language, fears and hopes. As forerunners and sons of God we have died to our ‘own’ to embrace a calling beyond culture, race and language. We have also died to denomination, position and prestige. Although I appreciate what well known and recognized men in authority can do to cross these lines in the spirit, it is only us as His foot soldiers who can actually break through these barriers in practice. We must be courageous and bold. We cannot shrink back in this regard. Christ in us is the hope of glory!
Because we have no labels beyond Christ we are very well positioned to influence the whole body without much detection. We can truly be an undetectable force for the good. Yet, we have to avail ourselves for this purpose. We have to understand that this is the purpose of the Lord, and that His kingdom does not come through ‘big names and banners’ but through the living Christ dwelling and ruling in our midst.
His love to cast out fear
Only the love of Father can cast out the fear in our nation. Part of the desperation in the nation and church is simply rooted in fear. The only spiritual antidote against the power of fear is the love of the Father. Only He can fill our hearts with faith and hope and lift our eyes to seek and see Him alone. Men’s ways coupled with their visions of grandeur cannot deal with fear. In most cases these visions simply create (false) hope only to be replaced by despair since they do not come to pass. What I am seeing is not a vision of grandeur but simply the outworking of hope based upon a relationship rooted in our Father’s love for us and our country with all its people.
Final encouragement regarding Intimacy and Authority
Extract from The Knights and the servant – Nov 2002
Look and see that a change of season is at hand. The landscape of the kingdom is once again changing and the challenges that lay ahead many do not see nor understand. It is only those who through intimacy with Me and understanding of My ways who can see this change. They are being prepared for the appointed time when yet again new territory will be taken. Through intimacy I am now building a new heart in my servants. For if, in the times that lay ahead, you do not have My heart, you will not be found fit for the work of the kingdom. Many have built on My authority and in My name, but they have not learnt from Me and neither know My heart. These will slowly loose authority in the season that is upon us, until their exploits will become as nothing.
Look at David, My servant. His heart was always to be with Me; yet he did the greatest of exploits. His desire was for Me. Even in the greatest times of victory and battle, his heart longed for My presence and courts. It is to such a one that I will give the kingdom. Purify your desire for Me. Examine your heart to see whether you are truly keeping in step with Me. Come and abide with Me, and you will learn the secrets of the kingdom at this time.
Be encouraged – the Lord is on the move!
