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Word for Today:  January 10

There are indications everywhere.

There is a witness in the heart of every turned-on believer.  God is moving.  The earth is responding.  The world is waiting.  All creation is anxious… The church is being revived.  This is the hour.  Something BIG is about to happen.

There is a drawing toward God.  The Holy Spirit is reaching into the hearts of men (all kinds of people) and drawing and attracting…   inexorably, as a magnet draws iron, pulling them toward God.  It is relentless.  It is miraculous. It is supernatural.   There is hunger.  And this hunger is indicative of the Divine Plan and Purpose of God manifesting in this hour.

You feel the drawing.  Right now.  There is a Divine Stirring deep down inside your spirit.  It (your relationship with Jesus) is not like it used to be.  It is changing.  There is a dissatisfaction, an urgency, which is driving you to seek His Face and a determination to be conformed more and more into His Image.

The things of the world are becoming less and less important to you.   The reason for your very existence is coming into focus.

You are being drawn into the Glory of God…

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.  2Co 3:18

Eze 37:

1 ¶ The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2  And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 

3  And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

4  Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5  Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7  So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8  And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9  Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 

10  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

 “As it was in the days of Noah….”  (Mat 24:38-39)  The absolute seriousness of these days.  It is indeed as it was in the days of Noah.  Even though he preached 120 years concerning the Righteousness of God and the need for preparation, it was not until the door of the ark was shut that people finally (and tragically) got the Message.  Then it was too late.  

The Incomparable Word of God… TRUTH  (about all things)  The relevance of the Word.  The Only Reliable source of information for those who want the Truth.

Listen to where we are and what is soon to happen:  (The News Behind the News 2)

Willing to be Radical and Real.   (“The church has been domesticated”)

Tamed by the world.  Effected by the world.  Mild-mannered preachers, preaching a mild-mannered message to mild mannered people to keep them mild-mannered.

Ezekiel Chapter 37:

The prophet sees the regathering of Israel.  God says that there will be a coming together of the bones that have for so long been scattered.  The dispersion of the Jews into all the earth is an historical fact.  The gathering again of the Nation into one unity and one place is an END TIME EVENT.  It had its beginning in 1947 when Israel was once again made a nation.   They were dead.  They were dry.  And there were many of them.  They were scattered all over the valley.  You can see the meaning of this vision.   There is no doubt about who the bones are, what has happened to them and what is going to take place at the end.  I see in this vision, a picture of last day’s ministry.  I understand that the vision is primarily one that deals with the Jews, but there are indications that are applicable to every nation and every kingdom and every individual. 

First, Ezekiel declares that “the Hand of the Lord was upon me…”  (37:1)  When the Hand of God comes on you, you invariably get “carried away.”  And being “carried away” by the Spirit of God into a place of Revelation and Understanding is an end-time happening.  I feel it.  I sense it.  I know it.  There is a stirring… a sound of “rustling among the mulberry bushes” that is indicative of the times and seasons of this hour.  Fresh revelation is flowing.  A deep inner “knowing” (feeling) that awesome events are on the horizon.  What we do with what we know determines what happens to us.  When we know that these things are occurring then we need to take heed.  Pay attention.  Get ready.  Be prepared.  I believe this is a  message coming from the Heart of God in this strategic hour. 

Ezekiel had a vision.  “ and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD…”  (37:1)  God spoke to him.  God showed him some things.  What he saw was vital to the people of his day.  They needed to hear from God.  They needed to know what direction the Spirit was moving.  They needed to know what was going to happen next.  They needed encouragement.  Exhortation.  Instruction.  They needed faith and hope, and they needed Something to look forward to.    When those who are the Called of God to preach, teach and tell operate in the power of the Anointing, great and glorious things happen to the People of God.  The anointing breaks every yoke.  Unbelief.  Doubt.  Worry.  Fear.  All the hindrances of the enemy are overcome, and great strength comes into the Body of Christ.  Ezekiel said “You have been dead and scattered.  You have been held in hopelessness.  You have been dispersed and persecuted.  Misunderstood.  Hated.  You have been ravaged by the devil and discouraged.  BUT… something is about to happen!  And it is Good!

Notice what the Prophet Saw and what He Said:

• He saw a Valley.   This is a low place.  Not a mountain.  Not a peak.  But a valley. 
• The Valley was full of bones.  A low place filled with the evidence of death.  Sounds like hopeless depression to me. 
• The bones were very many.  Not a minority. But a majority.  Not a few, but a lot.  Not in a protected place but out in the open.  Unprotected.  Vulnerable.  Open for attack.  Exposed. 
• They were also very dry.  They were not only dead, they were very dead. Had been dead for a long time.  They were dry.  No life.  

This is what the prophet saw.   A Valley.  A valley full of bones.  A valley full of many bones… not a few but numerous… uncountable.  Innumerable bones.   A valley filled with many bones that were very dry.  Dead and dead for a long time.  No life.  

What does all this mean?  What does it say to us today?  Consider the following:

• This is a “valley time.”  The NT word for this time is “perilous.”  Savage.  Unnerving.  Fearful.  A time of dread and instability.  These facts are confirmed by the daily news.  Reports coming in from all over.  This is a “valley time.”
• In this season (valley season) there are many who are dead.  Not alive to what God is doing and not aware of what is about to happen.  They are removed from Fresh Revelation (the Anointing) and do not have a clue concerning what is on the threshold. 
• There are multitudes of them.  They are everywhere.  In our neighborhood.  In our offices.  In our places of livelihood.  In the malls.  In the schools.  Even in our families.  And, sadly, even in the church. 
• They have been in this uncaring, unknowing, unenlightened condition for a very long time.  They have become unaware of their critical condition.  They are blind.  Deceived.  They are in need of Revival.  Resurrection.  Life. 

Now, notice what the Prophet Said:

Ezekiel said what he was told to say.  (Verse 4).  He was told to prophesy  (naw-baw’) A primitive root; to prophesy, that is, speak (or sing) by inspiration.  He was to prophesy to the bones.  He was to “make himself” a prophet by “prophesying.”

• God told him to prophesy to the bones.  Now this is interesting.  He was not told to preach to them.  He was not told to pray for them.  He was not told to encourage them.  He was not told to baptize them.  He was not told to organize them.  Or to educate them.  Or to count them.  Or to raise money for them.  Or to send them out as missionaries.  He is told one thing and one thing only.  To Prophesy to the Bones.   There is no force more powerful than the Spoken Word of God when it is Spoken in and under the Anointing of the Holy Ghost.  This is prophetic utterance.  It is this and only this that will produce Life in a graveyard.
• They were told to Hear the Word of the Lord.  To “hear” means to pay attention… to be obedient to and to understand.  They were commanded to pay attention to what God was saying.  To be obedient to what God was saying.  To understand (receive revelation) what God was saying.  What is God saying to us today?  How is He speaking?  Through whom does He speak?  When He does speak, are we hearing what He is saying?  This morning here at Life can we say with confidence and truth that we will Hear the Word of the Lord?
• God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy Breath was coming into them and that they would surely live and not die.  (Verse 5)  The prophet was to prophesy that God was going to undertake a supernatural work and take these dry, long dead bones and build life into them beginning from the inside and working to the outside.  Sinews or tendons would attach to flesh and muscle and then skin would cover them.  Then breath would be breathed into them and they would Live and then KNOW that God is God.  (Verse 6) Hey… this relevant prophecy speaks directly to us in this hour of change and transition.  God is going to do a supernatural work in us (the Church) that will result in the coming forth of Supernatural Life.  From the inside out, He is building us.  Restoring us.  Making us.  Creating us.  Adding to tendon, muscle and to muscle flesh and to flesh skin and then… miracle of all miracles… He is breathing Life into us so that we may live and declare that God is God!

As Ezekiel obeyed… notice what took place:

The prophet did exactly what God told him to do.  He prophesied to the bones and AS HE DID something miraculous began to happen.

• There was a noise.  God’s supernatural interventions in the affairs of earth are often accompanied by noise.  Wind.  Thunder.  Roaring.  Rumbling.  Shaking.  Noise is the outward manifestation that something is happening on the inside.
• There was a shaking.  (vibration, bounding, uproar:—commotion, quaking, rattling, rushing, shaking.  Things were moved out of their place.  Change erupted.  Stuff began to happen that they were not accustomed to…. That was not “usual” and “conventional.”
• There was a “coming together.” This means they all came near to each other.  Closeness.  Helping one another.  Considering one another.  No jealousy.  No strife.  No opinions.  No criticism.  No selfishness.  They came together… just like the people did in the 2^nd Chapter of Acts… they were in one accord… together.  Each “bone” was joined to another “bone”, and all were in the right place at the right time and there was no self-seeking for a “better position or place” in the Body.  Do you see this?

In spite of this remarkable miracle… the bones becoming flesh… being created from the inside outward, when the work was finished they were built up but they had no Breath.  They were still dead.  As those who were slain (verse 9).  An army of innumerable troops but they were still dead.  It was time for something to happen that would give them life.

Ezekiel was commanded to “prophesy unto the wind (ruòach) and SAY… thus saith the Lord God; come from the four winds O breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live…”  Then:

• They lived
• They stood up on their feet
• They became a great army

Word for Today:  January 9

Words are carriers.

We speak words and the words we say become carriers.  When our words agree with God’s Word they will carry God’s Power with them.  When our words agree with the negative world system, they will carry the power of the world system with them.

If we could ever learn to talk right, speak the Word and only what the Word says instead of what we see and feel and think, we could experience a radical transformation in our situations and circumstances.

The Devil and his demons must submit to the Word of God that we speak.  When we realize that all the death stuff that is happening to us is caused by the devil and his demons and then get a real revelation of the Power of the Word of God we will be on the road to recovery.  We will be positioned to change things in us and around us.

But as long as we set our tongue in agreement with death, we will have what we say.

We can Search out and find those God Words that contradict our particular problem.  They are in the Bible…. Find them!   If we are sick, look up scriptures about healing.  If we are afraid and depressed, look up scriptures that promise peace and assurance.    If we are struggling financially, look up scriptures that promise God’s provision for us.  If we are held captive by habit or addiction, look up scriptures that promise us deliverance and freedom.  Then we make those scriptures a vital and strategic part of our language.  We begin to articulate audibly and forcefully with our mouth what God has already said about us in His Word.

When we do this, we will begin to see immediate changes.  God honors His Word above His Name.  God sends His Word to accomplish and create His purposes.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish (create) that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isa 55:11

Word for Today:  January 7

Go means go.

Go means to not stay.  Go means to not be still.  Go means to not retreat.  Go means to move.  God says go.  God is a Go God.  Not a stop God.  Not a stay God.  Not a retreat God, but a Go God.  Two-thirds of His name is GO.

Go means to do something.  Go means to start.  Go means to begin.  Go means get up.  Go means to move on.  Go means action.

You will have to have a special calling and a special revelation to stay because God has said “Go.”

If God says nothing, that does not mean stay.   He has already spoken and He has commanded us to GO.

He does not need to say it over and over again.

Let’s do this…

And he said unto them, Go…  Mark 16:15

Word for Today:  January 4

The dynamics of our contemporary mode of living tend to keep us ignorant of the Move of God.

Most are looking everywhere and seeing everything but God and what He is doing.  If we talk about the New Thing, the Move of God and the coming End Time Harvest most will think we are in too deep.  Too far.  Too much.  Too radical.  Too spiritual.  Too serious.  Too wild.

But don’t be surprised… they were acting the same way in Noah’s Day.  And Jesus said:

But as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man…  Luke 17:26

For 120 years they rejected Noah’s radical preaching.  They laughed at his “foolish” construction project. They ignored his warnings.  They refused to listen and heed.  They waited and debated.  They considered but refused to consent.

Then IT happened.  And when it did it was too late for them.  They got left out. They got shut out.  They got locked out of safety, security and life.  They were lost.  Forever.  Eternally.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.   Mt 24:44

Word for Today:  January 3

Truth in the head is not enough.

Truth in the Church is not enough.  Truth in the world is not enough.

Truth must be in the heart and our entire being is to be motivated, instructed, guided and led by it.

We can stuff our heads with instruction.  We can train our brains with right things to do.  We can believe sincerely with our heart.  The need is for God’s power to flow through us.

• We can be clean on the outside and be dead.
• We can be correct and be dead.
• We can be religious and be dead.
• We can be sincere and be dead.
• We can be right and be dead.
• We can even have faith and be dead.
• We can be in the right place at the right time in the right manner and be dead.
• You can make all the right confessions and be dead.

And you know whether you are dead or alive!

The Scribes and Pharisees were right, religious, dedicated, obedient, faithful, consistent, committed, and unashamed.   Jesus said our “righteousness” would have to exceed theirs or we would not make it to heaven. They needed a Heart Experience instead of a head experience.

They were shallow, external, legalistic, arrogant, and self-centered.  They were “clean” on the outside but Jesus said they were full of dead men’s bones.  They looked good, but Jesus said they were dead and filled with corruption.

If they were around today, they would be sitting on the front row (or the platform) of the church.  They would be the loudest prayers, and the biggest givers.  They would be seen and heard and admired and recognized.  They would have a “form of godliness” but they would be dead inside.

For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 1Sa 16:7

Word for Today:  January 2

Stay on course

As we enter this New Year, STAY on COURSE.

We cannot afford to deviate.  Even a little bit off course at the beginning will calculate to a huge error at the destination.  It will make us miss our Mark.   There must be constant corrections and adjustments along the way.  The course must be updated and upgraded constantly.

The limits are set.  The boundaries are there.  The way is plain.  It is the Narrow and it is the Straight.  As we stay tuned to the Word and as we remain in the presence of God, we will stay on course.  When we listen to men and go by our opinions and lean on our feelings, we will get off course.  When we get lazy and lukewarm… when we become entangled with the World, we get off course.  When we take our Eyes off the Prize we lose ground and veer off course.  When we take on added and unnecessary baggage, and fool around with flesh we are hindered and held back in our pursuit of the Prize.

Here’s what will keep you On Course:

• Stay in the Word and live by the Word
• Function daily in an aggressive faith position
• Let Agape be your motivation for everything you do
• Live to give and not to get
• Hunker down in the Secret Place and stay under the Shadow of the Almighty
• “Attempt great things for God and Expect great things from God” (William Carey)

Stay the course

Word for Today:  December 31

Use what you have. Begin where you are.

David, the sling shot boy, did not wait until he had something else… he took what he had and trusted God to make it work…  He took his staff… his sling… and five smooth stones.  He did not wait for something better or for more equipment to arrive… He used what he had.

You can take what you have and defeat the devil today.  If you have been waiting for something else you have been waiting in vain.  Some are waiting for more faith…. more strength… more favorable circumstances… more money…  but God wants you to take what you have and use it to overcome the devil.

You are a New Creation in Christ Jesus and you can do all things through Him.  You have more than enough right now to overcome the devil. Remember… the devil’s biggest and best is still no match for the smallest and weakest in the Kingdom.   Jesus said: “He that is least in the Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist…”

David took what he had and partnered with God. And that, friend, will always give you the advantage over the powers of darkness.  Any warfare with the devil is always unfair to the devil…  he always has the short end of the stick and is at the mercy of the weakest Believer.

What you have is enough.

Use it

Word for Today:  December 29

There is only one fool-proof evidence of the New Birth.

Jesus gave this criteria to us in His Word.  This is the one most important characteristic of the Christian Walk.  Nothing is more important than this.  This one demand and one command is basic.  Jesus talked about it more than anything else and He demonstrated it more perfectly than any other message of His earthly ministry.  He longed to see it in His disciples and He knew that it would be the basis for the New Testament Church.  If the Church is to BE what Jesus died for it to be and if the Church is to DO what He died for it to do, then this one thing is absolutely necessary.

I am convinced that this is the greatest need in this hour.  It is a need for the Church and it is a need for all Evangelical Ministries.  It is perhaps the greatest need in your life as a Believer.  It is not impossible.  It is possible.  It is necessary.  It is vital.  It is fundamental to the continuation of the Gospel on earth.

Jesus called this a “new commandment.”  A new commandment I give unto you…  (John 13:34)  He knew that He was soon to depart and He wanted so desperately for His followers to be adequately equipped to continue His Ministry on earth.  He did not emphasize theology.  He did not emphasize education.  He did not emphasize experience or ability.  He brought attention to the one thing that will guarantee the continued success of the Gospel Message.

He also stated that this would be the one qualifying characteristic that would cause the world to know how we stand with God.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples… (John 13:35)   BY THIS….

This is the one thing that will tell the world where you stand with God.  And this is the greatest thing needed in the world today.

That thing is LOVE

Word for Today:  December 28

What God has sown.

What God has planted in me is destined to come out of me.  It may be in seed form now, but it is time for the seed to grow into its fullest manifestation.

It’s there.  It’s time.  It’s happening.   Who will you be?  A King or a Kid?  A Seed or a Tree?

Name your dream.  Declare your intentions.  Speak with your mouth words that make things happen.  Faith words.  Word words.  God Words.  Heaven Words.

You and I will never exceed our declarations.  Our declarations determine our direction. Our declarations determine our destiny.  What we speak out of our hearts will create or destroy.  Words are instruments of creation or destruction.  Words make things.

There are Life Producing Forces (seeds) inside every believer.  These forces are put in us by the Work of the Holy Spirit at the time we are Born Again.  They are seeds destined to grow and produce.  They are forces that need to be released into the world.  Into our families.  Into our relationships.  Into the total experience of our lives.

They are in me.  They are in every Believer.  However, seeds are worthless unless they produce.  One seed is not sufficient to sustain life by itself.  It takes many seeds which are planted in good ground to bring forth a crop that is sufficient to sustain victorious living.

The real challenge is to grow these seeds into maturity.  As God plants these Seeds in us, the enemy plants weeds. The purpose of the weeds is to choke out the seeds.

These seeds are the building blocks of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus prayed for the Kingdom to come and for the Will of God to be done ON EARTH just as it is presently being done in Heaven.  These Seeds will produce God’s Kingdom on earth when and if they are planted in good ground and if proper conditions for growth are present.