JoAnn McFatter: "The Times, They Are a-Changin'"

The following article is courtesy of elijahlist.com

The times, they are a-changin'. Bob Dylan said it well...and nobody really listened much to him either. It's simply a musical phrase that has been going around in my head for some time now, so I thought I would look up the words of the song. Sometimes it's a Bible verse that keeps coming to me over and over, but sometimes it's just a line from a song such as this. I know to pray about it and ask the Lord what He's trying to say.

When I peer into it and consider the matter with God, He will expand on what He is drawing my attention to. The message in Dylan's song is as applicable today as when he wrote it a generation ago, but the song itself (though interesting to revisit) is not what I am wanting to highlight here.

I believe it has to do with the "shift" that has been prophesied over and over by many a prophetic voice that is now upon us. Not that it really took a prophet to declare that as of late, but there were those who were prophesying the shaking in years past when we had no obvious reason to think in those terms. So here we sit with much to ponder in our own lives, even to the extent of revaluating the standard at which we have lived our lives up to this point.

Let Us Be Influenced by the Mind of the Spirit in These Times

The attachments we have had to this world's economic system, mindsets, etc. have truly influenced us by way of what "makes sense" to the mind of man much more than we who have been born of the Spirit should have allowed.

"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'"—John 3:5-8

He made the distinction between the flesh/mind of man and the Spirit/mind of Christ over and over in Scripture. I researched verse 8 a bit because it has always intrigued me. What I found was reference to the wind as something that we can hear and see the result of, yet are not able to explain where it comes from or where it is going. It's a mystery, as is the rebirth of man by the Spirit. We see the result—the new man—but we can't really explain how it happens. Oh, that this were the testimony of our lives! Unfortunately, we have so mixed the mind of Christ with the things we have hung onto from the mind of man, that it's hard to even sort it out anymore.

Someone recently mentioned that we, as the Church, have become a thermometer that reads the climate of the culture as opposed to a thermostat that sets the climate of things. I even remember Bill Gothard giving a teaching 30 years ago showing how the pendulum of the Church was shifting as the pendulum of our culture was shifting. Always staying a certain distance from the world's pendulum but, nonetheless, moving along with it. I don't believe this to only apply to morality but to our way of thinking as well. We hold to the ways of the flesh as we hold to the mind of man.

I am not trying to throw criticism, but simply trying to suggest that we have GOT to get back to looking at the pattern laid out to us in the Scriptures...to come up higher in our thinking. The times ARE truly changing as the Kingdom of God is being made manifest on the earth. However, we will be lost if we are trying to navigate by the mind of man through it all.

Having lost the fullness of our miraculous rebirth, as we are born of the Spirit as a new creation in Christ, we are stuck in the mentality of sins that we battle because we have not had a revelation of Christ crucified once and for all to take care of the very nature of sin. We need the renewed ability to have our eyes and ears opened with hearts of understanding to the mind of Christ, as we put on the Lord Jesus Christ!

"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."—Romans 13:11-14

Be Encouraged: Christ Has Done More on Our Behalf Than We Have Ever Believed Before!

My point is not even this. What I urge us to press into is the revelation of what happened when Christ gave His life freely on the Cross, shedding His Blood as the final act of sacrifice for sin—the whole lump and sum of it! The very nature of sin that would even allow us to be pulled into the sins that have beset us, has been lost, however we have so focused on individual sins that we have lost the revelation of the real beauty of the mystery: that Christ freed us from the very nature of sin itself—and, yes, it must be a revelation.

We have become so concerned with the sins that we have forgotten, or perhaps never even come into the illumination of, the Blood of Christ washing over our sin nature so that we would not even be pulled back into the mentality of struggling with sins. What I think we have missed is the fact that the curse was broken and we no longer live under the curse that was given to Adam and Eve. It's more miraculous than we ever believed what this Christ of ours has done on our behalf!

As that revelation is granted us, we can then step into the place that we need to be walking at this time in history. All of Scripture has led us to this point in time that we, as the manifest sons of God, are to be walking above all of the things that we struggle with. Let us look to the Light as we are in the Light and the Light is in us! Christ in us the hope of glory!

As we move into this position of revelation that He has granted us, we will begin to walk in the mind of Christ to hear the voice of the Spirit. As the voice of the Lord comes to us to show us how to navigate through this hour we have embarked upon, we will have ears that hear because we are walking by and in His Spirit and not in the mind of man.

"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."—Galatians 5:24-25

A Call of Love to Come Up Higher

Instead, we seem to still be suckling on milk as babes rather than eating of the meat of the Word to build up our spirit man in wisdom and understanding, to be able to determine what the leading of the Holy Spirit is.

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."—Hebrew 5:12-14

The visitations, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the voice of authority, and much more that will be given in this hour by God will not be given to those of us who are still struggling with the milk. The veil between Heaven and Earth is truly at its breaking point. The invitation is there for whosoever will; He is not a respecter of persons, as He has declared by His own mouth. BUT, He loves us too much to release us in what we are not prepared to walk in. Many are called and few are chosen...not out of punishment, but out of His mercy and love toward us to not give us more than we can handle.

I pray that this is not taken as a rebuke, but rather a call to come up higher. That is how I have heard it from the Lord and I hope that I have portrayed it as such, even in the frankness and reality of where we are at. We are called to so much more than we are living in. Perhaps that is because of the mindsets that we have allowed ourselves to adapt as we have compromised with the mind and ways of man. I have said this before, but I cannot emphasize enough that it is a time to ask for a revelation of the Cross and the Blood of Jesus Christ so that we might truly come into the authority and discernment we have been called to walk in.

Revelation that "the curse is broken and we are no longer subject to it" must be ours if we are to move in the signs and wonders He has saved for the very last. He has saved you to be born in this hour intentionally because you have been chosen as one who has the potential to walk this out. Allow yourself to be realigned, or perhaps, even for the first time, be aligned with the mind of Christ and who we are in Him as He dwells in us.

JoAnn McFatter
WhiteDove Ministries
Email: contact@joannmcfatter.com

Catherine Brown: "God Desires to Empower You to Be An EXPRESSION OF HIS HEART to All Those Around You"

Courtesy of elijahlist.com

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us, that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations." Psalm 67:1-2

I want to encourage you today with a word about Kingdom transformation. God desires to empower you to be an expression of His heart to all those around you. Today, God wants you to know that as He holds the whole world in His hands, He also holds your heart, your family, your destiny, and every good gift in the palm of His pierced hands for you.

Jesus said, "Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world." John 17:24

We need to have faith for the encounter to access the atmosphere of Heaven, yet all we have to do is simply accept the Master's invitation to enter into the glory realm.

The Transfiguration Encounter

In Matthew 17:1-13, we read how Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain with Him, and there the Lord was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became shining bright and the glory of God was all around. In addition to this incredible sight, Moses and Elijah appeared before them and spoke with Jesus about His imminent departure from the earth. The atmosphere of Heaven causes a shift and brings with it an opening from Heaven to earth. Mantles, miracles, salvations and healings are released when Messiah draws near.

At this time, Peter suggested that he should put up three tents. We might say he wanted to "build a monument to the moment," but God wasn't looking to build a monument; He was orchestrating a face-to-face encounter to facilitate Kingdom change beyond what they could ever imagine at this stage of their journey. It was an awesome occurrence, and we can understand why Peter wanted to keep hold of it forever!

God, however, had different ideas. He didn't want Peter to operate out of yesterday's anointing; God calls us to live in the "now" of His eternal presence, invading every fiber of our being with His glory. As Peter spoke a bright cloud enveloped them all and God's voice was clearly heard above Peter's, "This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!" Matthew 17:5

God sought to ensure that the disciples recognized the strategic and significant nature of their encounter. With the coming death and resurrection of Christ, life as they knew it was going to change beyond recognition. This personal episode in their lives was necessary to prepare them for what lay ahead. In time they would ultimately view this revelation of Christ's majesty in the wider context of reaching the multitudes.

Love Breaks Fear

By affirming Christ, God revealed Himself, yet again, as a loving Heavenly Father in touch with every aspect of His Son's life and the lives of all His children. By enveloping them in the glory cloud, God included the "trembling trio" simultaneously, making it clear that it was not a time for idle chatter but a time to listen carefully to Christ.

The disciples were terrified and fell face down when they heard God's voice, but Jesus came and touched them in a reassuring manner. Not desirous for His disciples to be ruled by fear He said, "Don't be afraid." Jesus understands that fear can cause us to feel disenfranchised or to disengage and become apathetic or aggressive (passive or otherwise) to the process of change.

The power of Christ's love breaks every fiber of fear in us. Jesus said to Peter, James and John, "Get up" because our Lord is passionate about active discipleship. He wants us on our feet, ready to respond to His voice and willing to move forward at any given time to His instruction.

Building--a Monument, Memorial or a Movement?

Peter had come perilously close to building a monument to the memory rather than realizing he was part of a Kingdom movement for change. We can all so easily fall prey to this religious mindset. Building a memorial to "how things were" may prevent us from moving forward into the exciting new things God has for us. We need to acknowledge that each touch of Christ is to maintain His divine momentum of transformation in us and through us. We cannot build for the future if we operate in the confused assumption that "what was" is somehow better than "what is" or "what will be." Christ yearns to encounter us just as He did Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration.

The disciples may have left the mountain without fully understanding what the future held. Nonetheless, God had imparted another revelation of His glory into their beings. Every testimonial meeting with God is life-changing even when we don't entirely "get it." Perhaps our responses might initially look like Peter's--a little bit out of sync with God's direction. But the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are our plumb line in times of transition and enable us to respond to Him with humility and grace

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands--A Vision of Jesus

Having been suitably challenged by this Biblical exhortation not to become distracted by past glory moves of God (yet mindful of the need to give thanks for them), I sought the Lord in prayer and He graciously and immediately opened up the revelatory realms. I saw Christ holding a globe representative of all nations in His hands and "2008" was wrapped around it. The Lord embraced the world, holding it against His chest and the lifeblood of Jesus filtered into the world as He embraced it. I could discern the audible heartbeat of the Lord and as He touched the nations, they too, began to echo Heaven's heartbeat.

Intrigued, I inquired of the Lord, "What are You doing?" He smiled at me and said, "I am gathering the nations to Myself."

It is all too easy to forget that Jesus truly does hold the whole world in His hands! God wants to encourage us to be a people with whom He can infuse His power and passion to partner Heaven in a Holy Spirit movement for change. The vision clearly portrays the ingathering of the multitudes. Such a harvest vision is always impregnated with seed which will bear Kingdom fruit. Today we have an opportunity to receive from our Master and become His agents for change.

I bless each one of you in the glorious love of Christ.

Catherine Brown
Gatekeepers Global Ministries
Email: admin@gatekeepers.org.uk

CHUCK PIERCE: "PRAYER ALERT for the Middle East: Nations Collide and Rosh Hashanah Begins"

This article comes from elijahlist.com. Let's join in praying for these Middle East and Islamic nations during Ramadan, beginning today.

For His Glory,
Joe & Shirley

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Nations Collide: Ramadan Begins Along with Rosh Hashanah on the Night of September 12
A Prayer Initiative from the Middle East

This is a key time for the blood-bought disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ to rise up and pray fervently. We are entering the new Hebraic Year 5768, today--at sundown. However, not only is this the Hebrew new year, but we are also entering into the Islamic month of "Ramadan." Devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset as an act of faith and worship toward Allah, suppressing their desires and abstaining from earthly pleasures. This fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to Allah. During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam as well as refraining from anger, envy, greed, lust, sarcastic reports, backstabbing and gossip.

The word "Ramadan" is an Arabic word meaning intense, scorching heat or dryness, especially toward the ground. Another definition is "sun-baked sand." An additional intent of Ramadan is to scorch out sins with good deeds. Ramadan releases religious zeal among Muslims of all ages.

I would encourage you to pray for the millions upon millions of Muslims who will be observing the month of Ramadan. As they are striving in an act of devotion, we can intercede that they are met with dreams and visions of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and that the Holy Spirit reveals His truth to them.

I am forwarding a prayer initiative that was just sent to us from a leader in an Arab nation in the Middle East. Rather than writing a focus myself this year, I felt it was important to gain revelation from leaders that actually live in predominately Muslim nations. We will be traveling to meet many of these leaders at the beginning of October.

The initiative below is a focus from those who "dwell in the land" and encourage us to "dig in prayer" with them. We feel that if we do this during Ramadan, then we will come into a "Rehoboth season" for the Kingdom of God. This means the Kingdom of God will advance, and we will all find an enlarged space to dwell in the presence of God with a victory mindset.

Prayer Initiative from an Arab Leader

Loving Greetings in Jesus Name!

It's a great joy to come to you through this prayer initiative during this month beginning from the 13th of September. We would like to pray for our cousins and also very specifically for the Muslim nations around the world--taking one country a day for the next 30 days.

The Middle East region that we are living in now was once upon a time--a hotbed for revival. The Peters and the Pauls of the New Testament, turned these regions upside down for the Lord. Most of the Churches were planted here and the Gospel to the whole world was rung out from here.

But the state today of the same region, which was once visited powerfully by the Lord, is closed to the Gospel. The Lord spoke to me in a time of prayer that this is exactly like the situation in Genesis 26:18, "Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them."

During Isaac's days, the Philistines closed the wells which were springs of water in the days of Abraham. The Lord spoke to Isaac and said to DWELL in the land and not go into Egypt. Then the Bible says that Isaac started to DIG up the wells of his father, Abraham, which the Philistines had closed. There was opposition after he dug the first well. He dug again, and there was opposition even for that. But Isaac kept on digging. Finally, the Lord brought him to REHOBOTH, which means "the Lord has made a large room for us and we will be fruitful in the Land," where he had no contention.

Let us hear what the Spirit says to the Church. In these lands, let us DWELL IN HIM and let us DIG IN PRAYER. We shall soon reach the REHOBOTH for there are SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER waiting to be tapped and to flow out into these nations again.

During this month of Ramadan beginning on September 13, let us join our hearts and faith, and pray collectively (if you could fast that will be very fine). Below this list is a link to a downloadable file that contains details on 30 Muslim nations that will enable you to pray more effectively.

Remember to DWELL AND DIG!

List of Middle East and Islamic Nations and Dates to Pray:

Thursday, September 13 - Afghanistan
Friday, September 14 - Azerbaijan
Saturday, September 15 - Albania
Sunday, September 16 - Algeria
Monday, September 17 - Bahrain
Tuesday, September 18 - Bangladesh
Wednesday, September 19 - Brunei
Thursday, September 20 - Arab Republic of Egypt
Friday, September 21 - Indonesia
Saturday, September 22 - Islamic Republic of Iran
Sunday, September 23 - Republic of Iraq
Monday, September 24 - State of Israel
Tuesday, September 25 - Jordan
Wednesday, September 26 - Republic of Kazakhstan
Thursday, September 27 - State of Kuwait
Friday, September 28 - Lebanon
Saturday, September 29 - Libya
Sunday, September 30 - Malaysia
Monday, October 1 - Morocco
Tuesday, October 2 - Sultanate of Oman
Wednesday, October 3 - Pakistan
Thursday, October 4 - Qatar
Friday, October 5 - Saudi Arabia
Saturday, October 6 - Sudan
Sunday, October 7 - Syria
Monday, October 8 - Tunisia
Tuesday, October 9 - Turkey
Wednesday, October 10 - United Arab Emirates
Thursday, October 11 - Uzbekistan
Friday, October 12 - Yemen

(A detailed list of statistics on these nations is available by clicking here.)

Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion Ministries