Today there has been manifesting many arguments amongst “Spirit filled leaders” that question the need and purpose of the Manifesting Presence of God in times of Revival. These arguments range from outright rejection of the need for the Holy Spirit to be with us in the first place, to forms of judgment against those who seek the Holy Spirit without desiring the call to ministry.

There are so many forms of arguments that the enemy levels to silence the Manifesting Presence of God within the Church. He does this in order to put the fire out at all cost. He uses the cranial thinkers to bring such arguments, those who are not speaking by the Spirit, but by what they presume to think.

Satan knows that if we, the Church, will bite on any of these arguments, that we will place the mind of man over the Mind of Christ, shut out the Holy Spirit either by will or condemnation, resulting in a powerless church.

One of the most serious of arguments I am most concerned about in this hour is the one that says, “The church is more interested in the Presence than in doing the works of the Kingdom.” This argument says that people “come in only for the experience, but stop there.” And there is much truth to this concern. However far greater is the error that lies within this argument! It is to this issue that I write.

Seeking Revival

I am ALL about Revival experience. That is my ministry, that is my call… namely to make a place for people to come in and to experiencing God.

I’ve been in many Revivals. Toronto over 60 times (Not because I was a Revival junkie. Rather, because my piloting job took me there three to five times per month back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s) I went back again and again because I loved the relationship I was gaining in the Father. What I did not know until later was that Father was laying in me destiny. He was dropping “equipping” into me. The anointing that breaks the heavy yoke, and a wisdom that confounds the wise, He was giving me. Most of which would birth at a later date.

Revival, and the seeking of the same, MUST pre prerequisite to all other activities. Why? Only in His Manifesting Presence do we gain truth that overcomes what we think. (Holy Spirit, the Helper who leads us into all truth.) Only in His Manifesting Presence are we even made aware of the call that we have been given. Only in His Manifesting Presence are we given the tools to fight this war that we are in with supernatural success. Only in His Manifesting Presence do we gain the revelation understanding of the Father heart of God who loves us unconditionally, the greatest motivational factor of all that calls me to “do” for Him.

Only in His Manifesting Presence are we made known to the power that heals the sick, cleanses the leapers, casts out demons and raises the dead, and then we are given that power. His Manifesting Presence = Revival.

Without Revival, we are all but dead in the murky stagnant lifeless religious waters of this world. No power, no effectiveness. No power, and we are left only with the minuscule ability of the flesh and cranial mind of man.

Revival must precede anything and permeate everything.

Here is the main point I am trying to make: We can not get our minds right before the Spirit will ever come in power. We need the Spirit to come in power before we will ever get our minds right. Works do not precede relationship. Relationship precedes works. It must, lest all that we do be of our own cranial judgments, lest our efforts be based in works rather than in relationship.

Such an argument that accuses seekers of “laziness” suggests that we need to have a works mindset before we seek Revival. That is to say, we need to have a “do” mindset before we come in and seek Revival. That is the cart before the horse.

Indeed there are many “Presence seekers” who stop short of doing the works we’ve been called to do. But I hear this very same argument time and again amongst today’s “Spirit filled leaders”. It becomes ammunition for the Spiritless on the far left, as well as many who have yet to experience the Presence to say, “We don’t need to seek Revival, we need to go out and do the works!”

It is an argument that pushes the pendulum of truth from out of balance to the left (that says there is no more Holy Spirit as it was in Acts) to out of balance to the right (which says that we are Presence seekers not willing to do the work). You see, both arguments result in the same thing… reduce or eliminate the need to be seekers of the Holy Spirit Presence. These arguments bring a sense of condemnation for making the effort to seek His Face in times of manifesting Revival. Because, we have placed our cranial thinking above that of the Father, we have placed the cart before the horse.

God loves those who seek His Face. And there are plenty of scriptures that make clear that point. But, after the Presence falls, we are left with the decision, and the choice, to get off our comfort seats and get out and do the work. However, God NEVER motivates us to do so out of any position of anger. True, the Presence will never cause us to get up and do the work. God never violates our free will. But that choice should never precede the irreplaceable need for the equipping that makes us able to do so. God loves us into the call.

If we have not gained prior equipping found only in the Presence, the results are works of man that get nothing done. FAR more important it is that people see the invaluable, mandatory and prerequisite need for the Manifesting Presence of the Holy Spirit, than we see the need for any form of Kingdom work. Because no Kingdom work will ever succeed in power without the anointing that comes first, only in times of Revival. We need the Presence first…

Ma 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Ma 6:9-10 Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…

Our first request of Father God is that He would bring His Kingdom to us on earth as it is in Heaven. Our first request is for the Spirit to come in Revival. All other requests follow, all other duties follow. Works of any Kingdom value follow the Presence. Works never precede the Presence.

As for us here in Asia, we have soaking meetings, available for all. I pastor (facilitate) them. We come to a stop and wait on the Presence of the Lord. In almost every one of our meetings, we see some form of physical healing, inner healing or deliverance. It is a magnificent Kingdom work of the “one to One”. Many who attend ARE going out and doing the works within the city. Some walking right into the local brothels and drawing out prostitutes into the truth. Others, ministering in direct demonic deliverance. Still others drawing the faithful to powerful revelation based intercession. Myself, I am ministering directly to local church leadership what it is to regain Revival. And the Spirit is showing up in power.

Why? First and for most… experiential relationship, then a release of the intimate knowledge of the Kingdom of God… then, and only then comes the presentation of the call to works. Thereafter they who receive the blessings of Revival must choose of their own volition to go out and do the call.

To those who say that Revivalists are merely experience seekers, I say this: Faith without experience is a dead faith. I would ask the question, “Are they promoting a works mentality in the reverse? Are they bringing a judgment against the very means by which people are made able to get up and do?” Think it through in the Spirit…

Remember, any part of our thinking that has not been expressly revealed from the Holy Spirit is just that, man’s thinking. Those of us who express Kingdom wisdom must be wholly and totally submitted, “yoked, mind to Spirit” to gain all wisdom and truth, lest we speak from our own minds what we think is the truth on any given Kingdom matter and do damage to all who hear of it.

Is there a way to all truth? Only by the Holy Spirit in times of His Manifesting Presence on earth as it is in Heaven.

For it is, “Not by might, nor by strength, but by My Spirit says the Lord Almighty.” Zech 4:6

Balance

Pr 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint…

Where there are no restraints, there are extremes.

Balance as man thinks of balance has no bearing in the Kingdom of God. It is meaningless and foolishness. The church is right to reject moral relativism. But we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water.

In the Kingdom of God, there is one pont of truth to every segment of knowledge. It exists in the Kingdom of God. But here on earth, we have no idea what that point of truth is. We must be revealed to it. This is why Jesus did not leave us as orphans! He died for our salvation and that we would receive the Holy Spirit, the Advocate who leads us into all truth.

Therefore all truth of any value is “up there”. It is NOT here. It then becomes the pathway to wisdom, knowledge and understanding that we gain the Manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit in all that we do on earth. When He comes, we gain God’s perspective on all things. We gain His knowledge and His wisdom.

The wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom of God is almost always contrary to the “wisdom, knowledge and understanding of this world”. Thus, the only way to these truths is in submitted and deep humility. Eyes to see and ears to hear are given to us. Our natural eyes and ears can not even comprehend His wisdom, nor can we understand it. Paul understood this clearly:

1 Cor 2: 4-14 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Truth is given, it is not conceived. Truth is revealed, it is not concluded.

With no Holy Spirit to bring the truth, we are as dart throwers in a contest to hit the bull’s-eye of a dartboard blindfolded. We pridefully throw our darts and hit everything but the dartboard, damaging everything we hit. But then comes the Holy Spirit in times of Revival. He lovingly removes our blindfolds, comes along side us, and takes our arm in His. Together, we throw the dart. We hit the dartboard easily and very close to the center point of truth…

In the gaining of Kingdom wisdom, knowledge and understanding, suddenly we all start to think alike! Because One Truth is revealed…

Balance

Balance as God sees balance is radical truth revealed, it is the Kingdom of God revealed on earth as it is in Heaven. When we stand on the radical Kingdom point of truth that God has shown us, we are in His balance. It is the right way. And it is the only way, to seek the truths of God by revelation rather than conclusion. It is right to receive of the Holy Spirit the revealed will of God on any given issue; to gain what God thinks on any given matter.

The writer of Ecclesiastes sought wisdom and found little of it in the world. But we have an advantage over this wise man of God. We have the completed work of the cross. We have the promise of the Holy Spirit by whom we gain the mind of Christ and the will of the Father. With much respect, it is much easier for us than it was for him! Now, we all have direct access to the inner-court depths of God’s deep deep heart.

Coming to the end of ourselves opens the door to all things of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. Humility and brokenness leads to a reaching outside of ourselves. Humility leads to thankfullness, thankfullness to intimacy and then intimacy to understanding. This, forever, is the process by which we gain understanding! In this entire process resides the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

For the church to be operating in truth as God defines truth, knowledge as God defines knowledge, and wisdom as God defines wisdom, we MUST be filled with the Holy Spirit!

I have seen how the enemy of God works so hard to keep the church in a place of extremes. In most cases the problem is an out of balance to the left in which we live in a state of sin. However, in the other case, we find ourselves in a place of out of balance to the right in which we are legalistic against every little thing.

Eccl 7:16-18 Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise — why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool — why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

I have seen a vision of a floor standing “granfather clock”. With a long pendulum arm swinging back and forth. I focus on the pendulum and see it swing to the far right and then to the far left and then back and forth unending. Imagine that God’s point of truth in any matter exists at the very centerpoint of the swing of this pendulum. Now then we can see that there is a left of truth and a right of truth on any given subject.

Let’s use the concept of “Grace” for a moment.

One side of the argument says that grace covers all sins so that we can go on sinning without cost. It says that our sins have been covered in the blood if we have accepted Christ in our hearts. Thus, and here is the error, we can go on sinning without concequence and still attain Heaven. Out of balance to the left…

The other side of the argument says that we are all going to hell who continue to sin. There is no recoevery for those who accept Christ who have continued in sin. God is an angry God, full of wrath, just wainting to throw you into the pits of hell for your imperfections. Therefore you can only reley on good works that might change His mind. Out of balance to the right…

Do you see the two sides of out of balance? Only by the Holy Spirit can we ever gain the “point of truth” on the subject of Grace! Grace is lovingly unmerrited mercy filled Cross born power to overcome! Notice that the word “grace” appears only a couple times in the Old Testement, yet over 100 times in the New Testement. Grace is a concept brought to fruition at The Cross. The very purpose of the Cross was unmerited mercy!

No discussion of sin should ever be spoken of from any pulpit but from a voice of humility. No discussion of sin should ever be spoken of without expressing both the myserable wrath-filled cost of it, nor the mercy and grace of Christ Cross that overcomes it. No discussion of sin should ever be spoken of without the expression of the truth that mercy triumphs over judgment. Neither should there ever be a discussion of sin without an expression of the way out, made available to all (regenerated or not) by way of the lifestyle of repentance. This is God’s point of truth on this matter.

Satan is a master at minipulating the pendulum arm of truth left and/or right of the centerpoint of God’s truth. Whenever we gain the Holy Spirit in times of His manifesting Presence, satan knows that the church is about to be revealed to truth as God sees truth! And so, he goes to all he has right to in attendance, by way of an unsubmitted mind, and brings arguments against what people are newly perceiving. He is a master at pushing the pendulum arm to the left or to the right!

He comes right in to our minds, bringing “the leaven of falsity” which is the lie. Satan knows that if he can gain ground by falsifying what is being revealed, that he will render the church in something/anything lesser and lower than what Father wants! This is always his goal as to the expression of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. And we need to know it.

Conclusion

We incline ourselves to the Kingdom of God, in which are found all the riches of wisdom and knowledge. None is found on earth. This is what the writer of Ecclesiastes was getting at when he said, over and over again, “meaningless, meaningless, meaningless!” Meaningless are the things and the ways of this world, and everything that is in it!

We are not saying here that it is right to live with sin while living in righteousness. The concept of “yin-yang”, in which good does and should exist with evil, is the way of the world. Moral relativeism is not what we are speaking of here.

Nor am I bringing a message of balance as the world defines balance. “A little of this, plus a little of that, right in the middle we compromise… that is the point of truth in whatever way we choose truth to be”. Such is the balance of the world, and which has no bearing in the Kingdom of God. What we are saying is that God sets a point of truth in all things. Only by the Holy Spirit do we find and then live within that very point of being.

The progression of error is like this: When we find we are in error, we know that a change is necessary. So, we start to move in the change by making a turn… turning away from the error towards the right way. Without the Holy Spirit resident, the devil steps in to keep us going past the point of truth and once again away from God’s will, towards the other side of the out of balance. We find ourselves in another extreme. This cycle causes us to remain ineffective for God’s purpose, if for any other reason than we are out of God’s radical truth.

If we are living in the flesh we can only guess at what God’s point of truth might be. We hope to live close to His will but we can never know for sure. We are living in a state of “logos”. This is why it is said in Scripture that the Holy Spirit is the Counselor who leads us into all truth. We must be so lead of the Holy Spirit. When we do so, we find unity of the Body. We all start thinking alike. We all begin to see God’s point of truth in all things. We agree. We live in the radical of the Spirit… not in the extreme of the flesh.

The main point is this. Abide in the Presence of God. And if the Presence is not in residence with you, stop everything, humble yourself, and wait upon Him. In such ways, we will know what is right. In such a way, we go out… we find fruitfulness.

It comes down to this. We must give our reigns of control over into the hands of the Father, humble ourselves, and wait upon His Holy Spirit to come in times of intimacy with the Father. Then we will know.

Isa 30:18-21 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry (your humility); when He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

Jer 51:16 When He utters His voice—
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
“He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightnings for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

As an airline pilot, I am intimately familiar with the design of a thunderstorm. A thunderstorm builds as hot air rises. As the storm develops, the hot air begins to interact with colder air at high altitudes. What goes up, must come down! Hot air rises, cold air falls. As the colder air above chills the hot air, the cold air then descends. Columns of hot rising air begin to interact with cold air columns that descend. In time, the friction of these columns of rising and falling air masses charge the air with electricity. Lightning follows. Lightning then produces thunder because of the extreme heat of lightning coupled with the speed of its movement.

Lightning strikes in one spot, but it’s blinding light and thunder are seen and heard for miles around.

And while in flight we avoid them with all haste, there is a spiritual meaning to the winds and the rains.

The rising air is like our praises and intercessions and the seeking of His Face. While the falling air is like what the Father brings into the church by His Presence. This is the ongoing process of ascending and descending.

Then the rains fall… and the winds blow… then, lightning strikes… and thunder follows. And when the lightning strikes, this is like the Holy Spirit coming in power!

There is what seems to be chaos during a thunderstorm; heavy winds, heavy rains, and then a shift! The winds herald the coming revelation, the grounds get watered with His truth. Then manifests His energy as the storm gives way to a change. Unstable air gives way to stable air. Chaos gives way to purpose. Religion gives way to intimacy and truth!

Lightning is like the power of the Holy Spirit manifesting instantly. Thunder becomes the testimony of it that follows.

He is the Lightning…. We are His Thunder…

We need to be willing to be shifted violently out of dead and lifeless religion! That’s what happens when the Spirit shows up. That which was gives way to the new thing. Our air becomes shifted, our grounds get watered, and we thunder His testimony out into a dying world!

Job 36:26-33 “Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; nor can the number of His years be discovered. For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down
and pour abundantly on man. Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, the thunder from His canopy? Look, He scatters His light upon it,
and covers the depths of the sea. For by these He judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance. He covers His hands with lightning, and commands it to strike. His thunder declares it…

In two days, we are entering into the Hebrew year of 5775. It is the year of the Shemetah (Shmita, means “release”, the “sheviit” year or seventh sabbatical year). It is a year of rest and of letting go, a year for the remission of debts. Historically speaking, for those of God, it marks times of great blessings, but for the world apart from God, great curses.

September 25th marks the turn of the New Year of 5775. This is the 7th of 7 years with the 50th year of Jubilee coming next. Why is this important? It is huge!

I’ve hear many people prophesying the shakings coming but few are prophesying the blessings… This is a year that much that is ungodly in the world will be shaken. However, it is a year for those who have prepared to be greatly blessed. It is the year of the beginning of the transference of wealth. Many have been waiting for it, but here it comes…

As we move towards the end time play, there will be great outpourings of both spiritual provision (Revival) and natural provision (finance) that will provide in part for the spiritual movements ahead. This is a great year for these things to come to pass.

Historically, the 7th year has been the times of huge shifts that manifest over into the natural. The beginning of both WWI and WWII, the events of Vietnam, the restoration of the State of Israel, the fall of the World Trade Centers in 2001 and the stock market crash of 2007/8 all occurred within the Shemetah year, some events down to the last day! We see many of these as horrors, but they have been manifestations in the natural of great battles that have been happening in the spiritual. Few have had eyes to see it!

It has been said for many years that wealth is coming to the Body of Christ, to those who have prepared. Father says that for some of those who have prepared and been faithful with the little, great wealth is about to be transferred. This is the beginning of it, though it has been in the works and spoken about for years… In the waiting, many have given up. But God’s timing is not our timing!

Many people are talking about Shemetah right now and only focusing on the doom and gloom. But I tell you, for those in the Spirit, it will be just the opposite! What’s happening in Ukraine prophesies to that which is to come. Under the threat of a great war, in Odessa Ukraine, certain churches is just now entering into full Revival. I know this because a dear friend is a key Messianic Jewish leader in that city. His congregation is in full Revival right now. The shaking manifests both ways!

For those who have yet to prepare, the word is clear: Organize, downsize, minimize and prepare immediately in the natural so that we can upsize, maximize and reap in the Spirit! It’s clear to me, this is a huge year to shift.

Even in the horror of the “valley of death” things we might see that are short to come, we who are in the Spirit will not be in fear. We must choose fearlessness!

As in the concept of the Shemetah, those that are tied to the world will fall with the world. But for many of us who have been living the Kingdom life, we will enter into a very great spiritual prosperity. That which has fallen away from God will fall. Conversely, that which has drawn near to God will rise in the Shemetah. Simply said, it’s the faith based concept of blessings and curses that has existed from the very beginning! I sense that this seventh of seven years Shemetah will be the beginning of a significant transference of wealth from the ungodly to the Godly, for Harvest purposes!

Though many miserable things we might see in the world, I see those who are filled with the Spirit and fully provided for both with supernatural miracles and financial provision, dancing down the valley of the shadow of death, fearing NO evil and bringing technicolor joy wherever they walk. Whatever is shaken in the world will not shake the Spirit filled Body of Christ.

No matter what happens, we will all need wisdom, diligence, perseverance and faith in the coming days! And NO FEAR!!!

Ma 26:39 Going a little farther, (Jesus) fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

God is not who we think he is. Nor is God who or what we make of him. God is God. He is the Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, by revelation.

He is who he has defined himself to be. And it takes faith to understand him in as much as he makes us able to understand him.

Everything about who God is, is revealed not concluded. And this revelation comes by way of the written word of God that is made revelation word through faith alone by way of the Holy Spirit. Without revelation based in faith, I am left to what I think over what God knows. When that happens? Error is certain to follow.

When we define God or his principles by what we think, we can only be but in error. “Well, this is what I think God is.” Such a statement departs from the necessary dependence upon the revelation power of the Holy Spirit of God to bring truth to us above/over what we conclude of him.

Even a dependence upon Scripture alone is insufficient. For, there are many who quote scripture to defend man’s ideas. They do so with earthy cranial arguments, rather than from the heart of the Father, Who through the Word and the Spirit bring illumination to the word. Even there are many who quote scripture, verse after verse, who know Him not. Revelation understanding, therefore, is the only way by which the church can grow up in all spiritual truth with spiritual understanding.

Even the devil knows the word better than most Christians. He uses the word legalistically to accuse us. He knows nothing of the Spirit save for a hatred of Him. In fact satan comes against the Spirit of God wherever and whenever the Spirit manifests into the world.

Satan knows that if he can silence the power that brings revelation, that man will be left with nothing but his own mind to conclude. By so doing, satan knows that he can maintain error in the church by way of the greatly flawed mind of man. If the Holy Spirit is not in residence in the church, the mind of man is in control of the church. If the Spirit is in the church, then the Mind of Christ is in control of the church. There is a night and day difference. One leads to religion and ineffectiveness. The latter results in Mathew chapter 10 coming to life and thousands of souls saved in a day!

How then are we using the word? Are we using the word to back our cranial arguments? Or are we dying to self, going lower in humility and preferring others ahead of ourselves, so as to know and then express revelation truth? Do we need to be heard, or do we need Him to be heard? Are we building our ministry, or are we building His ministry through us? Are we in trust of the Spirit, or are we in fear of what happens when the Spirit manifests? Are we independent of the Spirit or dependent upon the Spirit?

When we become honest with ourselves that we are in need of dependent, faith based revelation, and when we move past the pride of our intellect, we begin to see what was otherwise invisible… namely, truth as God knows and defines truth. This applies to who God is, what his principles are and what God is doing in this hour.

With these thoughts in mind, let us consider the manifestation of God’s judgment.

Judgment

Romans 5:16 …the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

When we understand God for who he really is… love and not judgment, we then can understand what judgment really is. But, if for whatever religious or cranial reason, we see God as primarily a judge, then we see him as an angry vengeful God rather than a Father and lover of his children.

Judgment can only be understood in the context of the love of God that overcomes it. Otherwise judgment can only be misunderstood as vengeance and anger. When we define it in the latter way, we do so with the mind of man and with worldly terms. In most cases these definitions are born from a lifetime of religious error or woundedness from those in religious error.

The Spiritless church is full of the mentality of religious judgment. Many who have walked in those circles or who have been raised up in family life that has been steeped in the same, have a very hard time with this concept of mercy.

Unless judgment is understood within the context of God’s mercy, it cannot be understood at all. Any discussion of sin and its consequences brings nothing but a sense of condemnation unless the greater truth of God’s mercy, forgiveness and deliverance are spoken of in the very same breath! If all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, then the way out of it must be emphasized over our errors that got us into it! Namely mercy, love and forgiveness, born from the sacrifice of Christ on His cross.

Thus it becomes a concept in error when sin and its consequence is all that is spoken of in our meetings. Leaders either condescend to parishioners’ sinful errors demanding judgment in religious anger… or they outright reject the concept of a judgment. Both ways are in error. Out of woundedness or by good sounding arguments that birth from woundedness come arguments that miss the truth of judgment as God expresses it.

There is a particular pride that is born from dishonest introspection on the part of a leader, who, by their error, think that they to be flawless and without sin. Oh yes, it may be that one is without most of the sins outlined in the word… sexual sin, hatred, murder, materialism and the like. But what about the “lesser sins”. What about Romans 14:23?

Romans 14:23 …for whatsoever is not by faith is sin.

If sin is anything that we do that is outside of faith, then being honest with ourselves, how many times did we sin yesterday? God defined sin is much broader than how we define it.

And so a false sense of a sinless life, can easily lead one into a sense of haughtiness. This results in a sense of having self perceived right to condescend to parishioners’ about sin. Almost always, the result is a discussion of sin without a discussion of the way out of it.

No one but no one is without sin. Some walk around and declare themselves without flaw. They walk around in a state of delusion.

1 John 1: 7-9 …but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Only by humility and honest introspection can one see the fact of one’s flawed state. We are all in this position. For truly, 1 John 1 speaks to our current state… not past tense. It speaks to who we are all today, an imperfect people, all who are in need of Him daily. From this low, dependent and honest position comes a true understanding of one’s ongoing condition for the need of a Savior every single day.

If by just one sin, we are disqualified from Heaven; if all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; if no one (who is without Christ) is qualified to go to Heaven because of just one sin (Rom 5:16)… then what is more important? Is it more important to point out that which everyone knows, that we are sinners by our selfish actions, and that we are all disqualified? Is it more important to beat someone into submission with our angry words of judgment? Or is it more important to speak of the amazing grace and love that saved a wretched man like me? Only by the Spirit are these things fully understood.

Tolerance

On the flip side, those who reject judgment outright have established a worldly concept called tolerance. Worldly tolerance is a concept in great error. It is one of those “good sounding arguments” that Jesus was so direct to warn us about. Rather than expressing love as the world would say, this form of tolerance leaves wide open the door to ever increasing unchecked sin and the cost of it that must inevitably follow. It too is a demonic strategy that so many in the church have bought into. Worldly tolerance and moral relativism is a cancerous theology!

God is so very tolerant, and that only from the position of mercy and patience. He waits until we have come full circle. Then, with our willingness, and within God’s timing, He releases the effect of our sin.

Every single sin, of thought word or deed carries with it a price that must be paid. However, whenever a price is charged, it is done so not with anger or hate, but with great sadness and hope lost by the Lord. For Christ has paid the price in full. He drank the cup of wrath down to the very last drop. Those who pay a price have missed this truth.

As for the church, while on earth, there remains a price on earth for sins committed. But Father, in His very great mercy, gives us time.

James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Take note of the process of time of the progression of willful sin and its’ result. When one sows in sin, there is a time before that person reaps the cost of it. Thus, Father’s mercy and tolerance becomes the time that Father God patiently waits… between when we act wrongly and when we reap the consequence of our choice. And God is patient to wait a very long time, sometimes even a lifetime.

Judgment is the fulfilling of God’s word which He must adhere Himself to. If God speaks a thing, it becomes his bond, lest God be a liar. So when He says that there is a negative result for sin, He must adhere to that word.

Our goal, as leaders in the Body of Christ, is to show all, including ourselves, the very great mercy and tolerance of Father God and to show them the way out! Our job is not to verbally beat the parishioners up for making wrong choices. We love them out of their issues; we teach them about forgiveness and mercy and we give them a hope for their future.

Because forgiveness by repentance is also a concept of the word of God, forgiveness wipes out the spiritual consequence of judgment. That is what we all need to know and to hear; God’s merciful wonderful gift, through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, of confession and repentance. We love them to that understanding, we do not beat them up until they submit to that understanding. There is a HUGE difference.

When our focus on sin is an angry and condescending Spiritless exposure of it, the result is a lifelong sense of self-rejection and ineffectiveness towards one’s life walk. But when one is lovingly pointed towards repentance through confession without fear of reprisal, the gift of Father’s love and encouragement, one is given a way out that includes a particular hope for their future.

Forgiveness through the gift of repentance is what God’s mercy waits for. And it is our job to lead our people to it in as much as we lead ourselves to it.

One can say that God’s mercy is found in His patient waiting for us to repent. It’s what godly tolerance is all about. Tolerance is not accepting error as being allowed or condoned or “just not talked about.” In fact when we tolerate as the world suggests, sin abounds all the more on the “free ride” of our good sounding arguments.

When we do pay a price for our sin, God’s judgment becomes something we do to ourselves, and then only after a great measure of patient tolerant mercy from Father God. What we reap we have sown of our own doing. But far greater is God’s mercy than is His judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment! This is why Jesus came into the world. It is also why Jesus is absolutely necessary for salvation.

Forgiveness

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to (condemn) judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…

John 12:47-48 “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.

God is not about judgment; he is all about forgiveness that we do not deserve. Therefore Jesus is not about judgment at all, though He will judge the living and the dead by way of those who have accepted Him, not by how well we kept the law! He is about His loving and merciful sacrifice that results in an awesome forgiveness that overcomes judgment. The cross He gave us was not out of judgment but out of mercy.

Therefore the devil, along with the religious church operates in forms of judgment that bring a sense of condemnation. But Father is all about mercy and love that brings a sense of motivation and a hope to live a clean and blameless life.

And so there is no judgment in the world besides what we have chosen to receive of our own doing, and then only after long suffering by the Lord to patiently wait and see if we would turn and be healed.

The Bible talks about God’s vengeance when God says that, “All vengeance is mine.” In the Old Testament, God talks a great deal about vengeance. The cup of wrath is well defined in Jeremiah 25:15-38. All the leaders of many nations were forced to drink of this cup, resulting in the fierce anger of the Lord being poured out all across the lands because of their sin and unwillingness to keep the law.

Christ had yet to come. But when He did come, it was this very cup that He drank for us all, so that no person, nor any nation, would ever again be forced to drink of it!

It is for this reason that whenever we see bad things happen in the world today, terrorism, nations under siege and the like, it is NOT because of an angry vengeant God! These things manifest from a hateful lying devil! God allows these things not out of judgment, but rather, that the nations be drawn towards mercy and shaken unto salvation. And again, Christ did not come to judge the world but to save the world!

Jesus came into the world and took all the wrath of God for all the sins of the world for all time upon himself. As a result, Romans 8:1 “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

He drank the cup of God’s wrath so that we would not have to. He took every punishment that our sin deserves when he drank our cup for us. There is no more wrath for us who repent and accept Christ in the fullness of what He did.

Rom 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

We have to be completely honest with ourselves, from the highest of church leadership to the last, and accept our fallible state. We have to confess that we need Jesus in every way… daily. This speaks to our absolute need for ongoing dependence and self-death.

Without Jesus and the appropriation He provided for us, we would be susceptible to the full wrath of God. In fact, all who have yet to accept Christ are destined to drink of this cup one day.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

To confess our errors and our need for our savior, followed by repentance is the very key to breaking off judgment both in the now and for eternity. The result is healing and a loosing of the result of our sin, along with a very great hope for our future here and now.

God is not about judgment, but forgiveness and mercy through Jesus Christ, and only through Him alone.

We are all but incapable of seeing this in its fullest without the revelation of our need and honest admittance of our errors in life. For whatever I do not accept that I have done in error places me in a state of God’s mercy and, in time, potential danger of reaping the reward for what I have done. How much better to die to myself to truly live?

John 12:24-25 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Phl 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

We who lead… this process of honest introspection starts with us. It must. For if it does not, the fullness of the Spirit who leads us all into all truth will remain apart from our message. And we will be left speaking as if to a wall.

Vision of the Wounded Warrior

Father showed me a vision of the wounded warrior. A woman standing with a cast on her leg, one arm in a sling, a black and blue eye, bruises on the body, and old wounds showing scars from past fights. But with the one good arm she did have, she continued to raise it to the heavens; she continued to declare, to pray and to intercede. This was the wounded warrior.

Father said to me, “I’m going to heal her wounds and bind up her infirmities. I will do it in the quiet place. I will do it when she stops and enters into the Holy place with Me. I will do it… face to Face.”

“For, if she will take the time to wait upon Me in times of intimacy and if she seeks My Face, I will come to her with healing in My wings and raise her up to the High Place with Me. There, I will show her My heart, and from that place, I will give her things she needs.”

The Lord says, “Continue in the call, but along with the call, add to it intimacy with Me. For there will rise up out of times of waiting a new level of faith as a gift. And in faith will come forth from your mouths a new song, and a new word… weapons that will decimate armies.”

There is a time for deliverance; there is a time to war and to fight. But there is a time to be still, both privately and corporately. In the quietness of the heart, and in these times of seeking, there will come an inner healing… face to Face. In that time, the Body will be renewed in such power as to fight these new fights we face in power, boldness and with a new and very great effectiveness. In this way, the attacks that formerly were effective will no longer be effective.

Now I see this woman again… bright shining as the Son, with no cast, no sling, no wounds and no scars. I see her declaring the word in power. I see the word going forth like a shockwave into the camps of the enemy. And I see the fights being won easily without anyone even lifting a finger.

Amongst the myriad of God’s calls of ministry there are all types of people. There are lovers, encouragers, peacemakers, evangelists, pastors, teacher, prophets and apostles to name a few. There are all kinds of individual calls upon the Body of Christ. Rightfully, it is generally considered by church leadership that each individual should maintain his or her work of ministry in whatever call each individual senses upon his or her life. We disciple the Saints to be disciplined and focused upon their individual call, and not to exceed the bounds of their individual call and anointing. This is a good and right teaching, as it is true that we enter into ineffectiveness when we either overstep our bounds, or worse, attempt a work outside our talent and anointing. This is a good and right teaching.

However, the establishment and maintenance of the manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit is not a ministry. It is a way of living; a way of life! It is not a thing for some churches and not others. It is not a thing for some people and not others. It is not the heart of the Father that His manifest Presence be reserved only for certain “spiritual hearts”. This call for every church to operate in the fullest measure of the manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit transcends ALL ministries. It is a work that all people, all ministries, and all churches must seek and maintain.

The Presence of the Holy Spirit is the very power behind Kingdom success. I would say that all things of the Lord are spiritual and that no thing of the Lord can be done to its fullest without the manifestation of the Presence. This can be discerned by a careful consideration of many scriptures such as what I have enclosed below:

2 Cor 10:2-4

I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

1 Cor 2:13-16

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Cor 15:44

…it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Col 1:9

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

1 Pet 2:2

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

1 Pet 2:4-5

As you come to him, the living Stone– rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We must understand that the Presence of the Holy Spirit is the very power that releases any anointing into its’ fullest measure. It is for the whole Body, not just some.

I have many times equated the Trinity of God to a flashlight. The Father is the Flashlight. Jesus is the light bulb. And the Holy Spirit is the battery that powers the flashlight. If any of these three parts are missing, the flashlight does not work. If the Holy Spirit is out of what we are doing, the power behind any good work in Christ is missing. Our effectiveness is only based upon the work of man, and can only attain to the height of man’s ability. May I respectfully say that any work by man’s ability is but a speck in comparison to the work of a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Spirit filled men and women will go a thousand times farther than men or women without the manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit, in any ministry.

No matter what your ministry or call in life might be, you MUST be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and regularly re-filled with the Holy Spirit! It most certainly is not a “once and done’ thing. This is so, lest you, the pitcher of fresh living water, be emptied out and become bone dry.

2 Cor 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Paul is telling the Corinthians that they must be constantly re-filled day by day. This is what is meant by Jesus when he says in John Chapter 7:

John 7:37b-39

…”If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink (this . Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Being re-filled means to “drink” of Jesus by way of the Spirit regularly, so that the inner man be renewed day by day! This drinking will become the norm in the End Time church. It is critical! This is particularly so in the days to come. Evil is becoming more evil, and it will take the “anointing that breaks the heavy yoke” to succeed in the days ahead. Our anointing, whatever that might be, is powered by the Presence of the Holy Spirit.

When the Lord spoke the following to Zerubbabel, He was speaking it to all of humanity to come:

Zech 4:6

So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power (man’s works), but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.

No Spirit, dead works! But by the Presence, we will succeed greatly in any and all calls of the Father. Be filed with the Holy Spirit by the seeking of the face of Jesus, and come back to the well at every chance to be filled again. Now read these scriptures in reference to this good work of drinking this “living water”:

Eph 5:17-18

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Acts 13:52

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15-17

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 14:26

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 16:13-15

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

And so it will be with the effective End Time church’s all around the world that the Holy Spirit will be welcome and sought after as a Precious Jewel, so that the greater Jewel, namely Christ, and the heart of Father God would be fully revealed.

Acts 4:31-33

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

How then can we possibly succeed in any spiritual Kingdom work without the manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit? We all need Him, and desperately so. And so it is my prayer for you, and all of the Body of Christ that we welcome the fullest measure of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in all events and into all Saints’ hearts!

Eph 3:17b-19

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge– that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.