mourningdove~ said:
I want to give confirmation, too, of what you have said.
I believe God is always in the business of making things 'new'.
Each salvation, each new birth ... is the start of something 'new'.
And God continues to work 'new', as we continue to walk with Him in our salvation.
But 7 years ago this month, I was blessed with a vision from God that was powerful and remains vivid to me.
The purpose of that vision was to 'announce' to me that things were about 'to change' ... to lovingly prepare me and give me faith.
7 years, 'like clay in The Potter's Hands', it has been ...
I now live in a totally opposite physical 'reality' from before. The place is different, the people are different, the challenges are different, the needs are different. Very little of anything is the same as it was before. I am not the same. God has been using and continues to use these changes to grow my heart in faith, hope, and love.
(What about you, Child of JC? What things has God done in your life during this time?)
As a result of knowing Him more, acquiring new revelation, and repenting of sin, I think differently about everything (it seems).
One of the major things was looking at the gospels in a new way. The religious experts were not actually experts. They knew the letter of the law but they knew nothing about love. They were experts in the fact that they knew the prophecies about the Messiah, but resisted Him and killed Him when He showed up. I'll stay away from the long story, but those whom I viewed as "experts" 7 years ago have had their true colours revealed. I'm not saying they're saved or unsaved. They know a lot about the word but can not speak much about experiencing God. When the Spirit came, they implemented "rules" and the spirit left. I believe we will experience revival again soon. 7 years ago I thought those people would be the ones who would pray and seek Him. Today I think they are the most needy.
Another change is, 7 years ago I thought revival would come in a church building because of the church people. But in the gospels Jesus' ministry happened in the streets. Wherever He was the Kingdom of God manifested. He taught in the church of the day, but His ministry was not boxed up inside it. I believe in the teaching of the 7 mountains. I believe God is busting out of the religious forms that we have come to expect and is going to influence the government, the media, homes, business, entertainment, education, and the way we do church. It doesn't take too much observing to see how evil all these sectors have become. We need Jesus over these things.
When the Todd Bentley revival broke out and then the scandal was exposed I was shaken by it. I pondered it a lot. At first I thought the revival was fake, but then John and Carol Arenott and others had approved it. I trust these guys. If anyone knows revival it's them. So then I started asking God why He would have allowed this to happen. I wrote Todd off as a leader, but then I started to look at it differently. God sent Rick Joyner to guide Todd through restoration. Rick Joyner has endured much criticism, but I think he's a man of faith. Infidelity is HUGE inside the church as well as outside. What if the real message is found in how people responded to Todd's situation? We wrote him off because of his sin. We refused to believe he could be restored. We wrote him off as a leader. But, God did not treat King David like that. King David was not removed from his throne. King David's sin did not disqualify him from leading armies. What if Todd comes back with a message of hope, love, and forgiveness for the church? Don't we need to hear that? Imagine all the men and women in the church who are in the same sin? Don't they need to hear that there's hope? That God forgives? After all, if he forgives the big guys like king David and Todd Bently then surely He forgives. Some say Todd did not truly repent. We don't know what God has been working out in these years of councilling with Rick Joyner and others. But, I await the testimony. I really believe God is up to something. The legalistic church will not receive the message of forgiveness and restoration. They will miss out on Truly Knowing Him.
I think God is transforming everything that we have come to know. He is Making our old-wineskins flexible so He can pour in the new wine. I personally experienced this in my own home church. Actually, the squishing of the Spirit is what started the 7 year season. It has been a long season and I believe He is coming!!!
