Rejection & the Drive for Intimacy

A friend of mine posted the following quote on her Facebook page:

"Sometimes rejection is just God taking you a new direction, so don't take rejection personally, it's what needs to happen to guide us places we wouldn't choose to go on our own." -Paul Scanlon

I have been reflecting on this recently as I have gone through quite a bit of rejection over the past year and even more so during the last few months. I lost my financial support for school, my engagement dissolved, and my relationship with my parents is strained to say the least. Some of this is partially because of actions in my past which came to light. Some of the other rejections, including ones not listed here, are unwarranted. But I do know that God uses all of this for His glory.

We have a choice on how we respond to rejection. We can hold onto it, adopt a victim mentality, and talk about how everyone persecutes us. Or we can hold onto it and believe that we actually deserve it. Instead we should receive the healing that Christ offers and recognize that He is all we need. Don't take the rejection personally. God often uses that rejection to make us look in a different direction. He is using the rejection in my own life to drive me to Him. To look at Him as more than just Savior and God but as Father, Lover, Nurturer, and Mother. God is all we need. He can satisfy our every desire. The comforting touch of a lover, the acceptance and embrace of a mother, and the strength of a father. Over the past couple weeks I have at times just laid in my bed and let Him caress and comfort me. Even as I write this I feel the approval of the great Lover wash over me.

I will speak more about this in a later post. But the key thing that I want to focus on here is that rejection is not to be feared. God will use it to bring us into new things, increase our dependance on Him, and reveal the impurities in our own lives. Embrace the refining fire. There are many who fled the fire and crashed and burned as a result. Do you want to be in this race for the long haul? Then you must submit to the refining fire in the present moment. Let God burn everything that is not of Him. Let everything of you be purged and burned in the fire. Embrace the glorious fire that makes everything glorious. Cry out for more. It will burn away every chain, every bondage, every stronghold, everything that does not reflect His glory. Cry out for more of His fire.

Prophetic people are some of the most rejected people on this earth. They are some of the most lonely. Part of the reason is that God has wired them with a powerful drive for intimacy. This is so that we spend our days before the face of God. So that we desire the secret place above all else. But this drive is often misguided. We don't understand what this deep longing is for. We think that it is for the opposite sex. We think that it is for earthly approval and acceptance. That is why so many prophets fall to sexual immorality and the praise of man. They crave intimacy and acceptance of all kinds. That is why God is refining His prophets. So that earthly intimacy will not hold us where it shouldn't. So that we recognize what that void is. So run, run, and run in order that you obtain more and more of that intimacy with God.

Don't embrace rejection itself but embrace its byproducts. Receive every good thing that God is pouring out in your life. As you die to yourself our Savior will pour more of His life into you. For to Him belongs all the glory, Amen.

-Matthew

Sean Feucht: The Jehu Anointing

This blog is primarily for my own writings but from time to time I will republish certain words from other people. I am posting this word as it is VERY in-synch with what God has been showing me about this upcoming season. There is a battle coming in which the people of God will arise and defeat the influence of Jezebel. This will be done through the reestablishment of the Tabernacle of David for it is in the high praises that we have our power. Those high praises unleash the angelic hosts. 

Sean Feucht, along with JHOP-SF, is holding an event in San Francisco this August. I urge all of you to check out their website (www.tab-sf.com) and pray about coming to SF. I will be bringing a group with me from Orange County as we gather in the Golden Gate to worship our God and declare that He will reign over this nation.

Sean Feucht:
"The Jehu Anointing - for a Season of Harvest, Fruit and Fullness"
Here we stand at a new year in the history of humanity. Last month marked the end of one season and the beginning of another with the number 8 carrying the Biblical meaning for "new beginnings." This held true in 2008 among the Body at large and with our "BURN 24-7" tribe blazing a "resting place for God" in over 70 cities across the globe. More furnaces releasing sweet incense were launched in more cities and nations across the globe than during any previous year in our short history.

We experienced a new explosion of healings, salvations, miracles and restoration in our communities as we gathered in day and night adoration and worship to rebuild David's fallen tent (Amos 9:11 and Acts 15:16). We launched new outreaches in our cities and regions to bring the fire of His presence to the poor, the destitute, and the lost, bringing authentic cultural transformation.

Not only did all of this take place, but God birthed new dreams and visions in the hearts of His sons and daughters that will mark and guide us for the rest of our earthly lives. 2008 was a year of newness and birth across the planet, and a healthy understanding and impartation of this will provide a springboard and launching pad for this next season and year that we've just entered into.

Fullness of the Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit

As with the Sons of Issachar, we are called to be those who understand the "times and seasons" we live in. It would be a shame to blindly enter another year as if we are just "making it through," while ignoring what God is saying and speaking to us regarding the coming season. Just as 2008 was a year of "new beginnings," I firmly believe 2009 is a year of "fruit and harvest" across the Body.

The number 9 carries the Biblical meaning of "fruit, harvest and fullness." There are 9 "Gifts of the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:7-10) and 9 "Fruits of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23), and we are entering a season where God longs to see the fullness of these released in the Body and in our daily lives.

The fullness comes as we carry the complete release of the Gifts of the Spirit while maintaining character that exemplifies the Fruit of the Spirit in every word, action and thought. This will be the very thing undergirding the most massive harvest God has unleashed in the history of mankind! It will be a strong foundation providing lasting and sustaining fruit for years to come!

What God has birthed in 2008 will reach a season of fruit, harvest and fullness in 2009. These are such amazing exciting times we are living in and the acceleration we are experiencing in our communities, cities and nations is absolutely astounding! We must be a people with thankful hearts for all HE HAS DONE while reaching ahead for MORE THAT IS TO COME! PEOPLE GET READY!

It's Time for Jehu to Ride

I have been meditating on a story in the Bible recently that has stirred my spirit to ask for this to manifest in the Body and in our midst this year. Last November, I was in Kona, HI with some fiery burn leaders bringing an impartation of the BURN 24-7 DNA to the largest YWAM base in the world in preparation for our Fire and Fragrance school. The dream of this school is a journey to see the divine marriage of the Missions Movement and the Worship and Prayer Movement happen; to unleash Davidic worshipper revivalists into the darkest nations of the world armed with the song and presence of the Lord.

During this preparation week, there was a phrase that spread throughout our crew and began to stir deep inside my bones. The saying was this: "It's time for Jehu to ride."

I began to meditate on the story of Jehu and the state of the nation when he was anointed king in 2 Kings 9. When Jehu came on the scene, Ahab and Jezebel were reigning supreme and controlled the land with the spirit of idolatry, perversion and wickedness. Instead of the prophet Elisha taking matters into his own hands, God told him to anoint a King to be the divine solution.

A man from the company of the prophets found Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, anointed him with a flask of oil on his head and gave him one charge from the Lord: dethrone the house of Ahab and establish righteousness again in the land. The Bible describes that Jehu then drove his chariot "like a madman" (verse 20) in chasing down evil powers and principalities while establishing righteousness in its place. He did not relent until every single member of the house of Ahab was forever destroyed and forgotten.

Even during times of intense opposition against this call, those who came against him were simply commanded to "fall in behind" and join him (verse 18-19) in this pursuit and mandate from the Lord. He called out to those in the nation, "Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord" (2 Kings 10:16). This gift of zeal was to break off their apathy, and break open their desensitized hearts toward righteousness.

We are in a Jehu-like moment across America and the rest of the world in this new season. The spirit of Jezebel and the House of Ahab are ruling and reigning supreme in culture, government, media and even the church to some extent. I believe God's answer is not just to release the prophets and those in "full-time ministry" to take care of the problem. His longing is to activate and anoint everyday kings in their place of authority to rise up and take a stand against injustice, perversion and unrighteousness.

Jehu was NOT a prophet or a priest, but an HEIR to the throne. The call from God goes out to all joint-heirs to establish righteousness in the land and throw out all excuses that harden hearts.

This is our mandate in 2009 as sons and daughters of God across the Body. It is the hour to come forth and RIDE LIKE MADMEN dethroning principalities and powers of wickedness while establishing justice and righteousness through a lifestyle of PRESENCE living, working, breathing and being!

"Zeal for Your House Consumes Me"

We will then begin to call out to the nations and beckon them to come and see our ZEAL for the house of the Lord! They will be forever marked in one moment of His presence surrounded by the righteous living holy lives! Jesus Himself exemplified this Spirit when He violently cleared the temple of money changers and declared the famous line: "My house shall be called a house of prayer" (Matthew 21:13). As His disciples watched this rampage unfold before their eyes, they noted Psalm 69:9 (it's the year of 9's) which says, "Zeal for Your house consumes me."

God is calling forth this Jehu and Jesus anointing to carry fresh and attractive zeal for the house of the Lord that will restore righteousness, justice and worship in every nation of the world. This anointing to "ride like madmen" dethroning the spirit of Jezebel while enthroning the King of Kings will usher us into a season of widespread fruit, harvest and fullness in 2009.

Believe and receive this, and prepare yourself to ride as KINGS in 2009! Do not forsake the mandate but embrace it and run with it. Join in, wherever you can, in cities all over the world as we aim together for cultural transformation through the Presence of God!

IT'S TIME TO RIDE!!!

Sean Feucht, Founder
BURN 24-7
Email: info@theburn247.com 

About Sean Feucht:
Sean Feucht and his wife Kate are the founders of Burn 24-7 - powerful, prolonged experiences of worshiping the Father and intercession for the nations. Their undying vision is to ignite and establish places of continual worship and prayer that will affect the spiritual atmospheres, climates and cultures of cities and regions for the Kingdom of God. Sean has released five prophetic worship albums and travels around the nation leading worship and speaking at conferences, camps, services and BURN 24-7 furnaces.

God's movement amongst the Korean people

Recently, as I was in prayer, I heard God say that when the Church is ready the border between North and South Korea will come down. I believe that the reason that reunification has not happened, as many have thought it would, is for the simple fact that the South Korean Church is not ready for that moment. When the border comes down it will be a kairos moment that will need to be seized. God is preparing a body of evangelists, teachers, and prophets to flood across that border to preach the gospel, advance the kingdom, and equip the North Korean Church. It will not be an easy task. It will not be a safe task. Some may never return but will give their lives for the gospel of the unashamed.

God is moving among the Korean youth throughout the nations. The Koreans have long been known for their passionate and servant-hearted intercessors. God is raising up the youth to go to the nations. This is a Joel's army that will operate, with a great level of power and anointing, in every spiritual gift. They will be given a spirit of martyrdom so that nothing will distract them from what God has for them to do.

God has raised up the Korean women as intercessors for this coming move. He is using the passion, devotion, and love that they have for their children. He is pouring out His spirit of prophecy upon the women. They will dream dreams, have visions, and be given words of knowledge as they pray for their children. When the Korean mother prays for her child the demons quake. The power that is being released through this move of intercession will be used to usher in the kingdom of God in a way that has not been seen in hundreds of years. 

God wants to do a work among the Korean men. He wants to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers. He will bring a healing to the families and unite the generations. As the fathers receive the heavenly Father's love they will in turn exhibit it to their children. God wants to break the demands of performance and the overly strict requirements in order to receive acceptance and approval. No longer will the women be known as the spiritual giants for the men are going to take their place as the spiritual heads of their families. God is going to bring healing to the hearts of the Korean fathers.

This is a move that is not isolated to only Korea but is being done within all of the Korean people. For God has appointed the Korean people for such a time as this. He has refined them and will continue to refine them. Very few peoples have endured the things that they have. But God has seen what they have endured. God knows that they will, with His Spirit upon them, endure all things. For this reason He has chosen many of them as forerunners for the great global revival. He is going to scatter the youth among the nations. Koreans will be able to go where no other person is able to go. They will have favor where no one else has favor. Doors will be opened before them. The Korean people will be used to bring the gospel to the nations. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Iran, India, and China will be especially touched by this Korean led missions movement.

To God be the glory!

Matthew

Alena Miles: Push the Enemy out of your line of sight

Just wanted to share what I discovered yesterday. There is a blanket assualt happening against God's people whom He has kept hidden in His quiver for just the right moment, and just the right season.

Saw a picture of the enemy standing right in front of us, so close that He can't be seen around. He is spewing things, like, it's never gonna come, this is going to take forever, you must endure these assualts.......forever. His goal is to make us give up hope, focus on now, and what is in front of our faces. He is wanting us to take things in our own hands or sit down so we are not ready when God shows up.

I saw that if we would push the enemy out of our way we would see the Lord right behind Him. That the pouring out that has been spoken of over and over is wth Him. That it is not a movement, or a day, of excitement, but it is a permanent outpouring.

If we would push the enemy out of our eyesight, we would break into rejoicing with what we see. We wouldn't be able to help but rejoice, because the presence of the Lord is so near.

Those on the outside looking in can see it, we are so close that we can't see it, unless we push what is standing in our vision to the side.

Isaiah 66:8-9,14
8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things?
Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children.
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" says the LORD.
"Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?" says your God.
14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass;
the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.

Alena Miles

Visit Northwest Prophetic for a complete archive of regional prophetic words, or to submit a word. Submissions welcomed.

Dancing to the Unseen Sound

Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future. Faith is the courage to dance to it. - Tommy Tenney

A new sound is rising in the Spirit. Many prophets have testified to this new sound that is arising. What is this sound? There have been many opinions to this sound. I don't have a definitive or complete answer to what this sound is. But there are some things that I do feel in my spirit that are about to happen. The following is just one aspect/fullfillment of this new sound that is arising.

1. The establishment of the tabernacle of David within this generation. God is bringing together prophetic worship and prophetic intercession. These two will become one as they are intended to be. This new "warship" will be used to usher in the Kingdom of God in a measure of power that has not been seen since the days of Peter and Paul. But this time it is meant for all flesh. It will not be a few isolated people who move in this power. There is a call that is going out to all of those who are willing to completely surrender themselves to the Spirit of God. A multi-generational, nameless and faceless, generation will move in this power.

2. The roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has been released over the people of God. I witnessed this roar being released during the months of December through February of this year. This was a prophetic sign of the roar that will come from the deepest parts of God's people. A roar is not released from the mouth or even the throat but is released from the deepest parts. Judah means high praise and it is from this tribe that Christ came from, through the kingly line of David. This roar is a cry of freedom that will come from those who are bound. God is releasing the same spirit of deliverance that was upon Moses. This spirit will be poured out (imparted by the Spirit and not the hands of men) during the end of this year and the beginning of the next. This spirit will proclaim freedom in the darkest of places. This spirit will declare to the powers and principalities of this world to "let HIS people go!" 

3. There are those who have been given glimpses of this glorious sound. There are those who hear its beat in the distance. They have the hope that this freedom is coming. But it is not enough to have hope. We must have the faith to dance to this yet unseen sound. We must have faith to dance even when we cannot hear the cry of freedom. We must shout when we are the only one shouting. We must declare freedom when we feel the most oppressed. We must declare joy when we feel completely joyless. We must declare victory when we feel completely defeated. It is this dance that breaks in the new sound. The time for dancing is here! The roar of the Lion of the tribe of Judah is here. We must find our place in its power. We must dance in its thickness and the fullness of its depth.

A new sound is arising! A new beat is being laid down. A new rhythm is falling into place. A dance that has not been seen for ages is starting to happen once again. The dance of the warrior bride is starting. The warrior is dancing a dance of love. The lover is learning the war-dance. The angelic hosts have blown the herald's trumpet and sounded the beginning of the great war-dance. The time of freedom is at hand. It is time for us to have the faith to dance in this freedom before we even see or sense this freedom. As we dance the spirit of deliverance will come.

In HIS glorious service,

Matthew

Very timely word from Ivan Roman

Ivan Roman: "The Father is Inviting an Entire Generation to Come to the Mountain of the Lord"
by Ivan Roman 
May 11, 2009 

Recently, I had a prophetic experience while driving my car—in the natural, I saw the road in front of me and was very conscious of the semi-flat landscape all around. In the spirit, however, I saw a large mountain. And then I immediately heard the voice of God say, "If this generation doesn't come to the Mountain of the Lord, they will try to put Me back in a box and put My commandments back on stone."

Following this experience, I understood God wanted His people to come to His mountain to hear His voice and listen to what He is saying. Obviously we can never literally stick God in a box, but we can limit Him to a box in our minds. It's not as much what He has said, but what He is saying. The sober reality is that our lives and future may very well rest in our aptitude for hearing and heeding what the Spirit of God is speaking to us in this hour.

Immersing Ourselves in His Presence

The key to hearing the voice of God is learning to saturate and immerse ourselves in the presence of God. When we come into His presence, the rest simply happens.

At times, we can find ourselves confronting thoughts and mindsets contrary to the will and nature of God, which are oftentimes exposed by the light of His presence. But remember this, "…whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:16). So it's important to first recognize these thoughts as opposing the truth, and then take them captive to the obedience of Christ. Clarity is found in His presence!

Our lives will be transformed, but primarily after our minds are renewed (see Romans 12:2).

However, if we choose not to heed the leading of the Spirit and become proactive in renewing our minds, it is possible that we will limit God's power and anointing from flowing through our lives because of these unrenewed thinking patterns. This is why it's so important that we have the mind of Christ.

If we do not come to the Mountain of the Lord to hear His voice, we will endeavor to put His commandments back on stone—setting up religious alters and embracing old wineskins—and be found gripping tightly to ritualistic rules and regulations of legalism. "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…'" (Hebrews 3:7-8). It's not about the dos and don'ts of Christian living, but walking in fellowship with the life-giving Christ!

Come to the Mountain and Hear His Voice

God is speaking today—can you hear what He is saying? Our daily bread is the Word of God—we cannot live off of yesterday's manna.

In my vision, the Lord was referring to Exodus 19:5-6 when He said, "Now, if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation…"

God's original intention for His people was that they would be a Kingdom of priests. A priest's first responsibility is to minister to the Lord, and then second, to minister to God's people. God's desire is that we, as a generation of priests, would come to His Mountain to speak directly with Him and hear His voice.

After Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery, they approached Mount Sinai where God was. When God's people heard the thunder and saw the lightning, they were overwhelmed with fear and told Moses to be the mediator. This is one of the saddest passages in Scripture: "The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:21). God never intended for just one person to approach His presence; He wants all of His children to come near to Him.

Much later in the story, Moses came to the base of the mountain after encountering the Lord; he found the children of Israel making sacrifices to false gods and worshiping a golden calf they had made. The children of Israel witnessed incredible miracles by the hand of God, yet they still fell away. Signs, wonders, and miracles are part of our inheritance as Believers; we need to continue believing and contending for greater breakthrough in this arena.

However, witnessing the miraculous does not mean we are not capable of losing connection with God. It is still very possible to witness God's power and even minister under the anointing, and then fall away to worship idols. What separated Moses from the children of Israel? Why did Moses remain faithful while the others turned away from God? The answer is found in Psalm 103:7: "He made known His ways to Moses…"

He Makes Known His Ways

Moses witnessed the power of God, but he also learned the ways of God. If we don't come to intimately know the ways of God, we will always question His motives: "Can I really trust You?" When led out of slavery, the children of Israel complained because they didn't have any meat to eat like they had in Egypt. They didn't understand the ways of God, so they thought they were being punished. But in reality, God was teaching them to put their trust and faith in Him. He wanted to reveal Himself as a faithful and good God who provides.

Jesus Christ is our High Priest. His Blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat so we can come boldly before the throne of grace, obtaining mercy and finding grace in our time of need (see Hebrews 4:16). God has made a new covenant with us through His Son, Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant.

"For this reason Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."—Hebrews 9:15

Understanding the Love of the Father and the Fear of the Lord

As Jesus hung from the Cross, He cried out, "It is finished!" The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. We now have access to the holy of holies where the presence of God dwells. As sons and daughters of God, we are invited to come into the very real, very tangible, presence of God.

I used to have a difficult time understanding and believing that God wanted me to enter into His presence. I thought to myself, "God is Holy, I am not. If I go into His presence He's going to kill me, or at least be mad at me!" Thankfully, the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me the love of the Father. I'm God's son and He loves me and is pleased with me. And I also began to learn that there is a healthy type of fear of God.

"When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'"—Exodus 20:18-20

God is Love and He is our Father. First John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." Fearing punishment comes from the enemy, not from God. God's love drives out fear, but not the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a healthy type of fear which is actually for our benefit. Jesus is our example, and the fear of the Lord rested on Him; He even delighted in it (see Isaiah 11:2-3).

Moses responded to the people's fear by telling them not to fear. He then went on to say that the fear of God that is with them would keep them from sinning. "To fear the LORD is to hate evil…" (Proverbs 8:13). Fearing God produces a righteous hatred of evil and adoration for things which are pure.

To fear the Lord means to revere Him or show Him respect. I've been concerned with my generation regarding this issue. I've listened to several people deep in sin say that God knows their hearts and will love them even if they continue walking in disobedience. This is true, but being truly saved means we no longer desire to sin because it hurts the One who loves us. Paul teaches on grace in the New Testament, but tells us not to use it as a license to sin (see Romans 6:1-2).

Come Up to the Mountain of the Lord!

It's essential that every person comes to the Mountain to experience the presence of God. The story of the children of Israel proves that we can witness God's power, but if we don't know God experientially, we can fall away. Mount Sinai was where Moses encountered the Lord. As we read above, it was a very scary sight. Look at the mountain that we're invited to:

"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled Blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."—Hebrews 12:22-24

The blood of Abel cried out vengeance. The Blood of Jesus cries out mercy and forgiveness! This Mountain is warm and inviting—a place where angels welcome us. Jesus is the Mediator of this new covenant and has made a way for us to come into the very heart of God. The Father is inviting an entire generation to come to the Mountain of the Lord to worship Him there and hear His voice. Will you come?

Ivan Roman
A Friend of God Ministries
Email: ivan@afriendofgod.org

Ivan Roman has a passion to see the Body of Christ walk in intimate friendship with God. Ivan moves in a prophetic and healing anointing that flows out from a heart of love. He has traveled the nations seeing signs, wonders and miracles almost daily. After one year of traveling, Ivan attended Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry under the leadership of Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton. Ivan currently travels around North America and the nations; he also oversees the Jesus Revolution ministry here in Albany, Oregon that began in August of 2007. Ivan and his wife Erica have two children.

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