RECOVERING the AXE-HEAD of GENUINE ANOINTING

RECOVERING the AXE-HEAD of GENUINE ANOINTING
-by J. Lee Grady.

We've faked the power of Pentecost long enough. Let's set aside
the imitations and reclaim the real deal.

Shortly after Elijah was carried to heaven in his fiery chariot, a group
of young prophets asked Elisha to go with them to build new living
quarters near the Jordan River. While one of the young men was
cutting down a tree, the blade of his axe fell in the water and sank
into the murky depths of the riverbed (see 2 Kings 6:1-7).

The construction project came to an abrupt stop. This was before
the days of flashlights and sonar devices. These guys were in
trouble.

Knowing that his friends could not replace this expensive iron tool
they had borrowed, the young prophet cried to his mentor Elisha
for help. The wise prophet threw a stick in the water where the
axe head had sunk. Immediately the heavy iron blade floated to
the surface—defying the laws of physics and proving that nothing
is impossible with God. Elisha's faith saved the day.

We can gain so much comfort from this story. It reminds us that
God has power over the natural world. It also proves that He cares
about the seemingly trivial details of our lives—and that He is
even willing to bail us out of the messes we make.

As I have meditated on this passage in recent days I've also
applied it to our current situation in the American church. It
illustrates how desperately we need to recover what we've lost.

Perhaps you've noticed that our blade is missing. I don't know
exactly when it fell off the handle, but it seems as if we've been
trying to build God's house without the sharp edge of His genuine
anointing. We've traded the real for the phony. We've cheapened
Pentecost to the point that it's been reduced to dry religious
programs and circus sideshow antics.

We've mastered the art of hype. We know how to fake the
anointing. We push people to the floor during our altar times. We
know how to manipulate music and crowds so that we can create
the atmosphere of the anointing. But in so many cases the real
anointing isn't there. In its place is a hollow imitation.

Some charismatic leaders today are even selling specially
handcrafted oils that promise the Holy Spirit's power. Others sell
scented candles that claim to bring God's presence. And last year
one brother was traveling the country with feathers in a jar—
claiming that these belonged to an angel with healing powers.

Lord, forgive us for our charlatanism. We need the blade back! We
must cry out to the God Who has the power to raise iron from the
bottom of a river.

We are not going to advance Christ's kingdom, or build His
victorious church, using scented oils, fake charms, ear-tickling
prophecies and goofy charismatic gimmicks. This is all wood,
hay and stubble destined for the furnace. What we need today
is the sharp blade of the Word that is empowered by the Holy
Ghost and fire.

In my world travels during the past few years I have met humble
Christians who carry the genuine anointing of the Spirit. I've spent
time with Chinese believers who see miracles inside their prison
cells. I've met an Indian evangelist who has seen six people raised
from the dead. I've met a Pakistani apostle who regularly sees
Muslims healed during outdoor gospel meetings.

Last week I interviewed an Iranian church leader whose ministry
is leading 5,000 Iranians to faith in Christ every month. In the
midst of persecution and political upheaval, a New Testament—
style revival is erupting in that Shiite Muslim stronghold-all because
the church in Iran is weilding the axe head of genuine Holy Spirit
anointing.

Where is the God of Elisha? There is a cry in the American church
today that resembles the cry of the desperate young prophet in
2 Kings 6. We have not been good stewards of the Holy Spirit's
gifts, and now the precious power of God has eluded us. We
dropped it. Yet we are beginning to acknowledge our blunder.

Let's fully humble ourselves. Let's repent of fakery and fraud. Let's
ditch our counterfeits and our cheap substitutes, and ask the Lord
to restore the axe blade. Let's cry to Him for a pure, unadulterated,
genuine, life-changing, planet-shaking revival.

-J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

-SOURCE:
http://charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/26080

WHAT About FALLING DOWN??

WHAT About FALLING DOWN??
-by Andrew Strom.

After reading what we have published regarding the dangers of
Kundalini, etc, a lot of people may be wondering what is "OK" -
what is really from the Holy Spirit?

Does the Holy Spirit sometimes cause people to "fall down" under
the power of God? Yes - sometimes He does. But He does not
need to make some big "show" about it. And neither does He
need men to "push" people over, either. There are counterfeits for
everything.

What about the gifts of the Holy Spirit - like tongues, prophecy,
healings, discernment and the casting out of demons, etc? Yes -
I believe very strongly in ALL the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are
right the way through the New Testament. But the key is this
word "Holy." The real gifts of God have a holiness and purity
about them. You can sense this. Counterfeits tends to have
a "weirdness" or ugliness about them.

Let me give you an example. I received the following account from
a preacher in England several years ago: "There were about 20
fellow ministers all gathered together in one large room at a local
minister's house. We were introduced to the special guest... The
next 3 hours were the weirdest three hours I have ever had to
endure. We started listening to [her] testimony which seemed
very powerful, next she spoke of the times that she meets with
the Angel Gabriel and other spiritual beings, next we moved on
to portals between this world and the next and then finally to
how she was going to open up a portal to Heaven in the room
that we were all in. Now things started to happen, really crazy
things and strange noises... As [she] moved around the room
ministering to individual people they were crashing to the ground,
bouncing up and down, running around as if on fire and making
all sorts of sounds. When she came to me she had no prophetic
words for me and nothing happened to me so she just moved on.
My Vineyard friend was the first to crash to the floor. Since that
day his church has taken on a different guise, it is not the same
church any more."

Please notice that the PREACHING was different from true Biblical
preaching - and the SPIRIT that the lady was ministering in did not
seem like the pure Holy Spirit. Can you tell the difference?

We need to watch out for preachers who bring unbiblical or "New
Age"-sounding terms into their preaching - or who talk about
"angels" all the time. Can people have true encounters with real
angels? Yes - but always these beings that come from the
presence of a Holy God carry His "holiness" with them. Angels
in the Bible always carried this weighty presence of a Holy God.
There is too much weirdness, ugliness and silliness in a lot of
Christian meetings today. And I believe a lot of these encounters
are not real angels at all.

So should we go forward with prayer needs for healing, etc?
Absolutely! -If the preaching is sound and biblical and they are
not putting on some big "show." As long as the preacher has not
gotten some weird "impartation" from one of these strange "revival"
meetings then they are probably fine. In fact, I am all for the real
power of God being demonstrated in the earth! I wish we were
seeing a lot MORE true healings and deliverances and miracles -
not less! Jesus said, "These things will you do - and greater things
than these"! (Jn 14:12).

Just think about the Book of Acts for a moment. Not only are there
healings and miracles and demons being cast out right through
the whole book, but there are also occasionally angels appearing
with instructions from the Lord, and an abundance of dreams,
visions and prophecies, etc. So we see that God is definitely a
SUPERNATURAL GOD. He does do "unusual" things. Angelic
visitations DO HAPPEN. Prophetic signs DO OCCUR. But please
notice that all of these things have a certain holy "character" about
them. And that is the key right there. They have a holy character,
because they come from a holy God.

I believe in a true Revival that has the piercing "word" of a John
the Baptist or a Jonathan Edwards or a Charles Finney - accompanied
by the most powerful MIRACLES that anyone has ever seen.
I believe in a Revival like that - the "word and Spirit joined." True,
piercing 'holiness' preaching with real signs and miracles following.
There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is what the Book of
Acts shows us again and again. Bring it on, Lord!

So please be discerning - but don't be afraid of the real super-
natural power of God. Without it, we simply cannot reach this
lost and dying world in the way that God has called us to. The
devil wants us to be so afraid of the "counterfeit" that we run right
over to the other extreme - where we don't want God's power or
anything "unusual" at all. This is just as big a trap as the
"Charismania" excesses on the other side. The devil loves to
push us to extremes - either hyper-Charismania or dead orthodoxy.
I believe in a powerful balance right in the middle - the "word and
the Spirit" joined. That is where real Revival is to be found. Don't
let the devil rob you by pushing you to either extreme, my friends.

God bless you all!

Andrew Strom.

Two Punch from David Wilkerson

Two new words from David Wilkerson are below-

(1) FEAR and AWE
-David Wilkerson.

The prophets warn us that when we see God shaking the nations,
and perilous times befall us, our natural man will fear greatly.
Ezekiel asked, "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be
strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?" (Ezekiel 22:14).

When God warned Noah of his coming judgments and told him
to build an ark, Noah was "moved with fear" (Hebrews 11:7). Even
bold, courageous David said, "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee;
and I am afraid of thy judgments" (Psalm 119:120). And when the
prophet Habakkuk saw disastrous days ahead, he cried out, "When
I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness
entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest
in the day of trouble" (Habakkuk 3:16).

Please note as you read theses passages: The fear that came
upon these godly men wasn't a fleshly fear, but a reverential awe
of the Lord. These saints weren't afraid of the enemy of their
souls but they did fear God's righteous judgments. And that's
because they understood the awesome power behind the
approaching calamities. They didn't fear the outcome of the
storm, but rather God's holiness!

Likewise, each of us will experience overwhelming fear in the
coming times of destruction and disaster. But our fear must come
from a holy reverence for the Lord, and never from a fleshly anxiety
about our fate. God despises all sinful fear in us, the fear of losing
material things, wealth, our standard of living.

All over the world, people are filled with this kind of fear, as they
see their nations' economies deteriorating. They're afraid an
economic flood will sweep away everything they've labored for
throughout their lifetime. Such is the cry of unbelievers who have
no hope. It ought not to be the cry of the godly. Indeed, if
you're a child of God, your heavenly father will not endure such
unbelief in you. Isaiah warned: "Who art thou, that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man
which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy
maker- and hast feared continually every day because of the fury
of the oppressor" (Isaiah 51:12-13). "Sanctify the Lord of hosts
himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread
[awe]" (8:13).

Let God be your fear and awe. That kind of fear leads not to death,
but to life!

(2) PRAYER in TROUBLED TIMES
-by David Wilkerson.

In perilous time like these, is the church powerless to do
anything? Are we to sit and wait for Christ to return? Or, are we
called to take drastic action of some kind? When all around us
the world is trembling, with men's hearts failing them for fear, are
we called to take up spiritual weapons and do battle with the
adversary?

The prophet Joel saw a similar day approaching Israel, one of
"thick darkness and gloom." According to Joel, the day of
darkness that was approaching Israel would be one such as never
seen in their history. The prophet cried, "Alas for the day! For the
day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty
shall it come" (Joel 1:15).

What was Joel's counsel to Israel in that dark hour? He brought
this word: "Therefore- saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with
all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with
mourning: and rend your heart and not your garments, and turn
unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who
knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind
him" (Joel 2:12-14).

As I read this passage, I am most struck by two words: "Even
now." As gross darkness fell over Israel, God appealed to his
people: "Even now, at the hour of my vengeance” when you've
pushed me out of your society, when mercy seems impossible,
when humankind has mocked my warnings, when fear and gloom
are covering the land ”even now, I urge you to come back to me. I
am slow to anger, and I have been known to hold back my
judgments for a season, as I did for Josiah. My people can pray
and petition for my mercy. But the world won't repent if you say
there is no mercy."

Do you see God's message to us in this? As his people, we can
plead in prayer and he will hear us. We can make requests of him
and know he will answer the sincere, effectual, fervent prayers of
his saints.

SOURCE - http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com

Copyright (c) 2009 World Challenge, Inc.

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"You can start again in 2010!"

"You can start again in 2010!"
Dr. Kluane Spake
htttp://kluane.org spake@mindspring.com

Perfection of Divine Order Begins in 2010

This last decade has been one filled with terrorist attacks, shock and awe, dread, war, numerous alarming failures in church leadership, Enron, Afghanistan, Iraq, political leaders in dreadful scandal, scam artists, hucksters galore, economic disaster, and of course, Tiger Woods. Where is safety? Honor? Respect? Who can you trust?

As believers we are learning that we are "in the world, but not of it!" We have found many blessings midst all the troubles. Many are thankful to start a new decade and begin with fresh hope.

2010 - do you say two thousand and ten, or twenty-ten?

The number 10 is very significant.

Noah lived through the antediluvian age which was the tenth generation from creation.

The Ten Commandments contained all that Israel needed.

The Lord's prayer contained ten clauses.

Optimum giving is usually based on tens.

The magicians and astrologers were 10 times weaker than Daniel in matters of wisdom and understanding (Dan. 1:20).

Egypt suffered ten plagues, Jesus spoke ten parables, He told of ten virgins.

In Luke 15:8 Jesus told a parable about ten coins and how when even when one was missing, the owner tried to find it.

10 Brothers (Gen. 42:3)
10 Cubits (Ex. 26:16)
10 Years (Ruth 1:4)
10 Loaves (1 Sam. 17:17)
10 Virgins (Mat. 25:1-13)
10 Talents (Mat. 25:28)
10 Lepers (Lk. 17:11-19)
10 Minas (Lk. 19:12-27)
10 Horns (Rev. 12:3)

Ten is a phenomenal number that is defined as the perfection of Divine order, commencing, as it does, an altogether new series of numbers. Ten means the completeness of a past order, marking the entire round of anything, and it is, therefore, the ever-present signification of the number ten. It implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; that the whole cycle is complete.[i]

Luke 24:46-48 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to risefrom the dead the THIRD DAY, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

What this means is that "You can start again in 2010!"

The cycle of the old wineskin of your life is complete - the New Day is come! It is the perfect time to begin with a new series of hopes and dreams. The Third Day was resurrection and LIFE. After you get that part, it is time to be endued with power from on high! This is the real deal!

What if you're someone whose ideas are completely outdated?

Have you had prophetic Words that have not happened... yet? Do you stand in faith waiting, and nothing happens? Are there steps that you need to take to come into your destiny. Nobody like you has ever lived before. It is time for you to regain stewardship over ever area of your life! It is time to come into resurrection LIFE and be that witness endued with power.

It has been said that perhaps the 11th commandment is, "CHANGE." Everything around us is changing -- fast. Are you changing? Are you relevant. Is your understanding increasing? As this new year approaches, are you ready to really begin a new fresh start in a new cycle?

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
--George Bernard Shaw

"All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination.

"Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and SUCCESS."
--Napoleon Hill

SUCCESS is different for each one of us. But, the fundamentals for achieving success are the same for all of us. If you concentrate on your weaknesses, you will be average and be limited by boundaries of your own making. Don't allow yourself to re-taste the bitter experiences of failure and quitting again and again. Making excuses must end.

FAILURE = TRADING YOUR DESIRES AND GOALS FOR WHAT YOU WANT RIGHT NOW.

REMOVE all hindrances. Throw off every weight. Let go of anything that doesn't have God's LIFE in it.
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Success = Becoming the best you can (the perfection of Divine order).

Success = keeping commitments to yourself and others,

What is DREAM IN YOUR HEART? WHO PUT IT THERE?
Success = BEING what and who are you BORN TO BE!

CONSIDER that God allows you to be the architect of your own life.

Where are you going this year?

Life Will Not Go According To Plan If You Do Not Have a Plan

RESOLUTIONS are a profound message about who you are and what you are capable of. It is a decisiveness to proceed to your dream.

Resolutions should be GODLY DESIRES THAT MOTIVATE!

Do your resolutions align with your life's vision? How?

Do your resolutions align with your values?

Do your resolutions belong to you? Are they authentic or are you trying to be someone else?

Do your resolutions have resurrection LIFE in them? Hope? Do they make your heart leap? Your baby jump? Do they generate excitement, expectation, and momentum in your life?

FOCUS your efforts on the smallest number of activities that will produce the largest amount of productivity.

Make all your decisions based on your vision and goals not on your income ability or current situation.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Eleanor Roosevelt.
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Beloved, whether you feel like it or not- YOUR LIFE IS taking a huge turn. The veil is rent and the sea has parted. Make way to cross over to the Promised place. This next year YOU will begin to converge into a greater NEW and LIVING WAY. As the heavens and earth SHIFT into this New Day, you will see more clearly how to ALIGN.

For the Lord your God will perfect that which concerns you. The hand of the Lord and His favor is upon you to impact this generation. Get excited and ignited for you are hand picked to live NOW. BE-come a manifestation to this generation!

This next year can affect possibly the next 10 years of your life!

Behold, this marriage brought forth sons. Do you hear the sound of the manifestation of these grown-up sons? They are the willing volunteers in the womb of the morning coming forth. At last, the First Fruit Company is reproducing. The Glory of God comes forth - Christ in YOU, Christ AS you.

"You can start again in 2010!"