Transition

Greetings,
Last evening was very refreshing as we worshiped and exalted the Name of the Lord. It was also a very important evening, I believe, for what the Lord is in the PROCESS of accomplishing in the central Iowa area. A lot of prophetic words were spoken; I see them as "road signs" along the path of the Lord. Words that encourage and words that chastise. Both are necessary from time to time. I won't take the time to repeat the words verbatim, but simply give the gist of a couple.

- Valley Junction is a dry place but because of the efforts and obedience of the Body of Christ the Valley will be flooded with the waters of God.

- Before the floods can be released, the spirit of rebellion (which is the same as witchcraft, and would include, to a measure, the spirit of pride) must be pulled down. Repentance must prevail among the people of God if the enemy is to be overcome.

Another thought came to me as I was ministering to the Lord earlier in the afternoon in preparation for the time of worship. I will speak on that in just a moment, but first I'd like to touch on the idea of preparing to enter the Presence of the Lord. Over and over the Lord speaks to His people about the need to prepare themselves to worship, pray, give, etc. Yet, over and over, people are so rushed that if they do get to a worship service it's just in the nick of time and they are so keyed up that they are in no position to hear the voice of God even if He was to walk up to them in a red hat and scream, "I AM GOD!". I believe the Lord desires for us to fellowship with Him BEFORE we go to fellowship with others and Him. That way, we don't arrive empty, but we are able bring TO the time of fellowship, worship, prayer, etc, that which we've received from Him. There just may be someone there that could use what we've received from the Lord. After all, aren't we supposed to be carriers of the Glory? Amen!

Now, on to my main thought. Transition. I was reading in Judges 21:25- "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." As you probably know, 1 Samuel begins where Judges ends. So, when you begin to read 1 Samuel you see where there is a woman, Hannah, who is desperate to have a child. She pours out her heart to the Lord, the Lord hears her and gives her a son which she names Samuel; "heard of God".

This wasn't just a coincidence or a nice story. God found a woman who was desperate to bear fruit, who would take that desperation to Him, and He in turn could use the fruit of her desperation to transition His people from following their own ways to following His order of things. Someone will say, "Israel wasn't supposed to have a king". That's true to a degree. Yet King David is a type of Christ in many ways. I believe that God raised up Samuel, the fruit of Hannah's desperation, to demonstrate how the Kingdom of God is to operate.

God has NEVER been a democratic God. (He isn't republican, either!) The Lord's Kingdom is a Theocratic Kingdom. It is to have ONE RULER! GOD! He is NOT pleased with everyone doing their own thing. He does not subscribe to a "let's just keep people happy, comfortable, and lazy". His words are like such: "if anyone will follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily...".

There is a transition taking place. Keep your eyes and ears open to the voice of the Spirit of God. There is a King that has been given the authority and the anointing to rule; JESUS! And, there is a move of the Spirit of God, through those who are desperate to bear fruit, that will take our desperation (which comes from God in the first place) and use the fruit of it to speak truth to the world around us. The truth is FIRST to be preached, proclaimed, to the church (1 Peter 4:17). Judgment must begin with us. Out of judgment comes either Glory or rejection.

Samuel came on to the scene where corruption, manipulation, covetousness, selfishness, etc, were prevalent among God's leaders; those who were designated to be His "witnesses". Before the Lord could touch the Nations (which has always been His plan) through His people, He had to change the way His people were. Samuel brought about the transition. And even though the people cried out for a king like all the other nations; and even though the Lord said to Samuel, "they haven't rejected you, just Me", the Lord still brought about great glory when the tabernacle of David was erected in Jerusalem.

Eli (the one who couldn't "see" well) and his sons had to be "eliminated". God was to preserve AND expand His work in His people and in the NATIONS! He needed to transition from one move to get to another. That's what's happening today. The old is going to be set aside; that which will yield to His plans and purposes (and allow His Son to rule and reign) will be established and those who have ears to hear His voice and a heart that yearns for His Presence will experience His Glory as never before.

Transition, transition, transition. Fairly easy to talk about, but change will not be easy. It will be VERY hard on the flesh. That is God's intent!

Time to go. "but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness..."

Pastor Jan