Before God surrounds the nation with crisis, in his kindness he will always surround the nation with a prophetic witness (Corey Russell).South Africa is in the midst of crises and with each new crisis, our situation becomes worse than before. Is God speaking? Does he speak to us? What is he saying? When Mozambique had the floods of 2002 when the country was devastated and all the infrastructure that had been built since the end of the civil war was destroyed, Heidi Baker made the comment that God had perhaps allowed that to happen to bring that nation to its knees - to at last turn around and seek God, repent and seek him. And that is what happened, starving people ran past food to ask for prayer.
Revelations 9:20 "the rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood- idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts"
Revelations 16:9
Rev 16:11 "men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done"
Who says that the Lord would not send plagues and disasters?
Yet it is so offensive to so many to think that a God of love could send his "judgements" to man in this apparently cruel way. Is it not more offensive for God to witness the wickedness of man, to have to endure their cruelty and refusal of his love? There is so little knowlege of God, so little love for Him, and even for one another, so little reverent fear of him - that we would rather be offended on man's behalf than on the Lord's - and yet it is he who never does wrong, who longs to "never stop doing good to us", and who "rejoices in doing good" (Jer 32:39-41). God is love. Who are we to be offended? What is man's defence? We should sing with heaven "you are just in these judgements" (Rev 16:5). And if judgement bothers us then we should come to the Father's house to repent and ask the Lord for mercy. I have heard it said that the state of the nation is a reflection of the state of the church. If this is so - then WHERE IS THE PROPHETIC WITNESS TO THE HOLY AND MERCIFUL NAME OF OUR GREAT GOD?
Who is He talking to?
The question perhaps then is not what is God saying to South Africa so much as what is he saying to his church in South Africa. We after all are the ones in covenant with him, we are called his children, we are loved and strengthened by him. He is our inheritance and our cup of blessing (Psalm 16:5). He has given us "everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) Together with the Holy Spirit, we represent Jesus on earth. So it falls to us. We are his bride, called to partner with Him for his Kingdom to come - that's his plan right?
The Lord's message to us - is I suppose nothing new. Only there is a gaping hole in the world, and in my own heart where the knowledge of God should be - where reconciliation with Him should be there is estrangement, where there should be freedom there is captivity. There is no fear of God.
How will they know if we are all keeping mum?
Which brings me back to this question: where is the prophetic witness to God in this nation, to our politicians, to all the tribes and tongues, to the church itself? To Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe? Where is the witness to the name of God?
I believe God is raising up that witness - he is bringing forth Daniels to interpret the dreams of pagan politicians to bring glory to God. Daniel revealed not only the meaning of the pagan kings' dreams but in that bore witness to God's purpose to "set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." (Dan 2:44)
That's news you can use. I am asking God for a prophetic voice to establish that truth in the halls of our own government. Let their answer be what it will be - but we cannot be silent. We know what the future holds, and who holds that future.
But how, who and when? you and me - that's why I am writing. I believe the Lord has his hand on the church in South Africa just like he had his hand on Ezekiel (1:3c, 2:9, 3:14, 3:22, 8:1, 8:3, 33:22, 37:1 40:1). I ask the Lord to choose the church in this country, not a generation, not a city, not a denomination - but the church in this nation. I ask him to choose us, to put his hand on us, to give us grace to proclaim his truth in the marketplace, in the government, in the churches and schools, in the city and in the country, and in every language of this country. I ask him to put his hand on us so that we may prophesy what he said he would do:
"I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgements which I have done, and My hand that I have laid on them." (Ezekiel 39:21)
If you agree, then pray this with me:
"Lord, lay your hand on me, as you did with Ezekiel, show me visions of your glory so that I also may be overwhelmed and say "May the glory of the Lord be praised in his place!", persuade me fully of your glory, fill me with the knowledge and the vision of you, and use me Lord to proclaim your word and your truth here and wherever you send me. Lord establish your truth in the government, the marketplace, the schools, the church, the city and the countryside of South Africa. Establish your name here Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may be glorified, honoured and loved as you deserve."
The importance of discipleship in the Lord's strategy to raise a prophetic witness
The Lord is calling us to awaken to what is happening, what is coming and how we are to respond as the church in South Africa, and as part of the greater bride of Christ who is being readied for the return of Christ. For the last six months to a year I have become more and more deeply persuaded by the importance of the commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your strength and all your soul. It blazes before me, compelling me continually towards the one thing that matters. It’s a revelation whose depth cannot be touched – and it is the key revelation I believe to prepare us for the times we are living in. It captivates, it purifies, it strengthens – it removes idols from our lives while flaming our passions, and growing our affection for our Lord.
I do not know if it’s just because of the kind of person I am, but it really bothers me that I could be raising up disciples of Christ who are anemic – who are not going to be equipped for what lies ahead- worst of all who lack love for God. Who see God as a range of images that if you were to think it through, don’t quite hold together, so that the image of God they have fits into their lives as they would like to live it, a comfortable image of God that doesn’t offend them, that does not ask them too much. Judgement is coming yes – but is that the main reason that we should respond to God with total devotion?
Does God deserve such coolness- in response to the fiery depths of his love, the sweet purity, the healing wonderful miraculous nature of his love? Love him! Love him! Love him! But yes, judgement. We live in the midst of such wickedness – surely a loving God can do nothing but respond with his judgement. A part of me cries for judgement. Judgement somehow sounds as if God in his vengeance wants to destroy us – but right now, the judgement I see is what happens when God’s mercy is not extended to treat us in a way that we do not deserve. God’s mercy meets us when he exchanges our hatred for love, our conflict for peace, our alienation for reconciliation – and judgement is when mercy does not step in so that the consequences of our sinfulness reap precisely what they sow – lies sow deceit, distrust, destruction and violence. And so it goes on, till finally the Lord puts an end to it because he hates it and because he loves the church.
The cyclone and the disasters throughout the world and continent especially is hitting me in my gut as a call from God to turn to him – to turn away from our own solutions, to turn to him as the only solution. Will we turn to him, in the middle of this food crisis? What will drive us to our knees? Does it offend us that these crises and disasters are happening – does it cause us to turn to God so that he will heal our land? You can see it as you want – that man is at fault for the food crisis, the Burmese situation etc. that God would never “do” these things. Is it hard to see that God may not be raising his hands to stop man’s descent towards slow destruction in the hope that the consequences of our actions will cause us to repent as we realize that we have not power, nor mind, nor heart, no capacity to change even ourselves, least of all our communities. Say, for argument’s sake, that the crises in the world are not accelerations towards the end-time crisis to end all crises judgement. Let’s say they are arbitrary and Christ isn’t returning soon like I am saying – in the name of God consciousness – be called to him. Let everything call you to Him – both good and bad, surely God being God we should hear that all creation is calling us to Him, groaning for our completeness in Christ? So then whether you agree with me or not – see God. Shut down business as usual. Go to the wilderness. Forget about what all we wonderful humans can achieve – and turn to Him.
Return to the first
So strongly, I have heard for the last few months this increasingly attractive command the first last and always call to love him with all our heart, strength and mind. There is such a strong call from God’s heart to his people to make this first command first in our lives. The other thing God is stirring up in the most profound way I have experienced ever before is the call to prayer. He wants so profoundly to partner with us – to speak into his holy heart with the words of his heart – the words of scripture, in bringing heaven to earth. This is our glorious priestly inheritance – his Father’s house (where he has prepared rooms for us) is a house of prayer.
Because this is what the Lord has being saying, and I believe not only to me – I will send my notes to a prophetic teaching by a man called Corey Russell. Corey Russell has been a senior leader at the International House of Prayer located in Kansas City, Missouri for the last six years. IHOP is a prayer and worship ministry that has 84 prayer meetings a week and has continued 24/7 for the last 7 years. The IHOP missions’ base is filled with approximately 1000 intercessory missionaries, students, interns who raise their own support to give themselves primarily to the place of prayer and fasting. (www.coreyrussell.org) Read these notes I made – they speak so profoundly a word for right here, right now. This I believe is what God is saying. Look at me, see me, meet me on my terms, see my image and not the image you make of me to worship.if you want to hear the hour long sermon click here http://www.luke18project.com/Media/PlayMedia.aspx?download=file&media_id=1000003754&file_id=1000004723 or go to the Luke18project website: http://www.luke18project.com/
email "corey notes" in the subject heading to: cvanschoor23@yahoo.com
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