It was to the last Church the Lord addressed in the Book of Revelation, the Church of Laodicea, that He gave His greatest promise to. Those promises are for His people today. They are for you.
When most people think of the Church of Laodicea, they think of the negative rather than the positive. It is time to consider these great promises. First, we need to see why they are so great. Then we need to understand how overcoming the negative things this Church confronted will produce some of the greatest overcomers, the greatest saints, the world has ever known.
The Church of Laodicea was so prosperous that, as Francis Frangipane once said of today's Church, "They had everything they needed but God." This caused them to become lukewarm, and made the Lord so sick that He would vomit them out of His mouth. Being lukewarm is the worst condition a Christian can fall into. It reveals an ultimate contempt for the Lord. Indifference is the greatest affront to any relationship. Therefore, to know Almighty God and be lukewarm toward Him is the greatest insult of all.
Zeal for the Lord
The Lord called the Church at Laodicea to "therefore be zealous and repent" (see Revelation 3:19). We must recover and keep our zeal for the Lord if we are going to make it through these times. How do we do that?
The Lord sent fire from His presence to light the fire on the altar in both the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple that Solomon built. He then commanded the priests to keep the fire going. God has lit every fire in every heart that has ever turned to Him. However, He expects us to keep it going. We do this by prayer, worship, daily reading and studying His written Word to us, fellowship with others who have the fire, and being the witnesses we are called to be.
We lose the fire when we give ourselves to sin and wickedness. This leads to lawlessness as described in Romans 6. The Lord warned that lawlessness would cause the love of most to grow cold. This has been well proven in our times.
The Remnant Principle
Recently, when I was having lunch with Bob Jones, a prophetic friend, he said an amazing thing. He said that the unity of the Church that is coming would only include about 10% of Christians. I know that sounds unthinkable to many, but there is truth to this. Even in light of knowing we are entering the greatest harvest, a sound and repeated Biblical truth is "the remnant principle."
The remnant principle was at work when the resurrected Lord told five hundred people to go to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. However, just a few weeks later, there were only 120 gathered there. Yet that remnant was in "one accord" or unity. Do you realize that often our Churches or ministries are shrinking so that we can come into a higher unity that can release a greater glory and purpose?
As Abraham demonstrated, true faith grows stronger with the passage of time, not weaker. The passage of time between when the promise is given and the fulfillment of that promise will usually thin out the crowd by removing those who do not have true faith, but are just caught up in the excitement of the moment.
This does not mean that those with true faith will not waver sometimes too, but overall, true faith grows with the passage of time. Is our faith growing stronger, or are we going to slip into the majority that drifts away?
People tend to draw their security by how many people are with them. True faith doesn't. True faith is faith in God, not how many people are with us. True faith is demonstrated by patience, which is why we are told that it is through "faith and patience" that we will inherit the promises (see Hebrews 6:12).
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Koinonia - The Bonding Relationship of the Saints
The whole world is dealing with ultimate issues now. This is "The Valley of Decision" that was prophesied (see Joel 3:14). The foundations of civilization are being shaken. At the same time that human governments are failing, the Kingdom of God is growing.
We are in the times when Daniel 2 is being fulfilled. The statue that represents all of man's kingdoms is crumbling while the little stone that represents the Kingdom of God is growing into a mountain or government, and it will keep growing until it fills the whole earth. Which are we building our lives on?
If we are to fulfill The Great Commission, to make disciples of all nations, the Church is going to have to become the city we are called to be – a city on a hill, elevated, so that all can see its light. It was this city that compelled Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldeans, the greatest culture of his time. He wandered in a wilderness not even knowing where he was going, but he knew what he was looking for – the city that God was building, not man. Being a sojourner is still the nature of the true Christian walk of faith.
There are two basic Greek words used for Church in the New Testament. One is ecclesia which speaks of the structure and government of the Church. The other is koinonia that is the bonding relationship of the saints, which is loosely translated "fellowship" or "communion." The ecclesia exists for the koinonia, not the other way around.
Fellowship and Communion
The Church is called to be a family, not just an organization. We need organization, but the structure given to the local Church in the New Testament was the most basic and simple imaginable – there were elders and deacons – that's it. The life and power of the Church was its koinonia not the ecclesia.
In 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 we have the only reason given in the Bible for Christians being weak, sick, or dying prematurely. The reason for this is not having koinonia. The Apostle Paul warned us not to partake of the ritual of koinonia (the Greek word used for "communion" in this text) in an unworthy manner because doing so would bring judgment on ourselves.
To partake of the ritual in an unworthy manner is when people partake even when they do not actually have what the ritual symbolizes and reminds us to have – koinonia. It is noteworthy that nowhere are we given such a warning about not having ecclesia.
Koinonia is far more than greeting each other and exchanging pleasantries before a service once or twice a week. This word represents a bonding together to such a degree that the parts cannot be separated without dying. This is why the apostle warns that not having this in our lives will result in weakness, sickness, and death. It is that vital to the Christian life.
Some may maintain that they have fellowship with the Lord and that is enough for them, but the Lord said that this was not enough. We cannot be rightly joined to the Head without also being rightly joined to His Body. I've heard many say that they love God but just don't like His people. However, as John wrote, we do not really love God if we do not also love His people. John also wrote that:
"If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we will have fellowship (koinonia) with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).
If my hand is severed from my body, it will die quickly because the life blood cannot flow through it without being connected to the body. The same is true spiritually. We must have koinonia to have the true life of Christ flowing through us. We can't have all that koinonia implies by just having good chats with our friends over coffee. We can't have it by looking at the back of their heads in services either. This level of relationship is a vital part of true Christianity, yet it is rarely found in Christianity today. We must find it.
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Prophesied on the 12`th of September 2013, Najoth Berlin- Spandau
“There is the place of the past, where God visited you with His power!
It is the place of the measure of God from where He began to measuring into your present time, says the spirit of the prophet!
There is a fixed-point in your present time, that God is allowing to show up, because God is securing your line! He is securing the width of your tent (see Isaiah 54:1-3)!
You felt yourself like in a “mushy room”, because God has activated out of your weakness His power!
Keep attention on the mushrooms, because they come from beneath all of a sudden to the surface, says the Spirit of the Lord!
There were people at your measuring place of the past, who left you and where you felt broken!
BUT GOD says: “I still held you upright with my hand!”
It was a season, where you felt it as a season of “mush” in the midst of the cistern!
But God has shown you in the midst of all that “mush” the portal of vision, so that you can arise!
It is about the pupil! The black circumstance is giving you now the discernment for your future to take the right vision and to let go the false!
Kingdom authority is lifting you up and bringing you in the right position for this time!
Get ready for the “strangers” who will bring you up, says the spirit of the prophet (see Jeremiah 38:6-13)!
You will arise by God’s manifested hand through the “strangers”!
Adam arose in power from the “mush”and got positioned as a leader in Eden (see Genesis 2:7-8)!
Joseph arose from the “mushy cistern” and got positioned as a leader (see Genesis 37:23-24.28 in conjunction with Genesis 41:42-45)!
Jeremiah arose from the “mushy cistern” and got re-positioned as a watchman in the courtyard of the guard (see Jeremiah 38:6.12-13)!
There is the anointing of Caleb, that is getting activated in you, because God prepared for you a way for this season and the season ahead by His written living ink (see Psalm 139:16)!
There is a bone, that God is throwing into your field of your future and because of this, you begin to rejoice and remember all the past victories, that you have won with Christ at your side (see Judges 15:15-17)!
This accelerates you and creates a divine joy, that allows you to stay in strength and brings you deeper into your promise, so that God is getting all the glory, says the spirit of the prophet!
It is about the “flying bone”, that carries life, because of the “marrow” within it!
Loss will turn into life, says the Spirit of God (see Genesis 2:21-23)!”
Scriptures for the prophetic word
Isaiah 54:1-3 (NIV):
1 “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
Jeremiah 38:6-13 (NIV):
6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7 But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Genesis 2:7-8 (NIV):
7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
Genesis 37:23-24.28 (NIV):
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 41:42-45 (NIV):
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
Jeremiah 38:6.12-13 (NIV):
6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Psalm 139:16 (NIV):
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Judges 15:15-17 (NIV):
15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
16 Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.
Amen and Amen.
In His Wisdom,
Daniel Glimm
