In the Heart of the Nation

I have just gotten back from a life-changing trip, leading a team into Central Australia on a prayer mission. Each individual has their own story about how God changed their life, and together we were commissioned to release fresh life over this nation. For me, this was an assignment which God gave me five years ago and I have been going through intense life situations to prepare me for the completion of this assignment.

This photo was taken at sunrise near Uluru on the morning we had communion, September 2015

When God told me this trip would be like no other trip I have led, I did not understand the weight of what He was telling me. He told me that this trip would be a matter of life and death. As it was, two people on the team almost died, and two others had very real encounters with the spirit of death. I have experienced firsthand that my God is powerful and not one life on the team was lost! All glory to God!

I am so grateful to those who have been praying for me over the last couple of months, as the lead up to the trip was just as full on as the trip itself. We saw God's light shine through in such beautiful ways. We went to the hospital on one of the days. I offered prayer to a couple of people sitting out the front. They were both healed of severe lung issues. (Language is limited when it comes to the indigenous people. They don't go into details, but they do understand the spirit and they are very honest.) One couple on the team were out late one night and came across a demoniac woman. She was screaming out, but could not speak. As they prayed for her, a deaf and dumb spirit came off and she could hear and speak again. Praise God!

It was amazing to see the transformation of the team over the week that we were together. They went from being unsure of what they were doing in Alice Springs, to being completely confident in what God was showing them and seeing changes manifest immediately around them. It was difficult to be faced with death and overcome it, but I kept thinking of these quotes. St. Joan of Arc said, "I am not afraid, I was born to do this." And as Mordecai said to Esther,

"And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14 ESV

There are assignments which require years of preparation before the Lord, overcoming certain things, maturing in certain areas, being positioned according to that particular season, and so on. God revealed to me that certain things must be overcome for the authority to be given. We only have authority in those areas which we have overcome personally. Until we have overcome an area in our own lives, we do not have authority over that area in other people’s lives or over regions and nations.

Like Little Children

Having known the Lord personally throughout my childhood, I know that children can experience God in a deep way. But God has continued to remind me just how important their view of God is.

And having summoned a child, He set it in their midst, "Truly I tell you," He said, "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4 BSB

Many people know how to come into salvation as a child, but not many know how to stay in that place as a child in the kingdom of heaven. We focus on learning things to begin with, then we fall into a complacency of thinking that what we know about God is the only way it is, all the time. Our God-view becomes quite narrow if we follow this pattern, which I am sure we all have at some point. We become set in our ways like an old man with a strong dose of man-pride. Yet the kingdom is upside down. If we want to go higher, we have to position our hearts lower still in humility before God. Our hearts need to remain, pliable and soft to the hands of the Master Potter.

The best way I have personally found to have a soft, teachable heart is to continue learning new things. It requires and almost forces you to stay humble. I find that God is always enlarging my scope and teaching me new things. To keep learning is good for both the soul and the spirit. Becoming lifelong learners keeps us alive on the inside.

One time I was leading a children’s church when we had a guest ministry. I was looking after the children who were over ten years old. Before the speaker began, the children and I discussed the many diverse ways we hear, see and experience God. As we discussed the different ways that God is experienced, I was amazed by the stories and encounters that they have already had.  It honestly never ceases to astound me just how much they are open to receive from God. They are able to hear God, know His voice and become familiar with His ways.

I worked in schools with young children, a few years ago. One day while taking a small group of students on an errand, the following conversation took place with a five year old student.
"I think God wants to talk to me," the student said very thoughtfully, as though consumed in her own thoughts.
I was quite surprised by her spontaneous question. Nothing had been said to prompt this comment. So I replied, "Oh?! And what is He saying?" in such a way as to show interest while not drawing attention to what she was saying.
She responded with a faraway look in her eyes, "I think God wants to talk to me."
"So, did you listen? What did He say to you?" By now my heart is melting at the innocence of the child. I wanted to encourage her to follow through with what she was picking up.
The student seemed to not hear me. She said one more time a little more decisively, "God wants to talk to me."
We had then completed our errand and the children were distracted with other things. I knew that God was showing me something here about the simplicity that children connect with God. He draws their hearts and they feel the call quite strongly.

They have no inhibitions to approach Him. They have soft and gentle hearts to learn new things. They are constantly trying new ways of doing things and seeing things. They do not stop learning. This is the same way that Jesus said we need to approach the things of the kingdom. God has created the heavens in such a way that they are only accessible to those who are able to become like children in the way we approach God’s kingdom.

The Sands of Time

We are truly living in the most exciting and dreadful time in history! As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. We are seeing things unfold in the same manner as they were in the days of Noah. Things are coming to a climax in the spirit, and though some have glimpsed, no one fully knows what it will look like as the spiritual dynamics manifest on the earth.

Over the last few weeks, I have been seeing a picture of an hourglass filled with the sands of time. I have been meditating and waiting on the Lord about what it could mean. I understood that it is to do with the timings of God, so I was very excited when Bonni Jones shared a vision she had received of an hourglass filled the sands of time.

Bonni sets the scene by first sharing the “Sands of Time” vision that her husband, Bob Jones, had back in the late 70’s. (Please note that I have edited the article little so that it flows better. The full article is linked at the end of the post.)

In January of 1979, Bob was taken in a vision to a place by the sea called the "Sands of Time." Bob said he saw great men there such as Elijah, Elisha, John and the martyrs. Each one including the Apostle Paul placed their hands down into the sands of time to bring up what looked like old shoe boxes. As each one did, Bob could hear them say, "Is it my time? Are the promises for now?" But with each of these leaders there was nothing in their shoebox because the promises weren't for their generation.

Then the Lord told Bob to reach down into the sands of time to pull up his box, but Bob said, "Lord, they are all empty!" But the Lord told him to do as he was told. So Bob reached into the sands of time and pulled out his shoebox. As he opened the box, he was shocked to see what was inside. The box was filled with white envelopes placed neatly inside. As he opened them he saw that they were draft notices that said, "Greetings, you have been inducted into the Army of God." However, none of these draft notices had postage stamps.

But on October 13, 1981, the Lord said to Bob, "Everyone that was born or conceived from that day forward were literally the end-time army of God. The first ones would be leaders and the second ones would be the greatest army that nothing could ever stop. And when they reach the age of maturity I am going to begin to release them in power. I will arm them out of My armory in Heaven and there is no gift that I will deny them. They will literally pull down the warehouse of God and they will have no fear of the enemy. They will glorify Me beyond anything that has ever been. They will represent Me in My holiness and compassion. They are Mine. They are the army of youth and they will be holy terrors.”

October 13, 2011 marked thirty years from the date postage cost twenty cents. Thirty represents the age of maturity for the priesthood. That was Jesus’ age when He began His public ministry that lasted three and a half years. There has now been a three and a half year time frame since the thirtieth anniversary.

God is never in a hurry. His timing is always perfect; never early, never late but always on time. I believe the army of God that received their draft notice in 1981 came into their place of maturity in 2011. However these past three and a half years has been a time of God sifting them to determine who would remain faithful till the end. I believe that during the past three and a half years this emerging army learned the importance of true humility. God resists the prideful but gives grace to the humble. His grace will rest upon this army and there is nothing He will withhold from them.

Recently in a vision I saw the Lord standing on the seashore holding a large hourglass filled with the sands of time. As I watched, He gently turned it upside down and placed it upon the beach. Immediately in my spirit I felt the Lord saying, 'It’s time to begin!'

Now that the Lord has overturned the sands of time hourglass, He is releasing these inductees into His end-time army. And they will be the most powerful force on earth, an army of “greater works” who are fully equipped in resurrection power and glory. This army carries a breaker anointing to break the chains of offense, oppression, lawlessness and religion.

God has commissioned a generation to rise up and carry His presence like has never been seen before. There is a mandate released to those who are brave and courageous. God has been pressing and testing the hearts of those who have surrendered and yielded to Him.

The last three and a half years have been a time of intense pressure for those who are candidates to carry God's authority. God will only trust it to those who have proven to be faithful under pressure. For me, the last three and a half years have been excruciating to my soul. It has been difficult beyond words. I know many other people who have been through situations of great challenge. Each person has been had their heart and soul broken to the utmost. But now we can see that there is purpose in the pain. God truly has been sifting the hearts of the sons and daughters to find those who will overcome and endure to the end.

He has been testing the hearts of His children to find those who will remain strong and obedient, even when they do not understand His ways. God is more concerned with the heart of obedience than with the external sacrifices.

What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15 22 NLT

The original blog posted by Bonni Jones.

And the podcast refered to in the article.