prophetic-words

Choices and Decisions

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:56:32 +0100

Have you ever watched the movie, "La Bamba"? It's the story about Ritchie Valenz, the young singer/guitarist who died at the age of 17. This young man lived, ate and slept guitar, singing and music. He had a dream and a passion for music. Nothing else mattered to him but music. He even SLEPT with his guitar! But, the fascinating thing - he was a young Hispanic man who didn't speak Spanish, who lived in a little dirt town in the middle of nowhere that no one even knew! There was absolutely no way he and his music could ever amount to anything! Then one day a record producer just happened to be in his town, heard him playing and singing, and came knocking on his door - and said, "Hey, let's make some music." Well, the rest is history.

But, Ritchie had a decision to make. He was playing with a little band and doing well in his little town that no one knew anything about. The record producer said, "I am interested in you, not your band. Come with me or stay with them." He was offered a choice - he had to make a decision! If he chose one way then he could continue with his band and sing and play - and never go anywhere! If he chose the other way then he had to leave his band and step into the unknown. He chose the latter and his music is still going even today!

As I was watching this movie God began talking about choices and decisions. We have some choices laid before us; choices of how to conduct ourselves before God and how to come into His presence, choices of how to step into His presence and have His Glory carry us in the things about to hit us. We have decisions to make that will affect us for years to come. We have operated for years in our understanding of what God is calling for and how we think He wants things done. We have worship (3-5 songs) and a message (Lord help us not to go over 30-45 minutes) - everything geared so we don't offend people by keeping them for too long! But have we stopped to hear what the Lord has to say, how He wants things conducted, what He desires?

For months I feel that I've heard God saying, "Return to the old ways ..." What are the "old ways"? In the Old Testament He laid out the rules for walking with Him - rules that have never changed. If you do these things then I will bless you; if you do these things I will curse you! Really take a look at Leviticus 26 verses 3-36!

He called for the fire to be kept burning on His altar day and night. Fire relates to prayer. He wants prayer on His altar1 The Moravians, in the 1800's, kept a 100 year prayer meeting, where every hour of the day and night someone was on the altar in prayer, contending with God for His Glory and Presence to come down. Every revival and outpouring of God has stemmed from that prayer meeting. But today we have lost that passion, that desire for the presence of God, for His Shekinah Glory to fill the room! We have lost the hunger for His presence. Yes, there are pockets of people here and there who have set their face towards Him. But for the most part, we have lost it. We spend 5, 10, maybe 30 minutes praying and then we get up and go do our "thing". I have heard it said, and found it so in my own life, that it takes an hour to clear your head and get ready to hear God's voice, another hour to begin hearing His voice, and then until He finishes conversing with you. In other words, it takes work to come into the presence of God, to come into a place where His presence begins invading your presence and His Glory begins radiating out of you and changing lives around you!

But we leaders want to do it our way, we don't want to upset our sheep by calling for people to fill the altars, we don't want to sin for what it is. We put together programs aimed at bringing in the lost sheep - good programs, programs that sound wonderful and have all the makings to be highly successful - but they are OUR programs! And as such will not succeed!

We must return to the old ways, the ways of prayer and worship! We must change how we are doing things or we are in trouble! I have a church and Pastor that I walk with in Kenya where I recently spoke a prophetic along these lines, of the necessity of changing how we are doing things and giving preeminence back to God, of worshipping Him until He says to change. I gave the same word to my Pastor here in the States. The one in Kenya took the word as from God and ran with it. Their services are changing radically, the presence of the Lord is heavily coming down, and miracles are increasing. I can't say the same here.

Folks - God is about to get our attention. He wants the fire back on His altar, He wants our worship, He wants to be first in our lives! Are we any different than Israel? He loved Israel DEEPLY. They are still scattered! He loves us DEEPLY. We murder 6,000 babies a day! We love and embrace all the things He hates! Do we think He will treat us any differently? My Bible says He chastises those He loves. He will complete what He has called us to, no matter what the cost!

Please hear my heart! We must turn, we must return to the old ways. We must give preeminence to God, we must turn from how and what we have been doing and return to His ways! We do not have much time left. God is moving and rapidly. Hear His cry - Hear His longing. Run to His altar, cry out to Him. When revival starts, it always starts in each one of us individually, and then spreads to those around us, then to our cities and states and nations. Never happens any other way! Stop trying to put false fire on the altar! Turn while it is still today.

He has laid the choices before us. We must now make the decisions that will affect our lives in the days coming up. Sin does and always has tasted good and felt good. The issue is one of obedience. Will we choose to obey, to cut off that that feels good and to run with what and who God has called us to be?

And therefore - Stand ...

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:04:03 +0100

So you are walking with God and have chosen to give Him everything, to answer the call He has placed on your life. Then adversity hits - you job goes away, money runs out and it seems like everything that can go wrong does!

So what do you do? You have tried everything you know to try. You have sought employment and there just isn't any. And what employment that does come along seems to go all wrong. You have reached out for prayer, understanding, someone (anyone!) to listen to you grumble - and nothing works!

What do you do? Do you fold up your tent and run? Do you quit and throw in the towel and say, "This is too hard and can’t be God"? When there appears to be no direction to turn, what do you do?

I bring this today, for it is where I walk (and stand) at this time. We have been brought to the point where all answers have fallen short except for one - "But God ..."

God keeps taking me back to Moses. Remember in Exodus chapter 2 when Moses became aware that God was calling him to greater things? At that point he was pretty well established in the courts of Pharaoh with a bright future ahead of him. He really had everything one could want in the natural. Nothing was denied to him. But he had this little nagging thought going on in his heart. Now keep in mind, at that point he didn't have a relationship with God, didn't have a life of prayer - just that nagging thought in his heart. So he stepped out to answer that thought in the only way he knew. With good intentions he tried to right a wrong by killing a person who was tormenting his brethren - the only problem was it was not God's way of moving nor in God's timing!

Now here is one of the parts God keeps speaking to me - Moses, after murdering the Egyptian and learning that Pharaoh wanted to kill him, fled. The word “fled” implies leaving with great haste, running away, being chased away. The implication, if I understand correctly, was he did not have time to gather things together, plot where he was going to go or anything - he just ran!

Have you ever looked at a map of the distance from Pharaoh's palace to the land of Midian where Moses ended up? It's like almost 300 miles! We are not talking a little stroll through the twilight! This distance is across desert wastelands and wilderness! He didn’t have a map of where he was going - he had no idea where he was going, only that he must escape from Pharaoh.

Yet, God sustained him on this journey and took him to a place He had prepared. He had a job waiting for Moses, provision for him and a home, and a place where Moses would not be interrupted in his time of training. That training process, or phase in his life, was to last for 40 years. In that process Moses came to a place of learning to lean on and trust God and not walk by his emotions or understanding.

As God was reminding me of this phase of Moses' life, He has been dealing with my faith and trust in His ability to care for me. You see, I was a software developer for many years, and then God called me out of that line of work and into a life of prayer. He said He would provide for and care for me. This process has been going on for better than 10 years now. But it keeps going deeper! This latest phase has been going on for 3 years now. We were on unemployment for a season, where I learned to walk deeper with God, to live on what He said to do and not what I wanted, and to transition from a life of programming to a much deeper life of prayer. Just when it seemed I was doing pretty well, the unemployment ran out and God began (again) asking if I trusted Him.

Now this all sounds so easy, and so many of us are real quick to say, "Yes of course I trust you Lord", or "Praise God brother, it's awesome what God is doing with you!" But when you are actually walking it out daily (and I know there are a lot of you in the same place I am!) it's a whole different story. When you look at your bank account and it is in the red and you have mortgage to pay and bills to pay - and nothing to pay them with ..., when you have 1/2 a tank of gas and only the food in the frig and no means of doing anything else ... Well, as for me, my emotions tend to go bonkers at that point. And then the enemy of my soul starts in - “You have failed again! You’re going to be living on the street. You’ve lost everything!” On and on he goes. It’s at that point you learn of the all-sufficiency of the God you serve!

I was reading in Sarah Young's devotional the other day and it was talking about how our walk with and dependence on God is not based on continual successes, but rather on multiple failures as we come to an end of ourselves and learn to lean deeper on God. The truth of that statement really struck me!

Then God took me to Exodus 18:19 (this is where Jethro was giving Moses counsel - "Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God."). And He began speaking to me how I cannot minister to the people He is taking me to unless I have walked the walk. I can't just talk the talk, but must learn to walk the walk. And in the midst of that walk learn to trust God's word and have faith in the fact that He will complete everything He started! For you see, when God calls us to a ministry the funding of that ministry is out of His resources and not ours. We question how are we going to stand, how are we going to provide for our families and ministry, how are we going to take care of things. God's in the process of changing our thinking so we are aligned with Him.

He spoke to me about being the priest of my home the other day, for I understand that role (or so I thought!). He told me that when He gives me something to speak I speak it. When He gives me something to do I do it. If He has not done either of these things, I wait before Him, worship Him and contend for what He desires to do. He said the providing of those things necessary for the home and ministry are His to do, not mine. This is a major shift in my understanding of how to walk this ministry out, but a huge change in learning to trust God!

He is deepening my vertical relationship with Him and bringing me to a place of utter dependency on Him, but at the same time deepening my horizontal relationship with my brethren. I cannot call my friends and cry and beg for money or anything. But I can (and do) call and ask for prayer. I find that when I do reach out for prayer, so many times God moves on someone's heart and uses them to take us to the next watering hole. What a fascinating journey. There are so many people praying for us literally around the world. It just humbles me and brings me to tears, that God would move on people’s hearts to contend for us in prayer, calling out for God’s Hand to move and take us deeper in Him. I value those prayers more than anything I know. Thank you!

I apologize for rambling on for so long, but perhaps something in this message will help someone else in their walk - help them come to a deeper understanding of what God is doing and why things seem to go one way and not the way they think they should go. The whole journey has to do with souls, and how God is preparing us for the job He has for us, and how He is bringing us to a place of being able to truly minister in our realms of authority and see His Glory flow through us and change a nation. He is drawing us into a life of prayer, where we are learning to move His hand through prayer and not through anything we can do.

God bless each of you. If you have any questions or comments please contact me through my website.

Darrel

The Lord is my Shepherd ....

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:12:16 +0100

I've been pondering Psalms 23, in particular verse 1.

Psalms 23:1(NKJV) - THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Is He my shepherd? To answer that question I began looking at what a Shepherd does. A shepherd tends his sheep. He makes sure they have food to eat, and if the food runs out in one place he moves them to fresh pasture. He tends them medically, putting lotion on their skin to ward off insects and irritants, and to heal wounds. He keeps them safe; warding off varmints of every type, driving away wolves, bears, and lions. He disciplines them; making sure they stay where it is safe, teaching them obedience, even breaking a leg if they refuse to stay where they are supposed to. He sings to them in the night hours, to comfort them and bring peace to their emotions. He stays up nights to watch over them so they can rest in safety. He trims their hooves and keeps them in shape.

The Apostolic Bible Polyglot translates this verse as, "The Lord tends me, and not one thing lacks for me." The NET Bible reads, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing." Both of these translations are powerful!

Nothing lacks for me UNLESS I choose not to believe God's word! I can choose to do a "yeah, but ..." and base my belief on what I see or hear, on what appears to be laid before me. Or I can believe that when God says, "Not one thing lacks for me ...": He means that, and as my Shepherd He will provide everything I need to accomplish what He has called me to do! He will train me, discipline me, and form me into the vessel that can accomplish what He has called me to do. Doesn't mean I will necessarily like the training.

When I was a Marine, I did not like boot camp. It was hard and required me to do many things I did not like, but the end result - I did complete it, I was changed into a Marine, I would do whatever I was called to do - without question. That is what God is doing - changing me into a man of God who will do and go and be whatever He desires!

I just returned from spending 7 days locked away with the Lord, and during this time I saw something I've never seen before. There was Pine trees next to the river, with these 12-14 inch bushes growing next to them. One of the bushes in the middle of a clump of bushes began shaking violently, then it shrank a couple of inches. Then it shook again and shrank a couple of inches. This process continued until that entire bush vertically disappeared into the ground! It was like it had never existed! What an incredible object lesson.

God began speaking that as we choose to do the "yeah, but ..." thing and do and believe our own thing rather than believing what He has to say, this same thing happens to us. Our ministries get shortened, our marriages and relationships suffer, our walk with God suffers, our ability to do what He calls us to begins disappearing, and before you know we cease to exist!

So my question is this - do we really believe that God is our shepherd, and that He really will provide what is necessary for us to complete our call? Do we really believe?

The Lord tends me, and not one thing lacks for me!

But to walk in that understanding cost us something! We must learn to spend time contending with God for His hand to move, we must learn to spend time talking to and waiting on Him. When Jesus walked the Earth He spent His night time waiting on His Father to see what He was doing and what He was saying, then turning around the next day and doing and saying those things. Paul spent much time in prayer to see what he was to do each day. George Mueller spent much time in prayer to see God's hand provide each day for his orphans. Rees Howells spent much time in prayer to see how he would walk out each day. Charles Finney spent much time in prayer for the anointing and power to lead over 500,000 people to the Lord.

Has anything changed for us? No! The pattern is the same! We must spend much time in prayer to see what our Father is doing and saying, then turn around the next day and do and speak what we have seen our Father doing and speaking. Nothing has changed! We must develop a relationship with our God to see what He is doing and saying.

I challenge you - change how you are doing things. Give God preeminence in prayer - give Him the better part of each day - give Him yourself. Challenge Him, and see if He will not provide everything necessary for you to complete what He has called you to do! Don't know what you are supposed to do? Give Him yourself in prayer, ask Him, and He will show you!

Wake up Folks!

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:52:01 +0100

I have been following the recent events happening in California with the overturning of prop. 8. I see two erroneous errors we are making: 1. We think God is democratic and we can choose how we want to live without consequences, that He will listen to our foolishness and arrogance; and 2. that we can live how we want and do what we want and ignore God's guidelines and not suffer the consequences of our actions.

God does not believe in democracy - He is theocratic! Read Exodus 19:4-6, ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I ^{bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. ‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."}

He has established a set of rules, known as the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:1-17, And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before Me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. "You shall not murder. "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s." ), and has said if we follow His rules and do things His way we live. He does not care if we agree or not!

Is it fair? Well, when you look at what He is offering us, eternal life with God in Heaven and all we have to do is repent of our sin and hard-hearts, acknowledge Jesus Christ as God's only begotten Son, accept Him as our Lord and Savior. If we choose to spit on Him and reject Him as our Savior then we get our just rewards - eternal life in hell!

Our leadership, both locally, state and nationally, are leading down paths of destruction! You would do well to read what happened to men in the Old Testament who did similar things. Read Daniel 4:28-37. King Nebuchadnezzar set himself up equal to God, and he paid a terrible price for it until he learned to humble himself before a mighty God! We had better become a God-fearing people and nation before it is too late! I warn you - do not continue tarrying!

Now some would say that nothing given above pertains to homosexuality or lesbianism. Well, check these verses out from Leviticus. Both state that homosexuality is an abomination punishable by death!

Leviticus 18:22 says, "‘You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." and Leviticus 20:13 says, "‘If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them."

So why do men and women want to that that is an abomination? Well, let's look at the New Testament for an answer:

Romans 1:18-32 says the reason some choose to do the immoral and abominable things is they rejected God, so He gave them over to do all these vile things, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. "

1 Corinthians 6:9 says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. "

1 Timothy 1:8-11 goes further to say why we have God's law, "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. "

God condemns the sin of homosexuality. He showed His wrath against it by destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which openly practiced homosexuality and other perversions. Under the law of Moses, sodomy was punishable by death. No practicing homosexual will inherit the kingdom of God.

So when we continue setting ourselves against a Holy God, when we continue to be fools and set ourselves up as equal to an all-powerful God then we shall reap the whirlwind! Which one of you can do ANYTHING that God can do? There was a story once about a man who felt he could do anything God could do, so he challenged God to a contest to create a man. So God bgends down and takes some dirt and creates a man. The man starts to do the same, bending down and taking a handful of dirt. God stops him and says, "Get your own dirt!" Man failed.

You folks that continue trying to stand against God and do your own thing succeed in showing your ignorance and foolishness! Your time on Earth amounts to a very small time compared to eternity - and you are willing to spend ETERNITY in hell just so you can feel like you are "something" here for a few seconds!

Read this parable in Luke 16:19-26: "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ "But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ "

When you die in your foolishness and ignorance and hardness of heart you will be judged and you will spend eternity in hell where there is no relief and chance to change your position.

Repent now and cry out to God. He will forgive you. But only if you repent and ask for a change of heart. Only if you acknowledge the sin you have been living in and choose to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior! There is no other way! Do not continue testing and trying God! The time is coming, and coming quickly, when it will no longer be day, when you will have distanced yourself too far from God's Mercy and you will not be able to turn and cry out to Him! Do not wait till it is too late. You are not being a martyr to anything - you are only showing the hardness of your heart - and the devil is laughing because he taking you away from God and doing with you what he wants - so you become nothing more than a pupit in satan's hands!

Is that short 10-15 seconds of perverse pleasure you get in the arms of your same-sex partner worth eternity in hell? Think about it! Some of you think, "Well, I can enjoy it now and repent later and be 'okay'." Folks, we are not promised tomorrow, we are only promised today! Remember all the talk regarding AIDS? You can get AIDS from same-sex encounters - but you can also get it from any illicit sexual act, meaning any adulterous encounter! It's not punishment from God - it's a "gift" from the daddy you are sucking up to - meaning satan.

I realize this is a bit of a hard message, but we must wake up and change our walks while there is still time! Please look at where you are walking and change course while there is still time.

I love you in Christ!

Darrel

^{www.godspropheticvoice.org}

Walk by the Spirit

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:33:31 +0100

I was down at the river today, playing guitar, praying and waiting on the Lord. As I was sitting there God had me watching the fisher birds, you know, those birds that fly along the water, see a fish, dive into the water and catch the fish and then fly back in the air again. When the fish swims where it ought not to swim and isn't paying attention that fisher bird just acquired dinner!

Well, God began talking -- Birds of prey are increasing and becoming more blatant in their attacks. This is a different season we are moving in now! We have to watch what we do, be observant of things around us, and pay particular attention to what God is saying at any given time! We cannot do things as we used to!

It used to be we had a lot of leeway in how we walked and what we did. We could sin and have "slop" room to recover and move back in God's will. It's like there were bumper rails on each side of us and a wide expanse of room we could move in. But then God began narrowing the path we walk on. We still had bumper rails on each side, but not as much "wiggle" room. Now He is showing me a very narrow line we are to walk and there is no bumper rails. The only support we have is Jesus on one side and the Holy Spirit on the other. But to have them on either side of us we must develop a relationship with them in prayer so we hear what they are saying!

Economic times are changing radically. In our churches and gatherings we hear the cry that we need to be as the First Century church, sell all and take care of those in need. Well, that heart cry is excellent, but there is a "balance" point we don't have yet. We want to operate from a humanitarian mindset, which is good in the naturally. But it is not a God mindset! It is not a mindset born by the Spirit, where we spend time contending to know God's heart and desire. We are in a time where if we operate from a humanitarian mindset (where we are moved by OUR heart and emotions and not God's heart and desire) we will give all we have to causes and people where God has not called us to move, and when we have given all away and have nothing left we will have to reap what we sow! God will walk through it with us, but we will reap the crop we sowed! It is much better to contend with God until we hear His voice and desire, walk in that desire, then we reap the benefits of that crop and share in God's joy and end up having more than enough to live!

We must become wise stewards of what God gives us. We must be watchful of where we walk, what we do, and how we do things each day. We are not promised tomorrow, only today. This day we must press into God until we hear His voice. Even things such as evangelizing! If we go into areas where God has not called us to go and begin witnessing to people we can be hurt! But when we pray and wait on God and say, "God where shall I go today?" Then we wait and contend with Him until He tells us what street, what house - well, we can go to that house and practically say, "peanut butter" and the people will fall on their faces and give their hearts to God because He has already done the work. Then we become incredibly fruitful and the labor becomes very joyful for now we are being the conduit that His Holy Spirit flows through and He draws all men unto Himself!!

So the bottom line of all the above - we must become men and women of prayer. We must rearrange our schedules and activities and begin spending time with our Lord. I challenge you to begin acknowledging to God where you are, what you are not doing, how you spend your time now - begin asking Him to change your schedule and prorities, to make you a man or woman of prayer, to give you a passion for those things that are on His heart. You cannot change your heart, but God can. That is His job anyway!

Someone said the other day that the only difference between a sinner and a Christian is the Christian gets up when they fall and continues walking. Stop worrying about your sin - we all sin and fall short of God's Glory. He knew all about it before the foundation of time! What you do does not surprize Him! Just get up, acknowledge to Him you fell again, cry out to Him to change your heart - and He will come in an onrush and before you know it that thing you kept falling on will not be there anymore! Rather, you will find a strength and brokenness you did not know dwelling in that spot - and you will continue growing and going deeper with God and He will move through you!

My word to you today - turn from where you have been. Turn to the living God who can change your heart and life. Turn to the One who loves you more than anyone else. Turn to the One who gave His life and poured out His blood that you can be free and walk in liberty! Do it today.

In Christ's love,

Darrel
www.godspropheticvoice.org

The Perfect Storm - Failure to Listen

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:56:00 +0100

Have you ever watched the movie, "The Perfect Storm"? It's a movie about a fishing boat that must go to sea and catch fish or risk losing everything. The captain ignores warnings from people and puts out to sea. In the process of fishing they run into a monster storm. The boat survives a couple of massive waves and it looks like they might get through the storm. But then a HUGE wave is coming toward them, the captain utters the statement, "she is not going to let us go ....", the wave overtakes them - and the entire crew loses their lives. Everyone lost their life because the captain was not prepared to listen to wise council! Everyone perished! They did not have to die - they could have lived and fished another day! The captain ran on his emotions and feelings and did not listen.

Folks, we are in that same scenario today! We have massive things facing us in the nation (it does not matter what NATION you are in - ALL nations are going through the soup!), inflation is reaching all time highs, jobs are scarce - it's like everything that can happen is happening - but it is going to get worse!

We must stop listening to people and their "answers" to life's problems!

Folks, we must run to our altars, we must run to that place of prayer where we can touch and get ahold of God. We must hear His voice, His answers to our problems! We must contend with God until we break through into His presence!

Have you ever wondered why some people have such peace through life's storms, while others run around like a chicken without a head? Have you ever wondered how some people seem to survive whatever comes their way, and others flounder?

It all comes down to whether you have a relationship with the living God. Remember the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13? In this parable all ten virgins (representing Christians) knew the Lord - they all recognized His voice and went out to meet Him. They all carried their lanterns (meaning they were in the ministry). They all had oil (representing the Holy Spirit - BUT Also representing a RELATIONSHIP with the Lord!!) They all had their flasks to carry extra oil, but 5 had full flasks and 5 had empty flasks! Five had built a relationship with the Lord, and five did not have a relationship with Him. When the going got tough (and it does for all of us, for scripture says it rains on the just and unjust alike (Matthew 5:45)), five of the virgins had built a relationship with the Lord that carried them through the night season. Five did not have a relationship with the Lord! They could not buy a relationship from others - and they ran out of time to try and build a relationship. The Lord came, took the five into His chambers and shut the door. The other five who knew the Lord but did not have a relationship with Him LOST EVERYTHING! The Lord told them, "I DO NOT KNOW YOU" - and He did not open the door! They lost everything!

We are in a time and season now where we must stop listening to others and press into Jesus! We must build a relationship with Him now so we KNOW His voice. We must know when He says "do this" or "do that" or "go here, but not there" - I do not want to sound like "doom and gloom", but if we do not hear His voice and do as He leads us, we will be hurt (some with loss of life) in the things about to break upon us.

God is allowing things to come against us to perfect us, to draw us into His presence, so we will accept Him as our loving Father! But if we will not allow Him to perfect us then we become goats - stubborn, obstinate, and we flee from the very source of protection! For if we will not turn to God, then by default we turn to Satan, the father of liars, the one who hates everything about us.

I beg of you - stop fighting against God. Stop running from Him. Stop trying to fix your own wagons. Turn to Him and acknowledge who you are, where you missed the turn. Cry out to Him to change your heart - you cannot fix your heart! You cannot change who you are! Only God can do that! Cry out to Him - and watch what He will do for you!

We still have time to repent and turn to God, but time is drawing to an end. Time is running out. Do wait too long, for we are not promised tomorrow. Yesterday is gone and we cannot change anything in it. We are only promised TODAY! We can only change things today, we only have today to give our hearts to Jesus. Cry out to Him now.

I love you in Christ,
Darrel

Where is the fruit?

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:56:05 +0100

I was taking a shower and the Lord began talking with me. I have been concerned about our Church (not just mine, but ourchurch!). I watch so many people come to the altars and get saved, and I watch so many of them fizzle out - some with awesome calls on their lives and heavy anointings from the Lord, and they fizzle out. Why? What are we missing? We have "new convert" classes and various other classes - yet they fizzle out and we don't see them anymore. Why?

I published a word not long ago, titled "I don't hear you", and I believe the answer lies in this area. Rees Howells published a sermon titled, "Rooted and Grounded." In this sermon, he talked about an Oak tree, a huge tree with much stature, and how the survival of that tree depended on what was happening beneath the ground, as it grabbed hold of rocks and springs and other things that would hold its superstructure from falling over. The illustration was beautiful and true!

But I want to call our attention to another quality! It's superstructure REFLECTED WHAT WAS HAPPENING UNDERGROUND, IN PRIVATE! Because of the depth that tree's roots go to, what is above ground reflects in huge limbs, far-reaching branches, and beautiful leaves. It becomes a shade and covering for everything beneath it. It provides safe haven for everything that dwells in its branches. It provides safety for the soil and stops it from eroding away. All of this happens because of what takes place in private. It fairly screams of the depth of the tree's private life! If those roots did not go deep and hold on to what it needs deep under ground that tree would fail in it's calling, it would would end up being a disgrace.

Now, why does God have me talking about Oak trees when we are talking about lives? We are those Oak trees, both those of us in leadership and those in unrecognized leadership roles! We are accountable for those people around us. We are accountable for their lives, for what they become, for where they go in the ministry, for what happens in their walks and families! But Darrel, that is a pretty strong statement, you're condemning us!

No, I am not condemning you - prayerfully, convicting you yes! When people come to know the Lord (and even those who have been saved a LONG time) where do they learn how to walk with God, to be His friend, where do they learn how to pray and contend with God? Where do they learn the difference between conviction and condemnation? They learn these things by dwelling under the shade and covering of the Oak tree, of having its limbs block out the bright sun and elements. They learn by being welcomed under that tree.

We are that tree. We provide the fruit of whatever we are doing in private! Are you in to porn, fighting, and all the pleasures of this life? That is what these people will drink from. Are you a man or woman of prayer, who spends much time in God's word and contending with Him in prayer? That is what people will drink from. We produce whatever we are drinking from. When you talk are you giving out life-giving water, or are you giving out that that causes people to dry up and shrivel? We are our brother's keeper, we are the priests of our homes, neighborhoods and churches. We are that life-giving Oak tree. IF ....

There is always an "IF" clause in everything of God. E.M. Bounds said that the man or woman that did not spend the better part of each day in prayer was not worth his salt. M'Cheyne, who died at the age of 29, spent a minimum of 8 hours a day in prayer and turned Scotland on its ear. George Whitefield spent much time in prayer and affected England and America greatly. Charles Finney, who brought over 500,000 souls to the Lord, spent huge amounts of time in prayer. What was different between these men and us? Absolutely nothing! Except a hunger and passion to see God glorified and His children turned back to Him!

Folks, time is drawing short. We are about to see catastrophic events take place in this nation, lives lost and blood shed. We are about to see God move in unprecedented ways in this nation. And unless we wake up and begin crying before Lord, neither we nor those around us will know what to do when this thing hits! We cannot stop what is being poured out (there is always a crop produced from what we sow!), but if we will begin giving God time in prayer, if we will begin putting Him in His rightful place and restructuring our schedules - if we will give the throne of our hearts BACK to God, then perhaps we can lessen what is coming.

God says in Amos 7:7-9, Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer. “The high places of Isaac will be desolated And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste. Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Yet in the beginning of this chapter Amos contends with God and twice He reverses the action He was about to do - all because Amos stood between God and the people.

Eze 22:30 says that God looked for anyone who would build up the wall, stand in the gap and contend with Him so He would not have to pour out His judgment, but He found no one!

So I ask you again, what is the priority in your lives, what do you consider important, what will I begin hearing from you? Will I hear of the things God is talking about and what is dear to His heart? Or will I continue hearing how many farm animals you have won on Facebook, will I hear about all the causes you have joined? Folks, it is time we lay aside the foolish things in this world and put our backs to the plow, to begin pressing and contending with God until we hear His voice and move His hand!

Come join me. Come link up and let's see what we can do with God. Let's lay aside the things of our childhood and join with God for souls. The only way we can do that is in prayer! There is no other way, not a small amount, but we must make prayer preeminent in our lives! Come ride with me and let's see what God will do!

Amen

Darrel Wright

I don't hear you ....

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:14:25 +0100

I talk with a lot of people, hit a lot of websites, go to Facebook quite often. But in all of these things I do not hear people talking about what God is saying in their prayer closets. I hear people talking about a lot of things, playing a lot of games, spinning their wheels on things that really don't matter. But I do not hear people talking about what God is saying in their prayer closets! This concerns me!

In Eze 22:30 God said that He looked for someone to stand in the gap and contend with Him so He would not have to pour out His wrath and found none! Folks we must change how we are doing things and what we are doing! We must break out of the mold we have been in and begin giving preimenence to God. We must become the men and women God has created us to be.

Men - we must repend and humble ourselves before God. We are called to be the priests of our homes. That means we are lay our lives on the line for our wives, families and whoever God has put close to us. God is a God of protocol and order. He will not build on a foundation that is faulty. He will not pour out what He desires until we allow Him to build our foundations properly. If we will not be the priest He called us to be we will never be able to pray for greater things.

McCheyne turned the world on its ear through prayer. Whitefield turned America on its ear through prayer. Finney turned the world on its ear through prayer. Rees Howells turned the world on its ear through prayer. THE MODEL HAS NOT CHANGED!

Are we willing to be world-changers? Are we willing to be one who will stand in the gap and fight with God? Are we willing to the one who God is searching for? The hour is late and we must shake ourselves and change. We must become as Amos in Amos 7:1-6 where he stood before God and cried out for the people until God stayed His hand.

Arise unto your calling! Arise unto what God has spoken for you. Arise unto one who stands in the gap. Arise! Shake yourselves. Change! Become who God said you are. Change your priorities! Change your focus! Arise! Acknowledge you missed the mark. Repent and watch God flow through you!

Arise!

Ground Swell of His Glory

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:34:43 +0100

I just watched Chuck Pierce's prophecy on the buckling highways and had to weep. Last night at prayer (1/14/2009) God released a prophetic word and I didn't want to bring it for it went against what so many others were saying. Tonight I have to bring it, for Chuck's word spoke a similar thing. That word is:

"I have released a ground swell of My Glory, says the Lord. This ground swell will shake everything that can be shaken, both physical and spiritual. For you have said we can stop things from happening to this nation, we can change God's mind and the course of this nation, but I say you cannot! My Glory shall shake everything about you. If you have built with wood, hay and stubble it shall fall. If you have built on My word and have established a relationship with Me then it will stand.

For I am establishing My church, I am placing you where I desire you to be, I am rearranging your schedules, your realms of authority, your ministry circles. I am placing you where I desire you to be, for I have a work to be accomplished and I shall accomplish it says the Lord. It will look like utter chaos and confusion, for you have been banded together and in places where you have been comfortable, but I am cutting those bands and rearranging you. I am taking you out of your comfort zone and placing you in My comfort zone. I am changing your focus from yourselves to Me.

Know that I do not see by your vision and your plans - I see by My vision and My plan. I do not see chaos, I see My order coming into position. So look to Me, Look to Me, for I shall accomplish all I have set out to do. Do not base your actions on your emotions and what you see with your eyes. Look up, see Me. Press in and see My plans. Hold on to Me and I shall carry you through!"

Where am I?

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:57:14 +0100

Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God

We have two places to be with God - in His permissive will or out of His will. Where do you stand within the will of God? Looking at Romans 12:2 we have three positions within His will - the good position, the well-pleasing and the perfect position. The good position is just within His permissive will, the well-pleasing is a little deeper, while the perfect position is right in the bullseye.

For the last month I have been deeply concerned for a couple's marriage. For the last several weeks I poured into the wife the need to go deep in her prayer closet, to develop a life of prayer that would sustain and keep her. I spoke of the need for her to be the priest of her family at this point in time until her husband came to a place of taking his rightful position, that if she would step into a place of contending and fighting for her marriage and home that God would move His hand.

Last night I wept and wept for people's lives, for their souls, for our (as leadership) failure in teaching and leading people into God's presence, for our failure in contending for their souls, for our failure to become broken vessels that cared more for the lives of those we ministered to than our own lives. I wept and cried and pleaded with God until almost 3am. Wasn't really sure why, but ....

The call came at 5am, "Please come - I think my husband is dead." We went to her house, and yes - he was dead, passed in his sleep. I checked for vital signs, felt the temperature of the body. He was dead, his life ended, his window of opportunity gone. Whatever he had accomplished was finished, there was nothing further he could do. It was over! I took care of the details - calling 911, working with the coroner, helping to carry the body out of the house - all the finishing things one does when someone dies.

That image of his body, though, would not leave my mind - I kept seeing it laying there in the bed, the finality of it, no going back to repent and do anything further. That soul's calling and task was ended. Nothing further could be done for that person. Finished! This has been disturbing me.

But, let's look a little deeper. What if we as leaders would have fought for this person's life while he was yet alive, for him to know God deeper, to teach this person how to pray and go deeper with God? What if we would have mentored him and taught him how to develop a deeper walk with God, how to choose God over things of this world? People tell me, "Now Darrel, everyone has choices and decisions to make. You can't take too much of this on yourself. You're out of balance."

I don't agree.

My Bible says we are to be God's hand extended to a lost and dying world, we are to mentor and teach people how to come into and live in God's presence. We are to be examples in leading people on their walk. My Bible says we are to lay our lives on the line, to contend with God for the souls of people around us; for example, Moses when he contended with God, that his life might be blotted out of the Lamb's book of Life that his people might live; John Knox when he cried before God, "Give me Scotland or I die!"; John Welch when he spent 7-8 hours a day contending with God that he might be able to minister to the people God had given him.

Where do we live at? Are we willing to forsake all that those we minister to might come deeper into knowing Jesus? Where are we? Where is our heart? Will we let this message penetrate our hearts and convict us, or will we jump back and rebuke this word and become offended at someone pricking our hearts?

Back to Romans 12:2 - We have three choices:

1. We can yield to God and allow Him to change and mold us into His chosen vessel and we can stop at some point in that journey when it gets too hard for us. We can make it into His permissive will, but just in where we only experience His good permissive will, where we refuse to be broken to be all He wants us to be.

2. We can make it into God's permissive will, but not all the way to His perfect will - that place where we have gone further, but have not allowed Him to fully break us.

3. We can allow Him to fully change us, where we come into His perfect will, where He can trust and entrust us to die to whatever stands between us and Him, to be whatever is necessary to reach and feed His lambs!

This friend of mine who just died never reached his full potential, he never moved into the complete will of God. We failed him. We failed to mentor and teach him how to walk deeper with God. We failed to contend and fight for him in prayer until God moved His hand and took him deeper.

You see, we have an obligation and responsibility as men and women of God. We have a mandate from God to give our lives for those around us. We have a mandate from God to fight with Him for those around us, that they may reach their full potential, that what we know and have experienced may be given to those around us to take them deeper in their quest for God. Go back and look at Ezekiel 22:30! God has called us to build up the wall and stand in the gap and fight with Him so He will not have to pour His wrath out on the land. I find it amazing how much responsibility God has given us for the lives and walks of those around us. But to do what He has called us to do requires that we become men and women of prayer, that we turn our attention to the task at hand and stop taking the "easy" road out.

The body has been taken away now, but it is still before my eyes. I am still heavily affected by what God was showing me. I don't know how to fulfill and become what God is asking me to become. I don't know how to die. God does, though! Let us choose to allow God to fully mold us into men and women that He can trust and use. Let us choose to allow Him to break our hearts open, to teach us how to reach people and change their walks. Let us choose to be all God wants us to be. Let us become men and women who learn to contend with God until His will comes to pass in those around us.

Let us choose wisely!