Birthpangs 2017 Part 2

I have never been a big fan of the direct connect-the-dots of political incidents against Israel to catastrophic weather events. Years ago it was popularized in an extremely detailed book which was well received by our community of Messianics and Messianic supporters. Regardless of the warm welcome it got almost universally from those of us who love Israel, I did not and still do not believe it says the right thing about the God we serve.

Maybe some of you think my comment yesterday, Birthpangs 2017, was in part mocking those who believe that God is directly punishing America for recent political moves related to Israel. Maybe I was mocking - although it was sparingly I believe. The real problem is what it says about God. For the record, I don't like what it implies about God when believers connect their causal dots to abortion, homosexuality or other sins that specifically push their buttons as followers of the LORD.

As I explained, there were spiritual laws laid down in Genesis 3 that govern the whole of mankind and one of those is that the curse of sin would not entirely rest on the man and women and their descendants, but some of the curse for their sins would be absorbed into the very ground. "Cursed is the ground for your sake."

Then later on in Moses time, God gave His people something that would keep them safe in the repercussions of sin. He gave them laws - statutes and ordinances which would not bring curses on the them directly, nor into the ground on which they lived. This was so important that God told them not only were they to live by these moral laws but they were to see to it that the strangers that lived among them did the same. And why because if some did not the curse of those sins would be absorbed into the very ground beneath their feet, and when that happens, then at some point the ground will begin to "vomit" out the inhabitants. Natural disasters are that vomiting out.

This is a universal spiritual law over the whole earth like gravity is a natural law over the whole earth. It is going to happen when a land absorbs the sins of the people who inhabit it. God does not have to issue a judgment, He already did in Genesis 3.

Sometimes there are connect the dots causal curses that are unleashed on us through political actions we take. But those are different from weather events which belong to the Genesis 3 curse. The sowing and reaping law is the direct causal spiritual law that impacts us when bad political moves are taken. "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn."

We are about to come upon the 16th Memorial of such an event of political sowing and reaping tomorrow, the 9/11 terror attack. Politically in 1993 the decision was made to allow Hamas to fund raise in the U.S. which meant Israel would bear an increased brunt of terror attacks. When the 9/11 terror attack occurred, the United States literally reaped what it had sown against Israel when it did not cut off Islamists within us from funding the effort against Israel.

The whole of Europe is in much worse shape than the United States on the same count of evil political moves against Israel and for Israel's Islamist enemies than we in the US are. That is because they are reaping on the same level that they sowed evil against Israel politically. This is a DIRECT cause and effect, sowing and reaping. It is also a spiritual law that is in effect that does not require God to say one word in judgment. He may stay the reaping, giving people a time to repent, but the sowing and reaping is going to happen regardless.

I grew up in a denomination that continually looked judgmentally at individuals upon whom bad things happened. I grew up thinking God was mad and mean, directly punishing us for every single time we screwed up. It has taken a lot to transform that view of God in my heart. Maybe that is why it bothers me so much to hear believers say God is punishing us when a major natural disaster strikes. The world is literally in our hands, it operates under God's laws, but we are the ones on the ground that are releasing what happens either through our obedience or our disobedience to His laws governing this earth.

In times like the current weather events in the USA, it seems to me that we are to be representing God as the way to safety, refuge, peace and compassion. I don't know about you, but when I returned to the God of my childhood, I was in dire straits. I was looking for help, not an explanation that God was hacked off at me and that was why I was in such a pickle.

Anyway, a few clarifying thoughts this morning.

Birthpangs 2017

We have a higher calling than to debate our connect-the-dots of why the world is experiencing so many great natural disasters at this time - and make no mistake about it: It is not just the USA experiencing these things. In the United States we are awash with prophetic speculations as to the cause of so many powerful hurricanes hitting the nation. Prophetic words on this are a dime a dozen. 

That is why I find it a pointless exercise for believers to focus on trying to pin all the current natural disasters on some specific evils, sins and opposition to God's plans committed by the US which God is taking vengeance on. It is not like God has looked down and said, 'That's it, I've had it! Release the Krackin!'

I do not believe in this explanation of things. Nor do I believe that these storms are purely generated by demonic activity that we believers have complete control over if we will just arise and speak to the storm. We have spiritual authority to use over the storms, but it is not complete because there is a reason why the storms are happening, and it is definitely evils, sins and opposition to God's plans.

There is some truth in both positions that we are seeing the people of God take in the face of these natural disasters, but to focus on putting our finger on single sin issues as the cause, or thinking that we are just dealing with demonic activity in stirring up the natural disasters is not looking at it with a big picture view.

As someone quoted the other day, "For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed" Ro 8:19 and 22 "the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time"

So we are seeing the whole creation groaning in these disasters. They are groaning to see the children of God being revealed.

When did creation begin to groan? Genesis 3:17 "cursed the ground for your sake". How does that manifest? Lev 18:24-29 explains that the ground is defiled by the sins of the inhabitants. That is why God gave HIS PEOPLE (we're that right?) statutes and ordinances that if His people would follow, it would keep them from defiling the ground beneath them.

And why is that important, because further explained that when the ground beneath us becomes so defiled it will begin to "vomit" out the inhabitants. Have you ever eaten anything that was spoiled and your body reacted to it with violent vomiting out of the bad? The land beneath us does the same, and it is part of the groaning we read about in Romans 8. Don't spiritualize that groaning because it is physical and we are experiencing it right now in natural disasters.

So the earth is groaning and it is groaning as in the pains of childbirth. What child is going to be brought forth? the children (sons) of God will be birthed out of the natural disasters. Selah.

The groaning of the land - natural disasters are occurring because the land beneath is so defiled by sin - violations of God's moral and ethical laws. Now many Christians reject this thought out of hand saying the Law has passed away, but how can God's morality pass away? And if that is so why do you say these hurricanes are because of abortions or homosexuality? Well yes, both of those are violations of God's morality and both of those defile the land in which we live and do play a part in how the land is trying to vomit us out. But that is not the whole story.

Our main focus is not in condemning the world, but in pointing the way to LIFE. These birthpangs are meant to bring ~us~ the sons of God, forth, snatching the sinners from the fire, or the floods, or the earthquakes. This is not primarily a time to cry out judgment, but to cry out, Over here! Here is where you can find safety and refuge from the storms. Here is where you will find peace in the midst of the storm. Here is where your needs will be met when you have nothing left. Here is where you will find compassion and hope.

Oh, yes, we are to speak to the storms, the fires, the quakes to be tempered by the mercies of God, but we are not going to make it all go away by exercising Christian spiritual macho over the storms. There are some things that cannot be reversed. We are to focus on the people in the midst of those storms, taking the opportunity of devastation to show them Jesus. When we do this, the sons of God will be birthed for the increasing spiritual battles ahead.

Timing versus Conditions

Right now I am staring at a picture in my Facebook news feed of Masai women in Tanzania in their traditional clothing and ornaments. It is the picture graphic of a short article by Cody Archer of Revive Israel on how it is not the many signs of the end times that matter, but rather it is the existing CONDITIONS that are the key to the days just before Yeshua returns.

What conditions? These two: 1. A significant Remnant of His believers in Jerusalem and 2. the Good News having reached every people group on the planet.

I am struck by this because last night I listened to the US President laying out how they planned to proceed in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What he was emphasizing in his speech about the military strategy that would guide what the US does next is that he intends to measure success by the conditions that exist, not by arbitrary timing restraints.

Now people are more pleased by arbitrary timing deadlines. They like to know that on such-and-such a date thus-and-so is going to happen. That is true in the political realm and it is equally true in the spiritual realm. That is why in terms of last days prophecies we have seen sooooooo many date setters.

They based their dates on the signs of the times that they determined proved we had to be on the doorstep of the second coming. Many of their arguments are compelling cases but can I tell you that a compelling case can be made using scripture for just about anything and many cases of totally erroneous theories or doctrines have been made over the history of the Bible.

Timing can be interpreted but conditions cannot.

When the US pulled out of Iraq based on timing rather than on conditions, the mission there was sacrificed to please the people. It gave us the rise of ISIS and we have paid dearly for not remaining in place until the favorable CONDITIONS existed.

Many of you may be thinking right now, There she goes again being more political than spiritual.

You may not think much about it but truth is, Yeshua is the Commander of the Armies of Heaven. We are in a battle for the souls on the earth, and do not think that He has some arbitrary time frame guiding His command of what happens next. No: He is in the battle until the favorable conditions exist.

There is not going to be a 'pull out' of His troops on the earth until the two conditions He is looking for exist. Those conditions are Matthew 23:37-39 and Matthew 24:14 - a significant number of believers in Jerusalem are welcoming Him to return as KING and all of the people groups of the earth have had the opportunity to receive Him as LORD.

All the other signs of the times are "not yet".

As Matthew 24:6 reveals: And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

My Prophetic Scrapbook

Today I was emailing with a good friend. We were talking about Christian prophecy teachers and it reminded me of something I haven't thought about in a long time. Thought it was worth sharing here: I got deep into a study of end times prophecies myself in the late 1980's. I had one of those huge photo scrapbooks that the pages were sticky and had an overlay of vinyl on top so you could re-position things easily. What I did was take photocopies of all the prophetic scriptures in my Bible and I would cross reference the specific mentions of the same thing, like say in Revelation it would talk about X and then in Daniel it would also talk about X. I would cut out those passages and position them next to each other in the scrapbook. Then I could see what else Revelation was saying in the passage and what else Daniel was saying. Some words, imagery or terms had several mentions in the Bible and would I add them all on the same page of the scrapbook to try to see a bigger picture of what X was all about. It became a massive scrapbook - you would not believe how many of the prophecies cross-reference by special words, or imagery and terms! Also, I looked at which prophecies had already been fulfilled in history, and I noticed that some prophecies that had already been fulfilled could also be fulfilled in the last day. I had an encyclopedia of ancient history and could literally follow the nations that were spoken of symbolically in history. It was such a deep dive into prophecy done over maybe the space of a year that it became mind-boggling to me. The more I cross-referenced, the more I found that was cross-reference-able! Soon I could not get all the passages of scripture on one scrapbook page and had to start going with putting them on 2 facing pages....then it spilled over into needing 3 pages. I stepped back from it at that point because it was too mind-boggling. I didn't realize it then, but the point I should have taken from the experience is that the New Testament and the Old Testament are never to be read one without the other. I have long believed that but did not realize until just now how God showed me the deep truth of that in my prophecy scrapbook period. When I stepped away from it, I decided that whatever God was going to do, it would be enough if I could recognize it when He was doing it. Right after that period is when I discovered the Messianic Jews. It was like God was answering the desire of my heart to recognize when the times came upon us, because there is no greater prophetic indicator of the last days than the rise of Messianic Jews, and especially those in Israel. They are the key sign bar none. Many people have a hard time really believing that the Jews are going to come to faith in epic numbers. I have seen that throughout my walk since 1982. They ARE going to believe - that is exactly why God raised up the Messianic Jewish movement. They are the witnesses in Israel to other Israelis. Yes, we should help Israel as Christians BUT we should be aligned in our helping with the Israeli Messianic community. Full Stop. Honestly, there are too many Christians in Israel (or coming in and out) that will not have anything to do with the Messianic believers there because they don't want to hurt their relationship with Israelis who believe in Jesus. That is the most negative message a Christian can send to an unsaved Jew! Because Israeli unsaved Jews will accept the help and support of Christians with the understanding that 'your religion is your religion and our religion is our religion and you have no right to try to convince us that your religion should be ours.' That is the understanding that most Christian ministries who are in Israel or who work with the Israelis in immigration, humanitarian, etc. have to abide by. So the only witness to Israelis is through the Messianic Jews - and that's okay, that's what God intends. But the Christian ministries that keep their distance from Israeli believers - personally I believe they are all going to be kicked out of Israel at some point and that is going to make them mad, like Luther got when he defended the Jews and then became furious because they didn't respond to his kindness by accepting faith. Never mind that it was not the time God had for Jews to come to faith, nor was Luther to be the witness to bring them. I believe in helping Israel in all the ways the Christians are helping Israel - only I believe unless they are aligned with the Messianic Jewish believers in Israel, in relationship and in helping Israel as an honest expression of Christian faith, then it is a wasted deposit of seed that will not bear the fruit (or VERY little fruit in comparison). Not acknowledging the place of spiritual authority that God has placed in the Israeli Messianic Jews for their own country is exactly the kind of arrogance against the Jews that Paul talked about in Romans. There is always order and chain of command in the kingdom of God - including related to Christians going into Israel apart from relationship with the Lord's body in Israel. Why is that? Because there is also an anointing as was indicated in the first generation of apostolic leadership, Galatians 2:8: "For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles." It is a classic mistake of Christians who want to be a part of what God is doing in the salvation of all Israel to ignore this spiritual chain of command as if it could not matter in the least. The time is right for this understanding to break forth as we work in right order toward the salvation of "all Israel".

Do not embitter your children

When we think of bitterness forming in a person, generally we think of it in adults. Truth is childhood is often the place where bitterness begins to form and grow, so by the time the child has reached adulthood that is when the bitterness has become a major issue in the life of an adult. 

If you are a person of faith, make sure that your children understand the ultimate consequences of bitterness, and that you do all in your power to clear up bitterness before it hardens in their hearts.

As Colossians 3:21 advises, Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. That word, discouraged is athyméo and it means to be disheartened, dispirited, broken in spirit. Once this happens, bitterness can form in the place of those open wounds.

I know this to be true because I was one who developed bitterness as a child over a parent with mental illness. My parent also had developed bitterness as a child and by the time it had become full grown in her, mental illness took over.

The Scripture says that the root of bitterness defiles many. That is because we are not islands. The bitterness developing in our lives not only limits or destroys our capacity to love ourselves and others in our lives, it also defiles the others who are around us. Those we are embittered against and those we are so sure we will do better to than was done to us.

Life is messy. Especially lives that are not devoted to the Lord and to becoming like Him. So many of us have traveled through many years of our lives before finding the Lord which means we have traveled many years stumbling and blundering along...perhaps making people bitter against us along the way and not having any inkling how to deal with it.

It is quite a shock to the system to suddenly see how our own mistakes of the past have led to great bitterness in others - a bitterness that to this day is a spoiler of relationships for that person. We are rarely in it alone, and truth be known, every person ultimately has to own their own bitterness. No one made them choose bitterness, we just do.

Fortunately, whom the Son sets free is free indeed. There is a way out of bitterness for every single person and it is not dependent upon what anyone else involved does or does not do. It is forgive. Not just a one time forgiveness, but a dedication to walking in forgiveness for the rest of your life.

Regardless of how easy it might be just to renew our bitter feelings, we can CHOOSE to forgive and keep walking in it towards those who are bitter. And we can pray that God will give them grace to recover themselves from this most powerful trap of the enemy used to destroy those who hold onto their bitterness.

Guest Post: Arni Klein of Emmaus Way in Israel 7/18/2017

Arni Klein
of Emmaus Way

As some of you know, last month a delegation of five from our congregation in Tiberias were ten days in the Far East taking part in six days of worship on a 19-story cruise ship along with 3000 believers and a crew of 2000. It was an unprecedented complex experience with ramifications at personal, corporate and global levels. Shortly before the trip began, I was reminded of how deeply the world was impacted by what took place in that region fifty years earlier and was impressed that this company of worshipers had been called and commissioned by the Lord to do something in the spirit realm designed to have a significant and far-reaching effect.

People’s perceptions and beliefs about the Vietnam War varied from one end of the spectrum to the other.  Many were convinced that our involvement was wrong and immoral.  Others believed it was a righteous cause justifying the high price paid in human lives.  There are many stories of how individual lives were saved by the US involvement in the region.  It is not our intention here to take a position on the motives, methods or morals of those making the decisions, or the ultimate effect it had on those directly involved in the conflict.  Regardless of the truths about underlying elements and individual ramifications, the war divided the US like no other single event of our day. The civil rights struggle, the exposed corruption in the government, and the string of high-level assassinations were all factors that also affected the spiritual atmosphere of the nation.  But none polarized and mobilized the population, as did the war in Vietnam.

The resultant societal breakdown was a primary factor in opening the way for a spiritual revolution that brought a mass of young people into the Kingdom of God.  Alongside the positive aspects of the spiritual awakening, many ungodly spiritual forces found expression that caused or enabled a generation to set aside long-accepted Biblical principles and beliefs.  ...

The sheer magnitude of the cruise, the likes of which has probably never taken place anywhere on the open seas, and surely not in the place we were, is something not to be considered lightly.  To coordinate something like this out of purely human desire, not to mention getting visas for some 1700 Mainland Chinese, would be unlikely if not practically impossible.  There were some challenges and difficulties along the way, but we can testify that the Presence of God manifest throughout the entire journey took us to places where words and sounds and any manner of human expression fell short of being able to adequately respond to His beauty and glory. In the light of it all, we are constrained to believe that something of global significance took place.  ...  For two weeks I was unable to connect with daily life or focus on anything except to mull over the cruise.  I was aware that my spirit was reaching out to lay hold of what this was from God’s perspective.  I had no choice but to be still.  My time was not my own.

Some days into this waiting period, a friend forwarded me a word delivered by someone known as a prophet spoken over a particular nation.  The word declared that over the next three years God was going to pour out untold blessings and wonders over this people, and that they would become the very platform for worldwide revival.  In all that was related, there was nothing about the people needing to do anything. There was no call to repentance, change, or any manner of preparation.  As the “prophecy” stood, it was solely a matter of God deciding that on a certain date, by a sovereign act, for no apparent outward reason, heaven was going to open.  It left me feeling grieved in the spirit. 

Words such as these have become normal and common within the Charismatic body, at least in the West.  Remembering back forty years, in the movement’s early days, it was not so.  But as time progressed, the focus on self, our identity, our calling, our portion, our anointing, our authority, etc. etc. grew and grew to where the person of God effectively ceased to be the central focus of the life of the Church.  Rather it was about what He does and will do…in particular for us.  As these thoughts ran though my mind, the spiritual fog that had engulfed me began to lift.

I got an email in response to a question I posed to someone about where they stood concerning the revelation they received about the central place of Israel in God’s heart and global strategic plan.  The lack of visible response was in stark contrast to the dramatic way God had spoken to them of their need to wake up to Israel.  A line from the mail jumped off the page.  It read, “I can't speak up in un-lived truth but will always speak up as prompted and led by Him.” 

The words un-lived truth...were the key to unlock the understanding my spirit was reaching for.  The scriptural discussion of faith and works immediately came to mind.  As faith without works is dead, so truth un-lived is dead. ... How does God view our seeing and knowing something as truth that is not part of our life that does not produce in us a contending…a pressing in…a battling through into full light?  ....There is no middle ground.  The existence of a sit-upon-fence is an illusion…or moreover, a deception.  To hear His voice and not respond immediately is to harden our heart and reject Him who is the living Word.  To lightly esteem what God values brings a bitter curse.  (See the literal Hebrew for Genesis 12:3)....Regardless of where we think we are and what we think we know, to not take into our heart what we recognize as God’s very truth is to reject it.  Actually, we are not rejecting an “it”.  It’s Him, Yeshua…the Truth… we are turning from. 

For some 25 years, we have traveled to the nations speaking about Israel.  Out of multiplied hundreds of meetings, we can recall only one where there was an outright rejection of the word we brought.  In well over half there was a clear acknowledgment of the message as truth.  However, in most of these situations, we have seen little if any follow-up to what was revealed.  

How can followers of the Lord not feel the need to battle and struggle until our hearts beat in sync with what our minds know to be true?  How can we know Him and love Him and not be moved by what moves Him? 
Perhaps the answer partly lies in the fact that the modern Western Church has generally grown up without understanding the fear of the Lord.  We emphasize that God is love and proclaim His grace, but somehow miss the fact that in the very chapter (Heb.12) that follows the great discourse on faith and of our coming to Mount Zion we are sternly warned, “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks” (vs.25). The chapter ends with…“our God is a consuming fire.”  

We would suggest that to understand the true nature of un-lived truth and how this unacceptable denial of life has gone virtually unnoticed will have a revolutionary effect on the Body of Messiah.  Most professing born-again believers have read the Scriptures and consequently know what is written about the significance of Israel, yet seemingly remain as yet unmoved.   Though this dynamic of non-response to truth extends beyond things concerning Israel, the place of Israel, both in Scripture and the daily news, makes it something of a universal “acid test”. 

Let’s connect a few dots to hopefully get the fullness of this picture.

Un-lived truth is un-loved truth.  In 2 Thess.2:9-10 we are told that to whomever does not receive the love of the truth, God will send a strong delusion, that they will believe a lie and perish.  It does not get more serious than this.  God asks, “Will you walk with me?  Will you go where I go?  Will you love what I love?”  He opens our eyes.  He shows us His heart.  We see how Israel is the key to His plan.  Will we cling to what is true?  Will we press in to lay hold of that for which we have been laid hold of?  Will we change our direction?  Will we change our thinking?  Will we align ourselves with His heart?  Will we cry out for Him to quicken us to be passionate for what He loves?  Will we wrestle in the spirit until His truth is alive in us?  Can the love of the truth be anything but a consuming fire?  This question hearkens back to the prophecy over a nation to which I referred earlier in this letter. 

We mark as a trend that began in the late 1960’s with the Charismatic movement, that personal experience became a primary measure of spiritual reality. Individuals with unique and dramatic gifts came to the foreground and were lifted up.  Ministry after ministry was named after the “anointed person of God”.  As the issue of gifts became more central, believers looked to people and spiritual experiences for motivation.  This has produced a spiritually-weak, emotionally-driven, blessing-oriented, man-centered church that is able to abide with un-lived truth.  The water has been slowly heating for fifty years.  Our frog is now quite cooked. 

The understanding to which we have come concerning the place of the worship cruise is that the Lord sent 3000 people to release His Presence in a region out of which came a literal revolution.  It awoke a whole generation to jump out of the pot.  (The fact that most climbed back in is another matter).  It may seem somewhat remote and subjective, but given all what we have experienced before, during, and after, we are constrained to present our sense that something has been released that will have a global effect.

When we arrived in Danang Harbor in Vietnam, which had been a main landing point for the US troops, something dramatic happened. The Israeli team was ministering in the main hall with about 1000 worshipers present.  The Spirit of the Lord brought us to nearly complete silence for about 30 minutes.  Not a small thing!  As far as we know, that was the only time anything like that happened during the cruise.  There was no doubt that God was doing something of significance in that place in that moment.  It felt like a repeat of a history -- that somehow something was released into the spirit realm destined to shift the focus and course of the present-day Church. 

This long awaited radical breakthrough is connected to an intimacy with the Lord beyond what we have corporately known to date.  In the Song of Solomon, there is a moment when the bridegroom comes calling and the bride is not immediately moved to respond. After what seems like a brief moment’s hesitation, she gets up only to find that her lover is already gone. Running out to look for Him she gets beaten in the streets. What a picture.  Are we ready to grasp this result of a mere momentary hesitation?  Is God really that sensitive?  The word of God is a two-edged sword.  On the one hand, while taking those living in truth deeper into God, it simultaneously releases a spirit of deception upon those who have not valued what they’ve been given.

Here then is a short-form attempt to connect the three dots that brought me out of my two-week fog.  The worship cruise was about a global spiritual release unto a radical shift.  The “God-is-going-to” prophecy highlighted the Cross-less bless-me “gospel” that has enveloped the Body in a lethal passivity.  The lack of conviction and discomfort in the face of perceived un-lived truth is a sign that the great deception has already begun. As a not-so-side note, following the election of Donald Trump a spirit of rebellion and division has manifested in the US, polarizing the nation in a way we have not seen since the days of the war in Vietnam.

If we have understood this moment correctly, to put it rather directly, those who do not contend for God’s passion for Israel will be consumed in the not-so-slowly-warming pot.  As it is written…they will believe a lie and perish.  To live as one out of time is to be established in eternal truth.

Familiar Spirits & the Python

I believe in miracles but I am somewhere between those who deny miracles are for today and those with a spirit of divination who promote supernatural miraculous signs that are not from God.

Even to say such a thing I know I risk being called a heresy hunter. I'm not, but I do have an aversion to all the craziness that has been accepted in prophetic circles over the past several decades.

Last week while doing Israelprayer I had a strong urge to find out what the original Hebrew definition was of the translated term "familiar spirits". In it's biblical usage and definition it is a spirit of divination. I would say that means calling something a prophecy that is obtained through sources other than from the Spirit of God, whether it is from evil spirits or from our own intuition or knowledge.

It seems to me that many traffic in this today - and let me tell you right off the bat that I repented yesterday myself for this very thing.

Being a prophet is a thing many of us desire, but without the acute appreciation for fear of the Lord, it is an extremely dangerous thing to make people think you are operating in the prophetic when it is coming out of your own gifts, or even worse, when you have made such a habit of doing that, that even a true prophetic gift has been tainted with false prophecy.

I believe like any other sin, when you do something knowing it is wrong but you choose to do it anyway, doing it repeatedly becomes easier and easier. In the end you no longer have a conscience toward God in your sin, and you become ensnared by it.

Many years ago Asher Intrater conveyed a prophetic dream he had about Drinking the Cup of the Harlot. It is about the very thing I am talking about here, and how it is a warning to get ourselves out of that sin with fear and trembling before the Lord.

Last week he again wrote about the prophetic in Israel, and how:

"If apostolic-prophetic ministry in Israel will have a humble and servant heart, it could be a source of blessing, revival, and unity. If it has integrity and authenticity, it could be an instrument of kingdom strategy as we prepare for the coming of Yeshua."

I am focused on the part about integrity and authenticity. It is my belief that this is the missing ingredient in a majority of the American prophets who have lacked the necessary "fear of the Lord" to keep them honest and genuine in their prophetic gift.

Sincerely, I do not want to be a heresy hunter, but if anything is selling your soul, it is prophesying by a spirit of divination - whether from familiar spirits or your own intuition or knowledge, yet claiming it is from the Spirit of God.

Now to really upset some apple carts, let me say that this spirit of divination is also spoken of in the New Covenant in Acts 16:16, where the Greek word puthon is used. This is the single Biblical reference to "python" upon which a widespread - yet false - prophetic teaching has popped up over the last decade.

If you do even a light study, you will find this word was used precisely because of the spirit of divination that was on the Oracle of Delphi. She was getting 'prophetic utterances' from the fumes of the rotting flesh of a python which she sat on a tripod over.

The point of that word python used in Acts 16:16 was not about the teaching that Christian prophets have put out about a spirit that causes its victims to have the spiritual life squeezed out of them. In fact, in reality a python is not even a threat to human beings, but only to the small prey like rabbits, or cats and dogs. But the desire to come up with brand new teaching to tickle the ears of Christians is so great in prophetic circles.

No, the use of python in Acts 16:16 is about a woman enslaved by familiar spirits, the spirits of divination - prophesying even right things by a spirit other than the Spirit of God.

Someone I read recently who also values going back to the original language, pointed out that this woman in Acts 16:16 was saying the right thing but Paul was grieved to be associated with her because it was obvious that she was speaking it out of a spirit of divination, not by the Spirit of God.

The writer related that scripture notes the woman was crying out (krazo G2896 which means croaking or shrieking). She was outwardly showing that her prophecy was not coming from the Spirit of God, but coming from an evil spirit. Other outward manifestations are going into what appears to be a trance-like state with jerking, quaking, moaning and other convulsive-like motions. Sound familiar? 

Now is the time to repent of both doing this and following those that do it. I am convinced that we are coming into extremely serious times and all the gold dust, 'heavenly' gems and hovering orbs you can gather are not worth the cost you will pay for not extricating yourself from these familiar spirits.