GOD'S IMPRESSIONS:
These past few weeks, the Lord has been impressing this words in my heart:
"My church on earth is entering a year of SABBATH REST. This year 1999 will be the start of that year of sabbath rest."
I was curious to know HOW God's rest will come about and in what MANNER it will come and what is EXPECTED of us during that time.
The Lord then guided me to these stories to show me a pattern.
Before Joshua began leading God's army into the promise land, the people of God spend some 40 years of wandering in the desert. Before Zerubbabel and Jeshua rebuild the temple during the reign of Cyrus, the people of God has spend some seventy years in exile. Before Joseph was installed as Prime Minister of Egypt, he spend some 13 years living a life of an exile in various places where God has placed him sovereignly.
Then these words from 2 Chronicles 36:21 was quicken in my heart. " TO FULFILL THE LORD'S WORD BY JEREMIAH, TILL THE LAND HAD ENJOYED ITS SABBATHS; FOR AS LONG AS IT LAY DESOLATE IT KEPT SABBATH TO FULFILL SEVENTY YEARS."
HOW WILL GOD'S REST COME ABOUT:
God is preparing for a mighty army, and army of men and women who have been PERSONALLY TRAINED AND PREPARED by the Most High God. And this the army that He will use for the greatest end time harvest that will be coming. And the Lord is at the Head of that Army and He expects everybody belonging to His army to be in the best conditions (physical, emotional and spiritual) and to be at it's proper place when the marching order from the commander will come.
But if we look at God's army today (His church), it is not yet fully prepared. God has a heavenly timetable and He is busy WORKING IN THE MIDST OF HIS CHURCH TO PREPARE THE ARMY AND MAKING IT READY. HE IS PREPARING FULLY THE PEOPLE, HE IS ORDERING THE TIME,SETTING THE STAGE, AND HE IS GATHERING THE PROVISION. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, He is shaking the whole church, so that EACH PART WILL FALL INTO IT'S PROPER PLACE AND BE MADE READY FOR GOD'S TIME.
The shaking and arranging will come to many like DESOLATION when viewed from a human perspective, BUT THE LORD IS IN FULL AND TOTAL CONTROL AND HE IS NEVER TAKEN BY SURPRISE BY THESE EVENTS. His shaking will force many of us to come to a place of standtill which will cause us to stop and rest.
The events that has been coming and will continue to come to overtake many of us will appear initially as acts and works of the enemy to distract us. In certain ways it maybe so, but we must always remember the sovereignty of God and must seek to look deeper than just focusing our attention to the outward circumstances. In many instances, they could merely be tools in God's hands to bring us to our place of Sabbath rest in Him.
GOD'S INTENT IS FOR HIS PEOPLE TO ENTER INTO A TIME OF TRUE AND REAL SABBATH IN HIM. It will be in these places that we can experience God's real rest and it is also here that we will witness the reality of the Lord fighting the battle for us. Even as the enemy will seek to steal, to kill and to destroy all that we are and all that we have worked for all our life (including our life,our children,our ministry, & all that matters to us), but God will show us that He covers and protects. Along the way there will bruises and scars but even these are all part of God's preparation, and one day as we look back to those times, we will understand the "why" and will praise Him for that, but for now we must learn to "trust Him" at all point.
WHAT DOES THE FATHER EXPECT OF US:
I asked the Lord if He wants us to fight against the enemy head on, does He needs His people to enter once again into another time of intense battle and warfare, and He said "No. You don't need to face them again, for you have face them valiantly in the past and have won and overcome them. This time, the battle is mine. All you need to do is rest in me & to press in to me"
We can do two things when we are surrounded and felt overshadowed by events and circumstances. We have to bring them to the Lord and do this also.
"REMIND ME and keep on reminding Me about everything that is happening around you,( where you are, what you've been through, what I've promised to you). And PRAISE ME, OFFER SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING to Me. Let praises overflow out from your mouth. Let it flow like a mighty river that covers the whole world, and as you do these things, My glory shall fill the earth."
And when the preparation will be finish and the Father will see that everything is in it's proper order, then He will began to stir up the hearts of His people once more TO MOVE FORWARD, and as we do so WE WILL FIND OUT THAT DURING OUR SABBATH, THE LORD HAS PREPARED EVERYTHING FOR US. And we will find ourselves stepping into that PERFECT PLACE THAT HE HAS PREPARED FOR US WHILE WE WERE RESTING IN HIM.
GOD'S PROMISES TO US FOR THIS SEASON:
Psalm 50:5,14,15,23 (The Amplified Bible)
"Gather together to Me My saints [those who have found grace in My sight], those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. Offer to God the sacrfice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me. He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me; and he who orders his way aright [who prepares the way that I may show him], to him I will demonstrate the salvation of God."
Amos 5:13-15 (The Amplified Bible)
"Therefore he who is prudent will keep silence in such a time, for it is an evil time. Seek (inquire for and require) good and not evil that you may live, and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate the evil and love the good and establish justice in the [court of the city's] gate. It may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Deuteronomy 10:17,21 (The Amplified Bible)
"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the terrible God, Who is not partial and takes no bribe. He is your praise; He is your God, Who has done for you these great and terrible things which your eyes have seen."
Isaiah 54:4,5,10,11-17 (The Amplified Bible)
"Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded and depressed, for you shall not be put to shame...For your Maker is your Husband - the Lord of hosts is His name - and the Holy One of Isreal is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called. For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.
"O you afflicted, stormtossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in fair colors and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows and pinnacles of [sparkling] agates or rubies, and your gates of [shining] carbuncles, and all your walls [of your enclosures] of precious stones.
"And all your [spiritual] children shall be disciples [taught by the Lord and obedient to His will], and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children.
"You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness, in conformity with God's will and order): you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
"Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you.
"Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of the coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the devastator to destroy. But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgement you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [ those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [ this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.
MY PRAYER:
As you read these words, may the Holy Spirit pours down upon us all a great river of discernment, wisdom, joy and comfort to flood our soul. And May the Lord open the spiritual eyes of our heart and soul to see beyond the physical and into His very heart.
Blessings to you all! GOD'S HANDMAIDEN,
Sis. Ching Co Cebu City Philippines
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ March 17, 1999
Dear Children of the Most High God,
Yesterday I shared with all of you about the impression that God is bringing His church into a season of Sabbath rest. But that this rest will come in way of events and circumstances which will outwardly seem to overtake us and force many of us into a place of standstill, inactivity and forced rest. Many of us will find ourselves being forced to let go of works and ministries that we love because of these circumstances.
But then in that place of rest, God will fight the outward battle for us, and He will prepare all things for us so that when we finally come out of that place of rest, we will discover that the Lord has prepared a perfect place for us to serve.
Furthermore, we were encourage that while we are in that place of rest, and though there will seem to be a raging storms all around us, we have to continue to press on and furthermore we have to continually remind the Lord (just like what Nehemiah did in Nehemiah 13:14,22,29) about where we are, what we've done and His promises to us, and together with reminding Him about all these matter, we are to continually offer to the King the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
This morning, the Lord added more impressions and it comes as words impress in my heart. As always, I would like to ask everyone who will read these words to submit it to the Father for testing and discernments.
Blessings to you all! Sis. Ching Co
WORDS FROM THE LORD:
"My children, my beautiful and wonderful children, brought by the precious blood of My Son Jesus. Being perfected and prepared by the Wonderful Holy Spirit. "Come, draw near to me and let me show you some wonderful truth.
"Do not be afraid of the storms that has come and is still coming. For true it will be fierce, and it will come like the flashing lighting that struck the sky. True, it will touch your lives and will cause many of you to stagger for a little while. But understand that My hand is not short and My heart is not hard. My purpose and plan is not to harm you but to build you up and prosper you. But remember that My Ways are not your ways, but My Plans and Purposes will always prevail and nothing will be able to thwart them.
"I admonish all of you to STOP LOOKING AROUND AND COMPARING YOUR SITUATIONS WITH OTHERS. But come nearer to me, draw near to My Presence for I am all too ready to show you My Plans and My Purposes for your lives. "I am doing a mighty work in the midst of the nations. Be like Ezra who was willing and he prepared and set his heart to seek Me and My Law, and when the time was ripe, I send Him out to teach my people about My Statues.
"Many of you are eager to move forward, to be teachers of others, to give to others, this is good and honorable and I am delighted by your desires. "But this season, I need you , each person to look within your own heart, search the temple of your hearts, are they whole? are they not broken? are there no cracks where the enemy can infiltrate? Look around where you are, your children, your family...are the foundation strong enough? have you repaired the walls of each person's heart? Have you done all that should be done? Are you bonding more to each other? Are you not holding back anything from them? Have you given them your all and your best?
"Soon, I am calling forth for My Ezra's and Nehemiah's, people whose hearts I will stir to moved forward for a great rebuilding. But for now, I am still preparing my people lives to be the TYPE OF REBUILDER that I have in My mind. And for this season, I am rebuilding THE INNER ALTAR AND WALLS OF YOUR LIVES AND THOSE OF YOUR FAMILIES.
"THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO THIS PROCESS. You cannot go out to try and rebuild the altar and walls of other people's lives when your own altar and your own walls lies in shambles and confusion and disarray.
"I am bringing this SABBATH into your lives for a reason, it is a time for seeking me, a time for pressing on to me, a time to be silent and quiet before me and be intimate with me. For in this time of Sabbath, I Am rebuilding an important foundations of My Kingdom.
"Come, do not anxious, for I Am the perfect timekeeper. Come, do not be afraid for I hold you with My Righteous Hand, Come, do not fight the works that I am doing within you, it is for your own good. Come, do not be afraid to reach down within to those things that cause you pain. Bring them out to Me for I desire to take them away from you. Come do not be afraid to reach out to those who have hurt you in the past, for I will release healing and forgiveness to flow and you will find total liberty and freedom.
"Come to Me My children, for I've been waiting for a long time and My heart has been longing for you for so long. Come with Me and I will bring you to our secret Hiding place where nobody can disturb us.
".....Come....Come....Come..."
