WILL YOU EAT WHAT THE LORD SERVES YOU AT HIS TABLE?

Over a year ago, the Lord showed me some things that would be happening. Knowing it didn't make the last year and a half much easier, but it did give insight, both going into it and coming out of it. Following, is what He gave me on June 6, 1997.

After that, is what He showed me on Nov.30, 1998 about things to come.

IT'S A MATTER OF TIMING

June 6, 1997:

I hear, "timing, it's a matter of timing". There is a lawn of green grass with circles or patches of grass starting to die. I become very aware that the roots either dried up or began drying long before it showed up in the blades. It'll take a long time before anyone knows how dead it really is.

This is a difficult time right now and for the next few months, in that everyone looks the same. Hearts are being tested. In some areas, God is pulling back on power to build character. In others, the same "pulling back", will not build character, but rather release a barrage of human effort and arrogance.

MOST WILL EITHER REPENT OR HARDEN

It's up to us; the signs (or offenses) will either cause us to repent or they will harden our hearts like pharaoh. How we end up as a people, a movement, or individuals, won't be determined by one test alone. Many tests have come over the years, many opportunities taken or passed by. The roots have been dying for a long time.

We are like the Shunammite woman in 2Kings 4. Some of us were, and are, satisfied with the prophets' staff; some will not be satisfied until they have the prophet. Even then, some will give up when the prophet rises and watches...we see no life, we don't see what we want, the prophet seems powerless, and so we give up too soon. We don't see the life coming and so we give up. We need more than the prophets' staff, more than one touch. We give up too soon. The second move or wave is coming. The "prophet" is about to lay himself out on the church one more time. But for many, it will be too late. They saw the prophet pull back and the body only "warmed"-- They thought it was over, and removed the body. Many waited only for the staff and when no life came, they called it a farce, a hoax, and buried the child.

THE PROPHET IS COMING AGAIN SOON. HOW MANY "BODIES" ARE WAITING FOR "HIM."

The prophet is coming again soon; How many "bodies" will he find waiting for him? How many will be gone? Don't go back and wait for others. This is not the time to share your oil. Be ready, it's coming very soon. This is not the time to worry about the church as a whole; God will honor individuals as well as movements, or churches within movements. He will not pass by anyone who is ready. We will all be surprised. We are all being tested.

NOVEMBER 30, 1998 REVELATION

(NEXT CAME ON NOV.30, 1998 about the season we are now entering)

I see many different congregations, God setting out a table at each one. The food is all different, the variety is incredible; but people are judging each other because they figure if the food is from God, it will all look the same; it doesn't.

THE LORD GIVES EACH PASTOR OR CONGREGATION WHAT THEY NEED TO EAT

I see pastors who are dissatisfied with their portion and won't eat it. Some will eat but resent it. I see pastors with plain wholesome food resent the fact they do not have more exotic food. But exotic food would make them proud. They need this to make them strong and stable. I see pastors with exotic food grow weary of the taste and complain about digestion. They long for plain, wholesome food; yet what makes another strong would make them fat.

The prophet is here, perhaps for the last time for many, at least in this broad, specific way.

SOME WILL REFUSE TO EAT THE LORD'S CHOICE OF FOOD FOR THEM

Many people are going to lose what is set before them because they refuse to eat it. They think by refusing it, they will receive something else. They will not. This has been prepared by the Lord himself. This is the testimony of Jesus being expressed TO them, and if they gladly partake, THROUGH them. When some refuse this food I see them having to scour the land looking for something to eat. Pastors having to look hard for food to deliver to the children. It is real food, but meager pickings, and I see the people weeping and complaining for lack of satisfying food.

I see some of these pastors getting very angry and bitter, especially at the people for complaining, when they themselves are working so hard to deliver "the goods". Very few repent when they've gone this far, at least not right away. It seems they have set themselves to go on a journey that may last 1-3 years. Many withdraw into themselves and just do their duties with no relief. Many pull out a whip and start whipping at the people, stirring them up to "service". Many get restless and start going about nervously trying to escape their environment or change it all together.

MANY PASTORS WILL RECEIVE THEIR FOOD WITH THANKSGIVING

Now, I see the pastors who receive their food with thanksgiving. The ones with more "ordinary" food, eat and get strong and labor with love and joy. The people flourish. They do not envy the ones with more exotic food, although I see many looking on in a wistful way.

I see the pastors with exotic food eating. It is lean to them, not what other people think. Yet if they accept it and receive it with joy, it sustains them and they prosper.

(For some reason, I see the people who are eating exotic food always on airplanes, always involved with "exciting" things.)

There begins to be a balance and a cooperation between the two, and I see kingdom work being done.

THE GULF BETWEEN THOSE WITH JOY AND THE OTHERS GETS EXTREME

But the gulf between those that receive their portion with joy and those who don't, gets extreme. Not that they end up so very far apart, but rather the satisfaction of the one group is so great, they are so full; and the misery and feelings of being lost and "left out" in the other group is so intense.

In one sense we have just left a long season of testing and separating, promotions and "demotions" as it were. We are all being set on paths now, the paths that our decisions and choices have gotten us. And there is a stretching coming! Even now we are feeling it.

SOME BEING ASKED TO LEAVE THEIR COMFORT ZONE

Quiet, gentle, even shy people are being drawn out by the Lord to more aggressive or risk-taking roles. They are being asked to leave comfort zones in order to fulfill Gods' best. Some people are being asked to say, "no", to what appears to be ministry opportunities, or what the church at large may call promotions. Men and women being called to labor quietly and with humility, in non-glorious ways. These too, are being stretched.

The test is, will we now eat the plate the Lord is setting before us, whatever it is; and will we not judge our brothers and sisters who are another man's servants? Will we obey, no matter how wild and crazy it looks, or how humble and unimpressive?

TO BE READY, YOU MUST EATING FROM YOUR OWN PLATE WITH THANKSGIVING

The prophet is coming again, the second time. Only those eating their own plates with thanksgiving will be ready, they alone will have eyes to see God's hand whether their doctrines make room for prophets or not. Even pastors who believe in prophecy will miss this if they are not in their places.

Ahab believed in prophets, and he and Jehoshaphat even fought side by side in battle. They worked closely together, but there was a distance between them that wasn't determined by proximity or doctrine. Many faithful men and women will be sitting down at the table with those who refuse to eat at their own plates. God is dealing with us all.

I see some mighty people of God, with strong calls on their lives being asked by God to serve in very humble ways right now. I hear them praying and wondering if they have been passed by or if they have disqualified themselves with rebellion, pride or sin. For them, this needs to be a time of full repentance, confession, and quiet restoration. They have to restore their own foundations first.

SOME THOUGHT TO BE DISQUALIFIED WILL COME BACK STRONGER THAN EVER

I also see those who, though asking of God the same questions, have been faithful, and not self-promoting. In this humble place they are serving God and glorifying God in obedience. At the end of this season, some people who were thought disqualified may come back stronger and humbler, or, in new and different paths the Lord has prepared for them.

The prophet, with the spirit of prophecy is coming again to lay himself out on the church...on the "body". For those who receive it, knowingly or unknowingly, we are about to hear seven sneezes in the church. Something that was once a walking fulfillment of promise, a great joy, who then went through a death, will now become a miracle, a sign and a wonder.

God is now, over the next few weeks and months, making it clear what our plates are, what our diets in the next few years will be. The Lord will be putting out food for us all and we will all make our choices, but the choices of pastors will affect many right now.

If they choose rightly, many may leave their congregations, but many will come. If they REJECT the food God gives them, many will leave and many will come! Don't judge your choice by numbers. There will be a lot of movement this next year.

THE WRONG CHOICES CAN MAKE THE CORPORATE AFFECT "HOLLOW."

If a wrong choice is made and lived by, no number of prophets in the world, coming to that church will bring the breakthrough. They may bless individuals, but the corporate affect will be hollow.

There are so many things the Lord will be doing in the next few years, and this is only one. But I share it because it is so fundamental to how we respond to the rest. Pastors not only make choices about their own plates, but must discern rightly concerning people in their care. If they are being called to a quiet place, pushing them forward and out into activity would be wrong. Yet some need to come out of insecurities and fears into a more active role.

Some pastors will see people in their congregations go further out, in a more prominent role than themselves, and they must not envy or hold them back. Other pastors will have a blast of energy and vision, and may despair if not everyone on the team seems to respond to the same call. Yet these are needed in the congregation to help stabilize the boat. In the end, we all stand before God responsible for our own choices. This season stands to be very rich and exciting for all of us.