The Tabernacle

Notice how different seasons ask different behaviors of us?

One generally doesn’t snuggle up with a blanket in front of a warm open fire on a sweltering hot summer’s day. Instead we adapt & move according to the nature of the seasons.

It seems right now all over the world we are hearing the same season as we listen to our colleagues; God’s people are being beckoned to take a new step of faith, and accompanying this step of faith is the invitation to close our eyes!

What used to be a step of faith, is likely the place we are now living in. This level of faith has grown to be part of us & doesn’t take as much faith to live there now. We are familiar & comfortable with this level of faith.

We are being invited to take a step of faith, to get out of the place of comfort, of support & visit a land we’ve not seen before.

Over these last weeks the Lord has had me meditating on Exodus 14 – the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Behind them their eyes & ears witness the Egyptians coming to take them back into slavery, in front of them they look at a massive impasse of water. They are stuck.

The instruction at this sudden step of faith, ‘Fear not, stand still & see the salvation of the Lord.”(14:13)

Right now, we believe that the Lord has called us from basing in the USA to basing out of Sydney Australia. With this new place of base, is also a new development long dreamed of, where nations would be discipled & soaked in His presence, resulting in knowing how to host Him & expanding HIS Kingdom locally & globally through His manifest presence.

In the natural realm, we stand like the Israelites at the Red Sea. Behind us is a season of people, ministry & a house for us to live in.  (Interestingly our house is still not sold at this point, tying up our financial resources.)

In front of us is the sea of unknowns & impossibilities. We do not know what home we will have in Sydney literally or spiritually. Properties in Sydney far exceed the range of our financial resources to buy or rent as it is currently. Our son is due to begin school in January, but where? While greatly blessed in renting a unit on the property of Wycliffe Bible Translators, it is unavailable to us from Dec, just weeks away now.

The scene is set for a supernatural act & intervention of God.

This step of faith is stretching us! We are definitely out of our comfort zone. And in this season, we as with so many, are being invited by our Father to close our eyes to the natural realm.

Maybe the Holy Spirit is speaking to you but your eyes are saying another? Peter got out of the boat because of what he heard, but sunk because of what he saw! (Matt 14:22-33)

Stand still, close your eyes & see the salvation of the Lord!

The step of faith to “stand STILL & see the salvation of God”, was asked from a people who carried a slave mentality (emphasizes service & doing from obedience). This moment at the Red Sea began a journey in mindset & identity, from slave to son.

Slaves supply a service (doing) based on obedience, sons receive because they are. Sons experience relationship that transcends obedience. Sons are stationed in love, knowing what their Father is doing. (John 15:15)

For the people of Israel to step forward, they would have to learn how to receive! (Interestingly this is also a skill that orphans have to learn. Orphans go to get & have to fend for themselves, but it is not in their realm of experience to receive what someone else has for prepared & saved for them.)

You see the hero in this story were not the slaves, but a Father who was about to provide for them on a scale they could not even imagine or comprehend from their one dimensional, constrained experience of life.

They were about to see something they had never seen & it would require them to close their eyes!

They had to close their eyes to the natural (sea ahead) & to what they used to look at, the Egyptians.

I see the Father God really wanting to drive this ‘stake’ deep into the hearts & spirits of His people all over the world at this time. I submit this is a watershed moment as globally we cross over from slave mentality to knowing, living & thinking as the sons of God! Creation is travailing for this moment! (Rom 8:22-23. )

The scene is set for a supernatural God. It is a new season! A new step of faith

          “The Mighty One, God our Lord..” Psalm 50:1

Yesterday I received a call from a dear friend & collegue in Munich Germany. As I answered the phone, I immediately heard excitement & joy in her voice. “Helen”, she said, “Do you remember 5 years ago when together we all went one afternoon & prayed on the site that had been picked for a new centre of another faith in Munich?”

I thought for a minute & then the scene came flashing back. I was pregnant with Joel-Mark at this stage & by God’s supernatural provision we were unexpectedly living with a Princess from the German Royal Family which is where we met this dear friend. (how God did it click http://all4him.org/stories/rent-free/ )

Our friend went on barely able to hold back. “Helen, the project has been stopped! It will not go ahead for lack of funding! The centre will not be built in Munich! God has broken through!”

The Mighty One, God the Lord. Indeed!

This is not so much about a centre or what people have done. It is about what God has done & can do!

It is about the might & power of God. For He “speaks & summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting… Our God shall come, & shall not keep silent!” (Ps 50:1,3)

There is a saying in Germany, “As goes Munich, so goes Germany”. I have heard the same saying said about Sydney Australia. Perhaps in every nation, God choses a city to be a prophetic picture to the nation. Germany is also considered the leader in Western Europe. Interestingly Australia is a leader in Asia/Pacific, America, a world leader. God uses His leaders as a ‘standard’. A standard reflecting what GOD is capable of.

As we work in these nations, we are hearing the same thing. God is on the move & He is giving notice to His precious people. The Mighty One, God the Lord is about to do something in our day that is unprecedented.

Our friend went on to share that she sensed from the Lord that this year is a year of big multiplication. A big harvest is coming, bigger than ever thought. We have been hearing the same thing in the USA & recently in Australia. http://all4him.org/scripture-prophecy/prophecy/

I encourage you, keep close to His heart. Be listening to what He asks you to do, do it & He will multiply it! He is the Mighty One, God!

Last Sunday was Father’s Day in Australia. On this significant day, something else significant of the spirit of God was spoken.

The prophet Amos said, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (3:7)

White settlement in Australia was achieved predominately in an orphan mentality. Boat loads of ‘convicts’ were thrust upon the shores of Sydney & New South Wales, & left. While there was a basic skeleton of infrastructure set up, it was obviously centered around the law which managed these ‘convicts’, many of them who’s crime was no bigger than stealing a loaf of bread. In this nation, unlike America for instance, there is no language of ‘founding fathers’.

And so on Father’s Day in a nation where the orphan spirit screams “I am alone, I am not loved & cherished, I must fend for myself, I must protect myself, “Father God declared something.

  It is my opinion that Bill Johnson has one of the greatest ‘fathering anointing’s’ I have seen in this last decade, possibly in my lifetime.

On September 5, 2010 as he ‘chatted’ with his family, Bethel Church in California, he declared this,

“Australia is so ripe for a massive outpouring (of God) right now. I met with some folks this last week & we were talking about hot spots around the world where we see the Holy Spirit being poured out & several of us came to a real agreement that one of the hottest spots around the world right now is Australia.”

Preceding this moment, in New Zealand an earthquake rocked the south island. This is a most strange thing as earthquakes are really experienced ‘downunder’ way (1968 last one in NZ). But in the early hours of September 4, Christchurch was hit by a 7.0 earthquake. Christ church!

What an amazing act of love that Father God declared on Father’s Day through a man carrying a huge “Father’s anointing’ to a nation wrestling with an orphan spirit mentality, that The Father is coming & wanting to pour himself into them! 

Father God whose kingdom is ruled by only one thing, love, has shown His hand. He is wanting to pour himself out on the peoples & great southland of the Holy Spirit.

This declaration was preceded by an earthquake that turned the heads of many in the nations, to a city incredibly named Christchurch.

Many years ago when we were in Bible College, we enjoyed the reflections of a guest speaker had witnessed three moves of God (revivals) in the Pacific. One reflection stuck in our spirit. He noted that in EVERY move of God, the established church missed it.

Jesus Messiah, Son of God came & walked planet earth for 33 years, & the established church of his time missed it. John the Baptist, who fulfilled prophecy as the one to prepare the way for the Son of God, missed it, until Father God spoke from heaven after Jesus was baptized. (John 1:31)

There is potential for us to miss it. What will it look like for us in one of the hottest spots around the world, to witness a massive outpouring of God? What earthquake might this bring into our lives, our thinking, our destiny?

Father God has shown His hand. The Father of Love is coming!

Last night we were hanging out with some dear friends. Around 10pm I began to hear the sound of dinging as from a train crossing. I also heard mixed in with this the whistle of a train. It was clear & repeated. The sounds repeated consistently for about 15 mins & then stopped.

I recognized quickly that the sound I was hearing was in the realm of the spirit. Amazing how people can hear vividly in the physical what is being sounded in the spirit.

The sound was so clear, so consistent.

Last night was also Feast of Trumpets (also known as Rosh HaShanah – Jewish new year). While these feasts were given to Israel, they were known as “God’s appointed feasts” (Lev 23:1). The Hebrew word used here is “moed” meaning ‘divine appointment’.

Interestingly this same word is used for ‘marriage’. Over the years I have observed that at the time of the ‘feasts’ there is a marriage that often goes on as heaven’s agenda of love, connects on earth.

In this ‘divine appointment’ of Trumpets, the Priests blew the trumpets. The sound of trumpets communicated four things: calling the people together, moving camp, alarm of war coming & to signal Feast times & beginnings of months (Num 10).

In all occasions, movement was required upon hearing the sound.

There is a direct correlation between movement & divine appointments.

And last night the picture was full of movement & sound.

I sense that for some of you reading, you are experiencing a crossing or you are being asked to wait. Be encouraged for at train crossings, at least in Australia, there is plenty of sound to aid you & direct you. Sound is heard both from the crossing & the train coming.

There is a sound being released from heaven today. Your heart will know it. For those who are the ‘sons of God, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6) Be encouraged though you might not understand the sound yet, you hear it.

Movement is coming. Sound is evidence of that!

The love of Heaven is sounding on earth.

“The functions of life now rule us. Everyone wants to know what we do rather than who we are. People define their life by geography, job title & performance. In this busy functional paradigm, we seldom have real time for people. We have surface relationships with people. We wear social masks of politeness that hide our fears, worries & inner thoughts. We do not reveal our true inner self because we are afraid of rejection. We want to be loved but the process of real love involves the true revelation of self, so our fear of rebuff does not allow us to go deep with people around us.” (Graham Cooke, A Divine Confrontation.)

For some months now, I have been profoundly struck by the dominance in the Western world of the ‘functional’ paradigm. I have been struck by its fruit – a lonely barrenness of life that is governed ruthlessly by business, function, systems, & task. Connecting with people seems to be reduced to the skeleton of a purpose driven existence.

Yet the more I linger with God, I am stunned & challenged by His relational paradigm.

As we returned to Australia a few weeks ago, I was talking with an old friend. During this brief conversation that was populated by the tasks & steps ahead of us, she said “Let’s catch up for coffee.”

I was abruptly halted as I realized how ‘functional’ I had been with one of the most relational people I know of on planet earth. I was embarrassed & horiffied.

You see in Australia amongst ‘mates’, when they say “Let’s do coffee” (& most especially for this precious friend) the literal translation is, “Let’s enjoy both a coffee together & be together… just being & hanging out, sharing & journeying life from the inside together for a moment.” Here function serves relationship.

This is true in the world of the East also. In Asia & the middle East, relationship comes before function & must be established for any task to exist.

But it is most true of the heart of God also.

“For God so LOVED the world that He sent His Son” (John 3:16). He LOVED. Love is relational. If it is not, we call that prostitution. God did not so serve that He sent His Son. He loved.

I would suggest that one of the ‘transitions’ God is wanting to bring amongst His people in the West, is a detox from the Spirit of the world that emphasizes function above relationship.

This is part of the journey of holiness – being set apart. God desires to set us apart from the spirit of the world & put His spirit in us. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) The spirit of heaven is relationship.

A relational paradigm is about “learning to trust, to be open & honest, to understand & be understood, to accept & approve & in turn find acceptance & approval. It is about connecting with another as we draw the road map of life in the spirit together. It is about connecting through our fears & concerns, dreams & aspirations, joys & delights, dislikes & annoyances.” (Graham Cooke)

One of the characteristics of the end times is “the love of many growing cold.” (Matt 24:12) I submit that when we tabernacle with God we are separated from the spirit of the world which debases us to mere function, & we can engage in the safety & sweetness of His presence & His relating with us.

I have observed that those who have spent time in His presence are those who do relationships & do them well & in health.

This is all part of growing up in Him.

Townsend & Cloud suggest that “The mindset of an infant & toddler is that another exists to meet their needs & feelings, every wish should be another’s command. To cherish someone’s existence apart from you & apart from what you get from that person is a neat aspect of love… the ability to see the other person as distinct & separate from you – a person in their own right, with value & wonderful things about them that have nothing to do with gratifying you in anyway other than pure appreciation. This is the joy of just knowing a person.” (Boundaries)

This relational paradigm that not only blesses us & others but most of all God. As we learn to cherish Him, love Him for Him not how He gratifies us, we are growing up & learning to be again.

In the end days there are two figures of relational intimacy pictured for us in the New Testament. One is the Great Prostitute (Rev 17-18), the other the Bride of Christ (Rev 22:17). The distinctive difference between these two levels of intimacy is relationship. One is purely functional. The other is based in relationship & the stuff of love.

Father God desires a bride for His Son, one who has rediscovered again relationship.

And the Bride desires to be cherished again.

The journey begins with & in us. Which paradigm will we live from?

Me? Well I’m off to have coffee with a dear friend!

  And so the story goes that some years ago now, a lady named to me as Mrs. Graham, stood with her local pastor by the fence looking out over her pasture land in Melbourne Australia. Sharing with her Pastor, she sensed God was asking her to give to Him this portion of her land. Together that day, they prayed & offered the land to God. As they did this, they consecrated it – devoted it & set it apart for nothing else than God.

Little did Mrs Graham know that from this moment would come thousands who would join in what is one of the most significant revivals in world history.

It is the way in the Kingdom of God that His activity & His substance marks geographical locations. Anything that is consecrated to God He marks with His presence.

Within years this piece of land would be given freely for the establishment of what is now the world’s second largest mission agency, Wycliffe Bible Translators. This consecrated land has been & continues to be the launching place for thousands of people who also have consecrated their lives to God.

It was on this land that I grew up a missionary kid & now again I find myself dwelling on as one continuously learning to host the presence of God who marked me with Himself.

Today I find myself on a journey of consecration in a way.

In whatever homes & nations God has given us to live over the last 8 years while pioneering the ministry of the Tabernacle, we have always given to Him a portion, a space for Him. At times it has been 2 rooms, or part of a room, & other times it has simply been a chair. Whatever space we had, we offered it all to Him & let Him chose what area He wanted. And in this space, we learnt to minister to Him, to be with Him, to host His presence, & let heaven’s atmosphere occupy earth.

Today, I have a home, but I am not permitted to live in it, for it seems at this time He wants it all! My home is in Colorado, USA. When we moved in, we prayed a similar prayer to Mrs. Graham. We consecrated it, and in doing so we gave up authority of it.

In mid July, the Lord asked us to leave & return to our homeland in Australia. He asked us to put the house on the market. God marked this place with His presence. And it continues. For you see, we don’t serve an institution or building, we serve God, & there is a profound difference!

John, the closest friend of Jesus, stated “He has made us kings & priests to God” (Rev 1:6) Who are we Kings & Priests to? God!

It’s very simple really. God just wants to be first with no second!

Today we dwell again on this set apart land, awaiting our next launch. This time to what I believe is the city in Australia with a Priestly anointing, Sydney. What great praise & worship to God comes forth from there, like no other place in this nation. Hillsong & Dayspring Church illustrate that!

Encountering His presence changes us. To be consecrated to God produces in us a God consciousness that is greater than anything else.  This is when God & His Kingdom, invades earth. And this is really what it’s all about!

Our Father, Let Your Kingdom come! (Matt 6:9-10)

What would you be prepared to consecrate to God for Him to come, for heaven to invade earth?

Mrs. Graham knew & followed through. Today, from every tribe, language, people & nation, God is making them “a Kingdom & Priests to our God & they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9-10)

So here again is transition. The pathway of the new.

Not fully belonging in my here
yet coexisting with another life slowly fading from a reality that once was so very tangible.
Writing addresses in pencil
as so many smile & others question this strange existence.
Belonging no longer to one nation,
but to many.
Living a fleetingness like the grass of the fields – here one day, gone the next.
Making friends with many
yet connected most intimately with only One.
Living times wondering how to get the next meal,
yet experiencing in an opposite moment the limitlessness of heaven’s love.
Breathing in a valiant heart that would lift my feet another step on an unknown journey
with an unknown destination,
other moments propelled by a flow that has nothing to do with the mechanics of this natural world.

The ebb & flow of an apostolic journey resting entirely upon Him, His unwavering goodness & faithfulness,
adoring nothing more than His presence.
Living by His every breath,
utterly dependant upon this Rock, this Ancient of Days who never sleeps nor slumbers,
who knows no lack
& aches to show in the stories of those He loves, how outrageously amazing He is.
The complete Father.
The smitten Bridegroom.

Cherishing the preciousness of our God.

Tonight He is the one constant in a reality of continous change.
For what once belonged to me,
what once defined my external world,
no longer remains.

For the journey continues..

Wanting for nothing else but Him, exclusively Him.

This is my story – this is His story.

Weight is an interesting experience when it comes to God.

Just today, as I waited on Him, His weight started to descend upon me physically.

Before I knew it, I was face down, prostrate (meaning completely laid out). I could hardly move, let alone breathe. His presence was heavy, thick, weighty. There was absolutely no way, I was going to move, let alone want to move. His weight rested on me.

As He lay his weight upon me more, both my hands begun to burn sharply. Though this was well & truly not the first encounter like this, it was however all the more intense.

He begun to share with me some of His great passion, heart, zeal & jealousy for His Bride. His whisperings were from the very centre of His heart. These were holy, intimate reflections from the core of love itself.

I was completely undone & in awe.

After about 4 hours of this, I crawled out of the Tabernacle on all fours.

Let’s just say that I remained not far from the floor for the rest of the day.

The word glory in the Scriptures means weight. It is what He is. The Glory of God relates to His presence & it is a weighty thing, literally.

Yet how weighty is His great undying love for His bride! How jealous He is over her… over you, over me. Jealousy in Hebrew means to be intensely interested in the honor, the purity, the prosperity of another.

God’s jealousy over His bride is related to the journey of holiness. In crucifixion, our old way of thinking & acting is dealt with. Our heart of stone, full of lies we’ve believed, is taken away. In resurrection, God’s holiness (a renewed mind & way) is called forth in us as He puts a new heart & a new spirit in us. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

A holy bride is the Father’s desire for his Son, our bridegroom. For it reveals His glory.
And that is a weighty thing!

A few months ago, a colleague of ours wrote me an email. We were discussing our upcoming visit with her in North London. As she closed off her email she wrote, “In these days I am saying to the Western European Leaders, ‘LESS VISION, MORE PURITY.”

These words vibrated strongly in my spirit.

Holiness has been my meditations of late. The Lord keeps drawing me back to this theme, this idea, this part of who & what He is.

Holy means to seperate from everything else that is going around.

Holy is what God is. God will always distinguish himself from the spirit of the day. So in the Old Testament records, we see God presenting himself as a cloud in the day & fire in the night. HE is always contrary to the world.

Peter, the disciple & friend of Jesus wrote, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” (1 Pet 1:15) As a Jew, Peter knew what being ‘set apart & seperate from” looked like. Jews still stand out in a crowd today! It required of Peter to be, dress, eat & live in a way that was opposite to the world surrounding him.

For Noah, holiness looked like building a boat & dwelling in it for over a year when the world & its spirit was corrupt & in rebellion to the God who made it.

Holiness looked like the a cave in the wilderness when David was being hunted by a King who feared man more than God & ended up consulting witches rather than being led by the Spirit of God.

Holiness looked like the belly of a fish when Jonah sort to do his thing rather than God’s.

All through out the record of God with man holiness has required a set apartness, a seperation from the world.

In Numbers 16:9 a stunning revelation is given. Moses is speaking to the Levities who were part of the Priesthood. He says, “It is no small thing that God has called you OUT from the congregation of Israel to draw near to Him, to do the service of the Tabernacle & to minister to the people.”

Holiness will call us out. It will call us away. It will require of us to distinguish ourselves from everything that is going around.

The Early Fathers of our faith walked in this, hence their other name of the Desert Fathers. You see there is a process of salvation. Paul says, “work out your own salvation with fear & trembling.” ( Phil 2:12b)

Salvation says Dr Artef, a Coptic Priest walking in the way of the Early Fathers, “always requires a man of God who has the calling to enter into seasons of seclusion, fasting & prostration before our God, to wait on Him”.

There is an element of seclusion, of seperateness that relates to holiness. It always has been & always will.

What happens in the set apart places & times is that we are taken away from all that is in the world & our world. These moments, seasons & experiences squeeze out of us the spirit & ways of the world.

One walks very differently in a desert place.

A distance is created. Space is placed between us & the world. In a way we are preserved from what is normally around us.

In my own journey, the result is that is makes my heart very sensitive to God & to the constrasting world. In this place of no or little distraction we are invited into more of the fullness of God. A joining to God takes place after the removal of other things.

If we want to walk with God, it will require us to be where He is. Where He is will be opposite to the ways & mindsets of this world. Expect God to put you in contrary situations so He can be seperate & seen.

In every case when I have been with those who’ve sort holiness & yielded to the process of developing it, I have tasted & been in awe of a beauty that surpasses anything of the world.

All beauty is an expression of His holiness. For it is an expression of God’s nature in us that is not contaminated. Holiness reveals beauty.

God is restoring a royal priesthood who will minister to Him & to others in the beauty of His holiness.

My spirit continues to join in the cry, “Less Vision, More Purity.”

We all have a story.

A tale of triumph. Of tragedy. Pain. Glory. Intrigue.

My story is probably no different to yours. Its themes, it struggles the same, yet the way, the circumstances different. We all have our ashes. We all have our beauty, & we can all have joy.

What is the story that God is telling?

He is telling us something in these days. He is telling us something about himself, ourselves & of a greater story unfolding.

You see our stories, our personal tales of triumph & tragedy, weave into a larger story. This is part of the beauty & joy. This is part of community, of family, of Kingdom of God.

The story that God is telling, is really all about him. The irony is that it is not about us, but about who he is & what he can do.

Threads run thru the tapestry of our lives & they often begin when we are young. His nature shows its hand when we are young, very young.

There is a truth, a truth about God. Would you, would I, be prepared to live a journey to find this out?

The challenge of this journey that I embarked upon was that it had to be traveled his way, not mine.

This still remains the challenge. Perhaps even more so now than when I first begun.

In our story are answers. Answers for a generation that God is now forging. Answers of his glory, his majesty, his victory, his goodness.

There are declarations to be made. Revelations to be spoken out, triumphs to be had.

Your story matters. My story matters, because in them there is something important God is saying… and this is the point.

Hello!!!

We hope you enjoy our quick 3 min video update!

Listed below are the dates mentioned in the video for your prayers. We thank you for your prayers, friendship & most of all your own love for Jesus!

As many of you know for over 2 years now, the Lord has had 3 nations on our radar – Australia, UK & USA. Our trip to UK continues in this.

May 18                 Fly to London UK
May 20                 Global Legacy Meeting – ministry of Bethel Church. We sense the Lord leading us to link more with Global Legacy which is a apostolic, relational network of leaders whose purpose is to bring personal, regional & global expansion of God’s Kingdom through God’s manifest presence.
May 22                 Sharing at Asian House Church in Surrey London.
May 24-27           Cheltenham with friends who have just moved from Australia
May 27-29           Meetings with a dear friend & leader of Western Europe YWAM who’s opened a Tabernacle in North London & is a study under Dr Atef, a coptic Priest.
June 1                   Fly back to Colorado, USA

Mark & Helen Goatley
Mark & Helen Goatley are faith based servants commissioned by the Lord in an apostolic ministry. This means that they are not paid a wage by any organisation, but live from gifts & regular financial support given by people, churches & organizations who believe in them & the call of God on their lives.

Right now we have friends emailing or facebooking from all over the world who are stranded on route. The result of a volcanic eruption in Iceland is an ash cloud lingering over Europe stopping all flights in & out. One friend trying to get back home to Germany is stuck in New York, another is stuck in London trying to get back to USA.

People are being made to WAIT.

This morning the Lord took me to Ecclesiastes. “To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.” (3:1) On God’s calendar it is now the time between Passover/Easter & Shavuot/Pentecost. In Acts 1, Jesus instructed his disciples to “wait in Jerusalem for the Promise” (1:4). What was the promise?

Something completely new. Something completely different to what God had EVER done before.

God was about to come, no longer to dwell in a physical building, but dwell in the body of men. And He would give himself to not only the Jew but to the Gentile. The Tabernacle of God would be with & in all men!

The route to this moment in time was waiting.

Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who wait on the Lord, He will renew their strength.” The word ‘wait’ here means “to bind together by twisting, to expect, to tarry”. There is something about the experience of waiting that involves twisting & binding. As we wait & continue to wait, we naturally seek out something to bind to.

On the Jewish calendar, now is the time between Moses first appearance from Mt Sinai (when the “Law” was written on two stone tablets) & the second time from Mt Sinai.

These two stone tablets containing the “Law” (defining their identity from God’s perspective), ended up being destroyed because as the people of Israel waited, they chose to bind themselves to the lies & deception that Moses would not return & that the Land God was taking them to would not be better than the slavery of Egypt (unbelief).

What we do in the waiting matters.

In both these events (Israel waiting in the Wilderness & Jesus disciples waiting in Jerusalem), God was about to do something He had never done before. In the waiting, He was preparing them to host the presence of God within them!

Again now we sit waiting. Being rather than doing. Stranded to be. Stranded to wait.

What new thing does God want to do with men, in men?

He is looking for a resting place, not a doing place.

As He rests in us & as we wait on Him, we are bound together with Him.

He is doing a new thing. Are you ready for this?

This prophetic picture I saw during a fast time with the Lord on Jan 23, 2010. Watch for the shadows of this. I submit it is coming to pass on the earth now as you read these words…

“I saw upon the mountains a whirly.
It sprung up from nowhere & began descending down the rugged, stony slopes to the plains & valleys.
It moved around with an intentionally.
It did not move fast
but at a deliberate pace.
It was a pure white.
Then it stopped in one place.
And many from the mountains
Who’d been taking refuge there came down. (Matt 17:1-5)
They were dressed in animal skins,
All were thin
& long haired. (Mal 3:1)
They came down & stood before the white whirly looking up at it in wonder.
A strong sense of mission upon them
& in their eyes.
As I saw their eyes
they were filled with fire
& intense love for only one thing, Jesus.
Nothing else.
Nothing else.
There was a strong sense of internship upon them.
Slowly by 1’s, 2’s & 4’s
They were very carefully assigned to places & people.
There were not many people that they were assigned to
& those with no people
Where assigned in groups of 4 to a place.
They went & simply sat in these places
& camped around fires.
And slowly various numbers of individuals & families
Came together & gathered at these fire places.
These who joined them also were slim in figure,
consumed with no other agendas or focus,
but Jesus. (Isa 40:3-5)
I saw the whirly go & rest upon each fire place
then move onto the next.
After its departure from the fireplace,
I saw the people gathered there
disperse in all directions carrying swags
& a burning torch lit from the fireplace,
tattooed upon their foreheads was the word “NEW”. (Isa 43:19, 2 Cor 5:17, 20)
They went in all directions of the compass
Consumed with one thing, JESUS.”

“Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple..” (Mal 3:1)

“It is not the first time in history that God has required a people to be ready for a paradigmatic change.

Many generations have longed to see the glorious impact of God’s Kingdom tangibly into their own time & space, & failed to see what we are about to experience.

At this point then we must be prepared to learn from the disciples on the road to Emmaus & be ready for our hearts to burn within us as we consider Him opening our eyes to new perspectives & possibilities that we haven’t yet even considered in the Scriptures. What a paradigmatic change was in store for them & is yet for us!”
(Roger & Mary Mitchell, Target Europe, 2001)

Since reading these words in 2005 while living in Europe, they have echoed in our spirits over & over again with pulsating rhythm.

When Jesus appeared to his two friends on the road to Emmaus, they had no idea of all that was about to unfold into world.

Passover was finished for these two friends of Jesus & now they waited for the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost). But this year they had no idea of what radical change would come their way.

This year the Spirit of God would dwell IN them, pouring out his “Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17); doing something God had NEVER done before…. giving himself to the Gentile not only the Jew.

Now again here we are, on the road between Passover & Shavuot (Pentecost). The invitation beckons again…. Are we ready for God to mess with our paradigm’s? Our paradigms of how we see Him, ourselves, our nations, His Church? Every holy cow in our paradigm He will mess with.

Are we ready for His Kingdom to come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven?

Jesus – Solely, wholly, indisputably
Jesus.
Jesus revealed
experienced
transformed
The Wonder of Him
Exclusively Him
His majesty, His beauty, His fullness, His Spirit

His presence

Jesus magnified
worshipped
adored
lavished with love
unquestioningly
extravagantly

A people
hungry
desperate

Pursued by Him
Undone & overwhelmed by His Love
Lost in the wonder of Him

They abandoned to Him
living, breathing, wanting for nothing else
HIM

A people prepared to walk with the Wind, the Ruach Himself
The quest, His Breathe

Shifting, moving where He goes
Knowing truth & freedom
Yet addicted
Fused with Him
Abiding IN Him
Living in His presence
Knowing, seeing, hearing Him

Complete union

Burning with consuming fire
Living outside boxes
mindsets
Systems that enslave to another relationship
Another god
Another time

Present in holiness that hurts the eyes
designed for praise
applauding only Him

Storming strongholds
Raising the dead
living rest
& surrender to the breadth of Him

Existing for the One Thing
His presence
His breathe
His heartbeat

And the world is changed.

“Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with man.” Rev 21:3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZG1e20yMFQ

A year ago, the Lord showed me this as we worshipped in Melbourne Australia. While this was immediately relevant for the community we were with that day, I beleive it is also for those in every tribe & nation now who love Jesus.

For your spirit man & heart’s ponderings.

The Lord has had me mediating on a thought for a few days now. It is this;

“We have been called to live beyond reason & far beyond the boarders of our own abilities.”  (Kris Vallotton, Senior Pastor of Bethel church)

Funny the truth about this, because it requires faith in God not in ourselves. What a deliverance to be set free of ourselves!

So as I was contemplating this, a friend sent me this blog. It’s a ripper & follows this thought on more! Hang with it, until the end if you are game enough to read it! =)

http://freebelievers.com/blog-entry/the-trinity-and-the-cow

“Beloved. Some things are only achieved by rest.
It is not all about work,
programs,
business,
directional strategies.
What you dont do is just as significant.
When you rest,
you create space for Me.
Never underestimate what your NOT doing creates.”

This was His whisper to me this last weekend as I just sat with Him in His space.

 ”Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest, still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.” (Heb 4:1)

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down, out of heaven FROM GOD, prepared as a bride adorned FOR HER HUSBAND.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man… And God HIMSELF will be with them as their God.” (Rev 21:2-3)

   During a moment of worship & deep adoration of Jesus. I heard Him say,
“It is the time of the son.”

“Immediately I saw the country of the USA. I saw sons working in the fields, suddenly hear & see Jesus the Son of God, standing before them, calling them, “Come follow Me.” I saw millions of them get up immediately from their field & walk away.

I saw some turn & wave goodbye to their family of origin who were standing by their houses, & I saw others getting up, eyes unmoved off Jesus, simply walk off, no turning back to look at what they were leaving behind them.

Then I saw Jesus on a ship, standing at the entrance point on the ship, waving them welcome. Line after line flooded on board, some full of joy & dancing, some heavy of heart knowing what & who they were leaving behind them. Every son that had boarded was young.

The shipping port they were leaving from was lined with old, weathered buildings that had upon them the signs “Founding Fathers”. While the dock had some people moving around on it, it was no longer a busy port. In the background of this port, I saw a steal gray city, noisy, busy, & stuffed full with men in gray suits rushing from one high rise building to another. These buildings so numerous they almost blotted out the horizon. A thick heavy pollution hung in the city, falling lower & lower.

At the dock, the sons continued to board, all with empty hands, none took anything with them only the clothes on their back. They boarded knowing that they were receiving an exchange of Provider & an exchange of the way of provision. Gladness filled their being.

On board, some stood by the side waving goodbye, others simply went about the business of settling. All were alone, no family with them.

Written in charcoal on their chests were the words, “The new.”

On the inside of their forearms, was tattooed the words, “For Jesus, the Son of God.”

Once on board, I saw them being given new uniforms. They exchanged their old individual clothes pale & pastel in color, for new Venetian uniforms, stripped blue & white.

As they donned the uniforms, an atmosphere of deep romance filled the ship.
Jesus who was large & brilliantly white walked down the centre of the ship. As He did, they fell to their knees weeping & worshipping Him in the awe of His beauty & power. They were spell bound in love of Him. Not moving or daring to breath the rarified air of His holiness.

As Jesus walked He handed out new tools & gifts. Some received large ancient swords, some yellow flowers, others blacksmith hammers. I saw that only those who eyes where unwaveringly on Him received these.

Others lay prostrate, face down on the deck of the ship. They simply lay there overwhelmed with a deep awe & fear of Him, the Son of God. Light flooded upon their bodies. It was evident that this was the very purpose of their existence. These ones especially drew warm affection & respect from Him. Stopping, He would sit with them talking, as one would to a close friend. Their love for him & His for them, was so much it could not be contained.

The number of those who lay prostrate far outnumbered those who were looking up at His face. Infact those who fell laying prostrate before Jesus, created the effect liken to red carpet being unrolled.

A thundering voice was heard from heaven, “Father exchange. The sons have left home.”

A stillness & complete silence followed.

After what seemed an all too brief moment, a deep chant begun to echo not only in the ship but across the waters;
“Time of The Son”
“Time of The Son”
“Time of The Son”

This chant grew louder & louder. Its vibration shifting the earth’s very soil, causing a movement that can only be likened to that resulting from an earthquake. I saw every structure on the land mass these sons had just left, crumble.

All on board were completely safe & unaffected in any way.

They continued over the waters, sailing towards the rising sun.”

—————————————————-

“God is speaking to us, every one of us, & trying to get us to leave the shoreline. There is only one place where we can get the mind & will of God; it is alone with God. There is a close companionship between you & Jesus that nobody knows about. It seems to me that God wants to get everyone of us separated to himself…” 

Smith Wigglesworth, Greater Works

  The last 5 days I have been in a ‘walkabout’ with the Lord. It’s been a set apart, intentional time with Him. On day 3, suddenly for the first time in 3 months, the wind sprung up. During this day, the following picture I saw. Isaiah 5:26 is echoing in our day.. “He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth, surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.”

“I saw dry wheat fields surrounded & littered with eucalyptus gum trees.
I saw people who looked like ghosts – white & pale.
They suddenly stepped out from behind the gum trees.
As I saw these people,
lots of them
I realized they were Australian Aboriginals painted with white paint on their faces & hands.
There were as many of them as trees & the boundary fence line was stacked with trees.
They stepped out & simply stood there.
They stepped out as if their name had been called.
Suddenly balls of fires from the heavens
shot down
hitting them in the chest.
After impact, I saw them immediately transformed.
They were hugely tall
like Afro-American basketball players.
They assumed the position of a dance as in a Corroboree.
They were wearing what is worn at such an event.
Their chant echoed
strongly across the plains.
I saw what seemed like sudden chaos in the heavens
As stars shot in all directions
clouds moved rapidly across the skies
coming together with a thunder clap & bolts of lightning.
A strong wind blew violently
& I saw ones in other nations who were at work in fields,
homes
buildings
suddenly stop & turn as if hearing all this.
Right across the nations,
one by one they stopped,
looked,
listened.
Then one almighty lightning hit across the entire earth’s sky;
so that at one time
all could see it
together.
Upon seeing it, they dropped what they held their hands & walked towards the east.
Suddenly they fell one by one
on their faces
lying prostrate on the ground.
A deep holiness consumed them.
They were so in awe of the beauty of His holiness,
they almost dare not breathe.
Under their bodies they felt the movement & vibrations of the earth that comes when a Corroboree dance is in action.
Their bodies vibrated with the rhythm & beat of the stamping of feet.
This vibration filled their inner being
& they rose
& walked
with a new song
& dance.
They exalted & hailed the coming of the KING.
They saw each other & joined hands
all around the world,
linking together the entire circumference of the earth’s globe.
Dancing, singing praise to the King of Kings.
Their song echoed in the universe
& in the depths of the earth’s crust.
Strong was their link to each other.
Long & loud was their song.”