Walk Toward the Light

The Lord is speaking. He is saying, “Get ready for increase!”

Blessing, increase, and prosperity are at the foundation of God’s heart for you as His child. The Apostle John prayed, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things, and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 3).

In his own words, John was repeating the blessing that God spoke from the very dawn of creation. It indicated His original intent towards mankind. It was to be a testimony of His kingdom coming to earth:

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28).

Blessing means: increase, fruitfulness, multiplication, prosperity, and victory over your enemies.

The area of battle you are experiencing is pointing to the area of victory you will also experience! The battle that is raging over your finances, your health, your relationship, and your ministry is to be the very place where the enemy will stay on his belly eating dust, as God Himself prophesied over him in Genesis 3:14.

Our Portion from God: Favor, Increase, Prosperity

Joseph’s life is a powerful picture of the goodness and favor of God in the midst of very trying and sometimes confusing circumstances. He was taken to Egypt after being thrown into a pit and left to die by his jealous brothers. Taken from a father who loved and doted on him, Joseph was now serving  as a slave in the house of Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard (Genesis 39:2). However, the word states that “the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man.”

His master saw that “the Lord was with him and made all he did to prosper in his hand.” So he made Joseph an overseer of his house and gave Joseph authority over all that he had. The Lord blessed the Egyptian leader’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

Now, that’s favor!

However, the favor seemed threatened due to a lie spoken about Joseph by Potiphar’s wife which resulted in his prison sentence. Can you imagine Joseph’s confusion and discouragement as he is cast into prison? First, a pit, next, favor, and a place in the master’s house, and now branded a criminal!

Yet the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Whatever Joseph did, the Lord made it prosper (Genesis 39:21, 23). Joseph went from being a successful slave to a prosperous prisoner.

Joseph Changed Garments

Joseph had now been in prison for two full years when God gave Pharaoh a dream regarding coming events that were about to unfold in the land of Egypt. He sent for Joseph to interpret the dream. They brought Joseph quickly out of the dungeon.

Joseph changed his clothing before appearing in front of Pharaoh. This man who had gone from wearing the prized coat of many colors to prison rags is now changing his garment once again, signifying a chance is coming in his life because of the favor of God.

Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream revealed that seven years of plenty and seven years of famine were coming. The famine would be so severe that the land would be depleted. Once again, Pharaoh realized he had no leader as discerning and wise as Joseph, and , in preparation for what was to come, Pharaoh set Joseph over all the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:41).

Pharaoh took his signet ring and put it on Joseph’s hand, and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.

Joseph went from rags to riches in one day!

Each change of garment signified the ongoing work of God in his life, and the testimony of God’s favor in the midst of some very distressing situations.

The Favor of God is on You

Though you may not understand your current situation, the testimony of Joseph’s life is reason enough for you to take another step in believing the goodness of God. Shake off discouragement and disillusionment. Just as God made Joseph a successful and prosperous man, so He wants to show those around you His hand of favor on your life.

Psalm 1:3 speaks of the blessings of the righteous: “He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither;  and whatever he does shall prosper.”

God meant it all for good in Joseph’s life. He is bringing good out of everything that has touched your life.

Get ready for a change of garment.

Get ready for favor and blessing.

Get ready for increase.

I believe that one of the most courageous things we can do in this new season is to say NO to the things of the last season.  

On several occasions I have been invited to be a part of something that, frankly speaking, feels old, feels like part of a past season. To say yes would be denying the strong sense in my spirit that it smacks of the old. 

If we – Aglow — have said yes to God for the new, then grace for the old has been lifted. The past season has the feeling of being lifeless and stale. We do not feel that resounding sense of it being filled with life like it used to be, which is why it feels more like death to us.  

Is it Me?

Our first reaction is…”is it me?” It can feel like, “you are the one not with it” anymore, that you are stale or worse yet, you have lost something of your anointing, when, in reality, it is God moving us away from what has been into what will be.  

The “will be” is not fully formed yet and that brings its own sense of frustration. Yet, we can feel that we are pregnant with something.  

The Big Risk

The big risk, the big step of faith, the big question is…will I wait for the new to be formed and not be turned aside to anything else that could be a distraction or a “time filler?” 

At the end of our 2003 worldwide conference, Aglow had a breakthrough into a new place.  If you were in attendance you will remember women spontaneously running forward to form battalion-like groups, and marching back and forth.  In those moments we realized that God was speaking clearly that He had brought Aglow forth to be a mighty, victorious army in the earth. The air was electric with excitement and expectancy.  

Words Pointing to New Direction

In 2004, Aglow began receiving a cluster of words that all pointed in a similar direction. Here is one of them from Barbara Yoder given at our U.S. National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona: 

“The Lord would declare, ‘I will deliver the prey into your mouth. But, the Lord would say to you….that for the prey to be delivered into your mouth…It will take a new sound. For I want to transition your sound into a new sound. For when the prey is about to be delivered into the lion’s mouth, the lion begins to roar. 

“’I want to transition Aglow into an army of virtuous women as warriors, for they are coming as an army into the nations.  No longer are you coming according to your individual needs, but you are coming under the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces of heaven.  Let me transition your sound. For I will deliver the prey into your mouth.  For when the prey gets ready to go into the lion’s mouth, the lion roars with victory.’” 

22 is Your Number!

At the same conference another strong word from the Lord came through Pastor Dutch Sheets:  

“I release the Isaiah 22:22 anointing of government to these people. I release the revelation of level 12 [governmental].  God is going to clear out all of the cobwebs and all the wrong thinking.  He is going to show you how to go into that level of kingdom authority. You will take the key and open doors that cannot be shut and shut doors that cannot be opened.  I release it on you. Twenty-two is your number!”  

Our Intentional God

We know that God is very intentional.  He does not speak empty words into the atmosphere.  Every word He speaks He intends to fulfill. 

God has spoken over Aglow that the sound we are carrying is eternal, and it is for kingdom purposes. It is a sound for now. 

Stand strong and move into the new.  Let God form a new thing in you.  Indeed, He has been forming a company of Marys over these many years for His end time plan.

Be faithful to carry what He has given us all the way to our destiny.

I want to update you with some thoughts about the current Israel/Gaza flotilla incident which took place while we were in Israel last week and which the news media has broadcast around the world. 
 
Israel’s actions in boarding the flotilla of 6 ships bound for the Gaza Strip were justified on international legal grounds and perhaps unavoidable. Roughly 600 participated in the flotilla which was not led by peace-loving humanitarians. Rather, there is reason to believe that it was backed by groups in nations which are hostile to Israel’s very existence.

Hamas, the group that the U.S. government labels a terrorist organization controls the Gaza Strip and is dedicated in their binding charter of 1988 to Israel’s eradication.* The flotilla’s leaders ignored repeated warnings from the Israel navy to turn back or to put into the Israeli port of Ashdod (the city that  borders Gaza) where the supplies could be off-loaded, inspected, and, if purely humanitarian, sent on to the Gaza Strip as has been done regularly with humanitarian aid.
 
The people of Gaza have regular access to food, medicine and other relief supplies provided by both Israel and Egypt.  Both countries have sought to limit the importation of military equipment that can be employed for military purposes by Hamas.

Let me express again Aglow’s compassion for the people in Gaza, and refugees elsewhere in the Middle East who have, through no fault of their own, been pawns in a game with global implications in the spiritual realm.
 
Please read the recent report (below) from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for further information, and continue to pray for Israel’s security, and for the media to accurately and fairly report the facts of this event.

We will be reporting on our strategic prayer journey to Israel very soon!

* From Article 7 of the 1988 Binding Charter of the current government of the Palestinian Authority Islamic Resistance Movement – HAMAS:  “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews) when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say: ‘O Muslims  there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”

(AIPAC REPORT)

June 2, 2010

AIPAC Resources on the Gaza Flotilla Incident

Dear Friends:

In addition to the AIPAC memo Flotilla Sought Provocation, Not to Provide Assistance that you received yesterday evening, we want to provide you with additional resources as you continue to educate yourself and others about the Gaza flotilla incident and its aftermath.  Numerous members of Congress have already issued statements standing by Israel and supporting its right to self-defense, and we hope others will do the same.

As the world condemns Israel for its defensive steps — taken after Israel tried to avoid confrontation while still allowing the aid supplies to come in — we cannot forget the radical origins of many of the ship’s passengers and organizers.  Ultimately, the flotilla had extremist aims which center on supporting Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and others, sworn to destroying Israel, and a vocal opponent of the Palestinian Authority and the peace process.  We encourage you to take advantage of the following documents as you speak with your audiences.  You may post or share these documents freely. 

“Who was Behind the Gaza Flotilla?” — This backgrounder describes the role the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH)—a group backed by the Turkish government—played in organizing the flotilla and details its relationships with Hamas and other terrorist organizations. IHH is a member of the “Union of Good,” which Israel outlawed in February 2002 and the United States designated as a global terrorist entity in November 2008.  The Treasury Department said the Union of Good was created by the Hamas leadership “in order to facilitate the transfer of funds to Hamas.”
 
“Timeline: The Gaza Flotilla” — This timeline details the series of events leading up to Israel’s interception of the flotilla. Video links demonstrate the true motivations of the flotilla participants and the extent to which Israel went to prevent such an incident from happening.
 
Background on Hamas – Read AIPAC backgrounders on the U.S.-designated terrorist group. Since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Iranian-backed Hamas—whose charter says that Israel will exist “until Islam eliminates it”—has turned the coastal area into a base for attacking the Jewish state. In the past five years, Hamas has fired more than 7,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians. In 2006 Hamas kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and still holds him captive to this day.

Stay on top of the latest news and analysis by visiting AIPAC’s web site, Twitter feed and Facebook page.

On May 23, Aglow International takes some 170 travelers from several nations to Israel for our 9th journey into the land since our first trip in 2000. 
 

God chose the people. 
God chose the city. 
God chose it as a reference point of His ultimate authority. 
That is the issue!

Called for Such a Time as This
Down through the years, Aglow has received prophetic words that this ministry was called “for such a time as this.”  As early as 1992, a word came likening Aglow to Esther, an ordinary Jewish girl who risked all to stand in the gap for her people. 

The plot to annihilate the Jewish people had come through Haman, an officer of the king’s court, and would have succeeded in destroying the Hebrew race had Esther not been obedient to the call of God to risk her life and go before the king.  Her people were ultimately redeemed from destruction and the enemy’s plan failed once again. 
 
I believe God is again calling many to “stand in the gap” on behalf of His people –  the Jews — at this critical time in history  when the voice of the enemy is being expressed in threatening ways.
 
Ancient Promises Called Forth
As believers, it is important that we understand and call forth the ancient prophecies related to God’s eternal purpose for the Jewish people. It is important that we keep our heart centered on the biblical perspective of Israel’s role.
 
God has said, “I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” 
 
Isaiah 60 says, “…the sons [and daughters] of foreigners shall build up your walls…”  As we go to Israel with our love, with our support, with our gifts, with our strength, and with our willingness to stand with them, we are helping to build up the walls that surround Jerusalem.

The scripture goes on to say, “Therefore your gates shall be open continually;  they shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles.” 

Verse 15 begins, “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated….I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations….You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”

“Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”

“And the days of your mourning shall be ended.” 
 
We Must Never Again Remain Silent
We can never again casually listen to the news or read a news report concerning Israel and the ever rising tide of threats against the Jewish people.  We must not allow our Christian brothers and sisters to be persuaded by the terrorist propaganda that paints Israel as the aggressor. 
 
Look in Psalm 83. The Bible says, “Do not keep silent, Oh God!….For behold, your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head.  They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and they have consulted together against Your sheltered ones.  They have said, ‘Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.’” 
 
In a speech given in 2002 at Yad Vashem, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said, “I cannot begin to tell you, how disturbed I am, how worried I am, how dismayed, that the world does not seem to realize the danger that is before us, the danger of suicide bombings.

 “These are people who have made death into a passion, death into a theology.  The world doesn’t realize that we have learned in history that whatever happens to us, the Jews, is usually a beginning.”

Today Israel and the Jewish people need our voice, our prayers as never before.
 
Israel, Focal Point of all the Earth
It is no mistake that God chose to place Israel in the most strategic geographical location on the face of the earth.  It stands at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe; it is where the world’s attention is drawn repeatedly…to this tiny strip of land. And God chose it to be so!
 
Israel is in the midst of 22 Arab nations, sandwiched between an Arab population 55 times greater than the Jewish state, surrounded by Arab territories 800 times the geographic size of its land.

Many stand ready to carve up this small country again and again, to give it away to Israel’s enemies…one piece at a time.

Ezekiel 5:5 says, “This is Jerusalem.  I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her.” 
 
A Governmental Issue
This constitutes a test for all mankind:  The spiritual issue is a governmental one, an issue of God’s ultimate authority! God chose Israel as a reference point of His authority.

Psa 132:13  “For the Lord has chosen Zion;  He has desired it for His habitation: ‘This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell for I have desired it.’”

Psalm 2:6  “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.”

Zechariah 12:9  “It shall be in that day that I will destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

God chose the people. 
God chose the city. 
God chose it as a reference point of His ultimate authority. 
That is the issue!

To Hate the Jews is to Hate the God of the Jews
The Jewish people have given us the very foundations of our faith as Christians.
 
Think of the simple, yet astounding statement in John 4:22,  “…salvation is of the Jews!”  They were the first to hear the gospel and see the manifestation of the kingdom in their midst. They were the first preachers, teachers, and miracle workers.
 
Jews were the first to be persecuted for their faith in Jesus.  They were the first to show us the way of the Spirit and remove the “law” from us, showing us the way of Grace.  It was the Jews who were the first to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and the first to speak in tongues. Jews saw Jesus ascend into heaven and they were the first to be told that He would return again!

A Fact that Cannot be Challenged
“And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people – to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt?  For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God”  (I Chronicles 17:21).
 
Aglow – Called for Such a Time as This
As we go to Israel, knowing God has sent us in the spirit of Esther to stand against the spirit of Haman, we are in agreement with what He has said about His own people, the Jews.  They are His very own people forever.