Hi all,
We are back from our conference in Lithuania, thank you for your prayers. Greetings and thank you to all who attended!
Chris did well in my absence, enjoying the Coke Barb brought him that Friday which would have been our normal home time. But they had a good, long visit, and staff reported there were no major outbursts of frustration that dad didn’t come to get him like normal. Chris is in a wheelchair and too big for Barb to handle, so she was limited to a visit to the group home. Thank you for your prayers.
The conference in Lithuania
The conference started Thursday evening the 5th, and continued through Sunday lunch the 8th. We had 12 nations plus the US represented, among the 130 or so in attendance. The retreat center was perfect, the children played together, the food was amazing all weekend long, and our Lithuanian hosts and organizers did a fantastic job.
The theme was about Acts 2:42 – that there are few guidelines for meeting in homes, but what is there is centered around Acts 2: 42: “And they with steadfast purpose devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, fellowship, food, and prayer.” I taught in the morning sessions, as well as Brian and Amy on some very practical advice on meeting in homes, what an average house church meeting might look like, and so on. The 2 afternoons had question and answer times.
Worship Saturday night was amazing, not just for the depth of worship, but how the Lord opened the eyes of so many to His realm as we lingered in His presence. I like to use the time immediately after those deeply anointed worship times to teach on the ways of the Spirit, asking for people to share what they saw, heard, felt and received.
Many of us saw Jesus come and minister to the people, several sensed He walked to them, felt His touch, ministering to them. Many saw a cloud of glory bringing rain over us, many reported receiving a fresh filling of the Spirit, healing, receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit and/or freedom in their prayer language, and so much more. The whole weekend was rich in the Lord in every way!
Next year’s European conference is April 30-May 3 in the Netherlands. This is right in the peak tulip season and a wonderful time of year for us all to come together for a weekend retreat.
This year USA: Join us for our 1 day meeting in Orlando, this September 20! I’ll teach in the morning, we’ll have lunch together, then some question and answer time in the afternoon. After a break, we’ll have dinner together and then evening worship, and prayer.
Israel and Iran war, is it WW3?
What is going on now is NOT the Ezekiel 38-39 war. We know this from scripture. Also, check your spirit – is there peace? Is there anything from the Spirit of the Father that this is World War 3? No. It doesn’t matter that this person had a dream, or that person claims God told them thus and so. Peter said in II Peter 1: 16-21 that even his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration is subject to what scripture says.
Ezekiel 38 and 39 are very specific about the nations that will be involved in that war. It names modern Russia, Turkey, Iran, Libya as the main nations, stating (modern) Russia will be a guard to those nations. In 38:8-9 and 39: 2 it states these nations will have a massive number of soldiers coming into northern Israel in land invastion. Do we see masses of soldiers and war material massing along the southern border of Turkey or in Syria? Ezekiel 39: 9-12 says after Israel wins it will take 7 months to bury all the dead, and 7 years to destroy or use up the equipment from the battle.
Do we see any build up of the military the size of which become so large it will take Israel 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn or use up all their equipment and supplies? No
It also says they will come ‘as a cloud to cover the land’, which may hint at modern air warfare. Do we see huge numbers of Russian, Turkish, Iranian air forces organizing together?
That’s just a few specifics. So what is going on now, isn’t that.
Setting the stage for that war
In Ezekiel 38: 4 God says of (modern) Russia: “I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws and bring you forth with your army…” Did you get that? “Turn you around” “Put hooks into your jaws” and “with your army” means there will be a time Russia will turn away from the Middle East to focus on other things (this present time fits), but will be turned around, to come into the land again.
Right now the Russian military that has been depleted by the war in Ukraine, so perhaps with the change of government in Syria and with the war in Ukraine, Russia has turned away for a season. Maybe we are in that season before God says “I will turn you around.” Prophecy is only 20/20 in hindsight.
About a year ago I asked the Lord about the Ezekiel 38 war and their war with Ukraine, if there was any relationship between the two. He replied: “They will learn they cannot do it (Ezekiel 38 invations of Israel) alone, and out of that war will come secret alliances with those nations. They will become more hardened after the current war, for their pride will have been hurt. Also, watch China, as they are watching, waiting, and building strength for a later time.” (Ukraine/Russia)
We pray for the peace of Israel, of Jerusalem. What is happening as of this writing is part of a larger puzzle piece, setting the stage for the conditions which will cause a strong alliance to form between those nations Ezekiel names.
With open face…
Hebrews 1: 1-3 and Colossians 1: 16 state the Father used Christ to create the entire universe. Romans 8: 32 says this of the Father: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not along with Him, freely give us all things?” Having been given the Son, who is the Creator of the universe, we therefore have all things!
Having Christ in us, we have to wonder why so many Christians feel weak and fearful? The Creator of the universe is in our spirit. We have the authority to use His name against demons. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5: 8-9 that we were before darkness, but now we are light. In the realm of the Spirit, that is literally true. Our spirit glows, eminates, the light of God into the realm of the Spirit.
In II Corinthians 3: 12-18, Paul writes that when Moses came down from the mountain with his face glowing with the glory of the Lord, he had to put a veil over his face. He wrote that we however, have no veil, and we look directly into the glory of the Lord. He is not talking about looking at the Lord directly, but in fact he says: “But we all, like looking in a mirror, behold the glory of the Lord. And we are changed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next by the Spirit of the Lord.”
As we look to Christ in us, it is like looking into a mirror for we are created in His image. We see His light reflected back to us to show us what we look like. Pastors have used this to say the Word of God is the mirror, and that will preach. But the context of Paul’s writing is actually about Christ in us. As we walk with Him we see ourselves, for we are made in His image, and recreated in our spirit with His eternal life.
It is who He is
The attributes of Him that we are told to walk in like knowing God, self-control, consistency in that self-control, godliness in life, walking in love, joy, peace, gentleness and more, are who He is and now who we are. When we walk with the Father we see in Him what He has put in us. All He is, is embodied in Jesus Christ. Because we have Christ in us, we are in fact those things in our spirit.
That is why Paul writes that we have no veil over our faces, but can look directly at the Lord for Christ is in us, and when we do so we see the reflection of who we are in Him. We see Christ in us, the hope of glory! He continues that we are changed into that exact same glory of God from glory to glory, over time. Just walk with Him – you’ll be surprised how He changes you!
Your support and prayers are truly appreciated at this time, and felt immediately. Thank you! Blessings!
John & Barb, Brian & Amy.
