Saturday, October 12, 2013

In the night ...

Once I got a hold of the book, "The Harbinger", I knew it was going to be life changing.  With the babies in bed, I snuck into my room.  I gathered up all of the necessities for a couple hours of reading - pen, notebook, highlighter & a Dr. Pepper.  I crawled into bed, donned my reading glasses & began to devour.  The book is written in a narrative form & reads like a storybook.  The author warns that although it is a story, it is factual.  The main character in the book is Nouriel & he is speaking throughout the book to a newswoman named Mrs. Goren.  Seemingly, out of nowhere, he encounters an unnamed man who begins to give him various seals he calls "Harbingers".  The prophet introduces him to Isaiah 9:10 & how the judgment of Israel was a foreshadow to what we are enduring in the United States.  The book contains 9 Harbingers.  A harbinger is a word that means an omen or a sign.  Throughout the book we find that each Harbinger is a reflection of what has occurred on 9/11. 

With each chapter that passes, I am being more pulled into the story.  As each Harbinger was given, I was beginning to understand how it correlates before the book explains it.  I had no previous knowledge of this book nor its contents but somehow I just knew this book would be centered around 9/11 & the events that unfolded.  The Harbinger is profoundly prophetic.  It is immaculately written & a must have for everyone in the Church or who profess faith in Christ.  With each turn of the page, I found myself enthralled & consumed by everything that I was reading.  Deep within me I could feel a strong stirring & a knowing that God brought this book to do more than entertain me.  This was a divine shift for my life.  It wasn't until the last few pages of the book that I encountered my shift.

The last few pages of the book went back to an ancient setting in the Bible.  In those days cities were encircled by walls of stone.  On top of these massive, towering walls were watchtowers.  These towers were manned by Watchmen.  Their job was to protect the city day & night.  As the residents slept in safely, the Watchmen vigilantly scanned the outskirts of the city for impending danger.  Each Watchmen had a ram's horn called a Shofar.  At the first sign of danger, he would pull out his shofar & with all his might, he would sound the alarm.  The sound that came out of the shofar was jarring, alarming & ominous - because it HAD to be to wake the residents.  Despite the ominous sound do you think the residents would prefer that he not blow it?  Of course not!  They would risk staying asleep & being killed.  Only a sound as jarring as the shofar could save them! 

A friend named Matt gave me a great analogy of the shofar sound.  As parents, we go into our children's rooms in the morning & wake them up for school.  At times they lay around & are placated to sleep.  When time runs short, we go back in with a loud voice, throw all the lights on & demand they rise.  They get up & they are annoyed at first but after a bit, they are happy & ready to embrace a new day. 

God had me read this book to awaken me to the fact that I am that Watchman who carries that shofar.  From a young age God gifted me in the prophetic.  And although I often minister things that are pleasant to the taste as honeycomb, there are many seasons I carry a strong, jarring, ominous sounding Word.  That is the mantle upon my life.  It is my job to be an end-time, prophetic reformationist that jars the Body of Christ & the unbelievers alike to attention.  And that is the purpose of the Elisha Movement.  It is a vehicle that God has enabled me, & many others like me, to use to blow that shofar & awaken a sleeping people.  

And now we have come to the end of the journey with the Harbinger.  All that remains is this - Will you take your place on the wall & stand with me as Watchmen & sound the alarm?  Will you help me to awaken a sleeping & dying world?  Will you link up with me as part of the offensive line of spiritual warriors & help me to stand in the gap on behalf of the people?  Many lives hang in the balance & we must rise to this assignment & fulfill destiny.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Every once in a while you come across something that shifts you into a paradigm and provokes you to look at things outside the box.  For the past few months, I have felt things shifting in a spiritual sense all around me.  I have journeyed to places in the prophetic realm that I never would have thought - places of mystery, places of beauty and also of discomfort. 

In my prayer time, I sense the Holy Spirit wooing me in new ways.  I am also made keenly aware that there is a sense of urgency to intercede that I haven't felt previously.  And it is not just intercession for my needs, my family or even for my church.  A mantle of intercession has come upon me as I step into the position of a Watchman and categorically been given prophetic assignments over nations. 

I owe all of this to one sole catalyst - "The Harbinger" by Johnathan Cahn.  How I came upon the book was as much a journey as reading it.  As I awoke on morning in anticipation for morning prayer time at our church, I had a peculiar sense of anticipation.  I hurried into the shower to ready myself.  As hot water rushed over me the atmosphere shifted and I felt a strong, authoritative presence of the Holy Spirit enter.  I clearly heard the word "Ground Shock".  As soon as the word was released, I was immediately launched into a vision.  I saw trains impacting the ground from derailment, bombs impacting the earth, planes hitting the ground, sinkholes forming and devastating weather elements shifting and changing the land.  I jumped out of the shower, dressed and prayed against ground shocks all the way to prayer.  Once there, I shared what I had just experienced.  Several ladies immediately perked up and began to talk quietly among themselves as though they were awed by what I had just experienced.  We prayed as a group against these "ground shocks" and it went back to business as usual as we interceded for prayer requests.  These women had piqued my curiosity, however, and I knew they knew something I didn't.  They were key and had insider information to what had occurred that morning.  After prayer, these women approached me and told me that in order to understand what I was seeing I needed to read the book "The Harbinger". 

I left prayer that morning on a mission to find this book and devour it.  I had a feeling as though I had just walked onto the set of the movie National Treasure and been given a divine direction - maybe even a seal - a mystery to unravel.  I rushed home to grab my husband, David, and our children so we could get to Walmart where they mentioned I could buy the book.  I almost left David standing in the parking lot as I rushed inside past all the home décor, office supplies and electronics.  I stood in the book aisle scanning all of the religious materials to no avail.  I turned back to find David coming down the aisle.  I had a sinking feeling like I had just failed this first mission.  But wait!  Something caught my eye!  Right there in the midst of the best sellers section - "The Harbinger's Study Guide".  It was a start!  I pushed through the books around it to try to find the original book to go with it.  After pouring through a couple of shelves, I unearthed it under a few of Jentezen Franklin's new book "The Spirit of Python".  My heart raced with excitement and anticipation.  I quickly put the book in my basket and rushed to meet back up with David. 

On the way back home from the store, David engaged me in idle chatter.  I was having a hard time grasping anything that he was saying, however, as I found myself lost in this mystery that was about to set me on a path of enlightenment.  Throughout the day as I finished homework, took care of the babies and cooked supper, the book called to me.  It was a matter of time before I would have babies asleep and could steal away like an adventurer soul longing to unveil and partake of an ancient secret.