While I was in prayer one day I heard the Lord say in my spirit, “I am a voice calling in the wilderness.” I understood this to mean that God was meeting His people in the wilderness so that He could develop an intimate relationship with them that would result in the possession of their promise land. The wilderness is the way of the flesh, bondage, negativity, doubt, deception, fear and failure.the place God often meets His people right where they are living! The promise land is the way of the Spirit, freedom, faith, relationship, revelation, and the abundant life.a place where God’s people begin to experience and live in the things they believe about their faith in Him.
The Lord was leading those who had been wounded through the trials of life’s circumstances inflicted by the enemy to meet with Him. Many of His people felt so defeated that they had begun to give up on their relationship with God! The daily grind of the day to-day tribulations were slowly wearing down these saints from seeking after Him with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. The purpose of God meeting His people in the wilderness was to turn the trials meant for their harm into their good! The Lord did not want to punish or make life difficult for the saints, but to draw them into a closer relationship in order to increase their desire to wait on the Holy Spirit so they could learn to overcome through a relationship based on the revelation of Christ’s accomplishments rather than by their own strengths and abilities.
There is “a voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord (clear away the obstacles); make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for God!”
MY PANORAMIC VISION
This declaration was followed with a panoramic vision, as if I were looking from an airplane window. A bright and glowing light illuminated the picture that I saw. Everything in the vision had the appearance of being white, and yet was transparent. I could see through every object in the spirit that would have been made of solid matter in the natural, making it impossible to see through them in the flesh. I then saw an opening in the heavens between the clouds. Out of the opening appeared two very large arms with hands that wore thin white gloves. One hand was grasping a bow while the other hand was pulling an arrow back against the tension of the string in order to release it high into the heavens.
When I looked to see where the arrow was going, I was surprised to see hundreds maybe even thousands of arrows that had already been launched into the heavens. Once an arrow was launched it would multiply into many arrows of differing sizes. Some had peaked in the air so that they were beginning to plummet toward the earth. All the while, there were still different groupings of arrows preparing to hit at different times. Some were not far from hitting the surface of the earth, while others were much higher up, and some were still preparing to peak in the air before they plummeted back to the earth. All the while arrows were continually being launched one after the other.
At first it appeared as if these arrows would land randomly throughout the world. As I looked closer, the majority were landing within the borders of the United States, although there were pock-ets of arrows hitting other people groups and nations. Some of the arrows that were previously launched had already hit the earth. I then felt the Holy Spirit whisper, “What you are seeing in this vision cannot be seen by many of those who call themselves My people not allowing them to discern the spiritual realm while they are living out their daily lives in the natural realm. They have become paralyzed from interpreting the things that I am saying to them through the Spirit, resulting in natural interpretations to spiritual problems! It is causing My people frustration because they think that what that they are seeing is Me (God).”
For those who cannot see in the Spirit, it is like the clandestine arrows that were used at night for surprise attacks back in the French/English war. Often they would shoot arrows that had been lit aflame into the night air at the opposing force for all to see. When they wanted to catch their enemy off guard they would launch these arrows into the dark without any flame so that the enemy they were aiming to hit could not see or even know what was coming until the arrow had already pierced their body. I asked the Lord, “What does the vision I am seeing mean?”
THE MEANING OF THE VISION
He explained to me that He was going to use the enemy’s own weapons against him by allowing these attacks to prepare His Church to be a pure and spotless bride. I understood that by pure and spotless the Lord was referring more to the state of our hearts than our actions. He was looking for people with hearts that were perfect toward Him. He was not looking for people who never make mistakes. He was looking for people whose hearts would become fully devoted to Him. These were people who had committed their hearts one hundred percent to Him alone. I heard the Holy Spirit say that: Without purity there would be no power to overcome! I have already begun to prepare My Church by developing them in relationship with My Spirit resulting in the purity of heart to walk in the necessary revelation and power to experience the abundant life to usher in the emerging agenda of my end time harvest.
THE LORD CONTINUED:
Those who cannot see the arrows are those who confess to being born again by the Spirit, but they only live and make decisions by what they see with their natural eyes. Since these are spiritual arrows, they never even see them coming. It is important to understand that I have not called My people to live by what they see or understand in the natural. “For we walk by faith (we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk), not by sight or appearance.”
I have called My people as a spiritual people. My desire is to relate to them by My Holy Spirit. I want them to ascend in the Spirit to gain revelation through relationship, and then to descend to the earth imparting revelation into their natural circumstances and lives. It is impossible for My people to do this without intimacy with Me.”
In Matthew 16:17-19 (AMP), Jesus says: .Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood (men) have not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (Greek, Petros- a large piece of rock), and on this rock (Greek, Petra- a huge rock like Gilbraltar) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) (or be strong to its detriment or hold against it) shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whateveryou bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven: and whateveryou loose (declare lawfully) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.
In this passage Jesus says that Simon Bar-Jonah did not understand who He was through mere human understanding, but by revelation given to him by His Father. As a result of Simon Bar Jonah receiving revelation, Jesus finds it necessary to give him the new name Peter meaning rock. The name Peter was to be a monumental reminder to all the Church for all ages about the importance of receiving revelation from heaven, rather than just information from the flesh. His new name was to represent the rock of revelation. It was on this rock of revelation that Jesus said, “.I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” If that is true, then the antithesis is also true, that without revelation the gates of hell will prevail against the Church!
REVELATION, FAITH AND POWER
If we are the Church, then our ability to prevail is determined by our ability to obtain revelation through our relationship with God. The Lord showed me that if we are to bind or loose something on earth, we will have to ascend into heavenly places to obtain revelation in order to know that you have authority to bind or loose on earth. We are able to bind and loose on earth by speaking and agreeing with those things that have already been revealed in heavenly places. The Lord was showing me that there would be no reason to try to bind something in the natural world in order to change something in the spiritual world. The spiritual world has authority to change the natural world.
The Lord continued to reveal to me that those who cannot see are constantly being hit by these arrows, thinking that life is always giving them a hard time. They get knocked down feeling discouraged, confused, disillusioned and ready to give up. When they finally pick themselves up off the ground again, they begin to strive in the same manner they did before they got knocked down. Since they cannot see these arrows, it is only a matter of time before they go through this process all over again. After experiencing this cycle repeatedly, they finally decided to give up, defeated, weary and discouraged, never able to possess the promises of God.
AT THIS POINT, I HEARD THE LORD SAY:
“Many of My people are in this place because they have not been equipped to walk by faith. Many of them have come to believe that if they confess the information of My written Word over their circumstances that I will perform for them. “…Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith comes by receiving the very words of Jesus from the heavenly realm concerning our circumstances through the Holy Spirit. Unless they get a revelation of
My written word for their lives and circumstances through a relationship with the Holy Spirit, it will not keep the gates of hell from prevailing against them! It will continue to produce confusion, discouragement, deception, and disillusionment about the legitimacy of the Word of God robbing them of the opportunity to live the abundant life!”
THE LORD CONTINUED:
“This is not my work. It is the work of the accuser. It is the enemy who has disguised himself as an angel of light. So “.take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Remember the white gloves that were being worn on the hands that gripped the bow and the arrow? They were being worn to keep there from being any identifiable or traceable evidence in the natural of where the arrows had originated from in the spirit. Even though the arrows were producing many manifestations in the natural arena, many of my people had no discernment as to whether the spiritual origin was based in truth or deception. They could not see into the spiritual realm. Since it is coming from the heavens they automatically assume that it is Me (God).”
The names written on the arrows were accusation, selfishness, criticism, pride, independence, deception, frustration, confusion, disillusionment, past hurts, fear of failure, fear of man, false judgment, defeat and division that would result in manifesting difficulties through circumstances that were bringing hardships into many believer’s lives. All the while, the Holy Spirit is turning these experiences that the enemy had intended to use for the destruction of His people to good! He was releasing revelation through relationship to warn His people of harm in order to lead them into His promises so the saints would learn to trust in the accomplishments of Jesus Christ rather than in their own strengths and abilities to possess His promises.
REVELATION AND PROTECTION UNDER HIS SHADOW
Notice that there are pockets where the arrows are falling that have much larger arrows than other surrounding areas. The territories in which you see larger arrows falling are geographical areas where the names of the spirit on those arrows are gaining more control and power resulting in more darkness. Some of the results were manifesting in rising crime, higher divorce rates, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, economic collapses, war and even terrorist attacks. I asked the Lord “How could this happen?”
Where there is a decrease in the unity of my people and relationship with the presence of My Spirit there is an increase in the power of darkness in the spiritual realm that will manifest in the natural realm. The Lord reminded me from Ephesians 6 that this is a spiritual battle in which much of His Church has been trying to fight in the natural. It says, Put on God’s whole armor (the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies), that you may be able successfully to stand up against (all) the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, (contending only with physical opponents), but against the despotisms, against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day (of danger), and having done all (the crisis demands), to stand (firmly in your place). Stand therefore (hold your ground) having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, and having shod your feet in preparation (to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news) of the Gospel of peace. Lift up over all the (covering) shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked (one). And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all (manner of) prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).
Then I saw arrows falling from the sky and trying to pierce other people, but the arrows could not touch them, bouncing off just before piercing them. I asked the Lord “Why are these arrows not penetrating these people?” From all natural appearances there did notseem to be anything different about those who were being penetrat-ed by the arrows and those who were able to repel the arrows. The Holy Spirit said: These are those who have been waiting on Me in fellowship. These are those who are in a genuine relationship with me resulting in overcoming revelation to experience the abundant life. The arrows cannot touch those who are intimate with Me because they walk in My power!
Then the Lord brought the scripture to my mind in Acts 5:15 AMP where it says: So that they (even) kept carrying out the sick into the streets and placing them on couches and sleeping pads, (in the hope) that as Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The word shadow here is the Greek word episkiazo. It means to cast shade upon, to envelop in a haze of brilliancy, or to invest with preternatural influence. It is the same word that is used when the
Spirit of God overshadowed Mary when she conceived in her womb Jesus Christ, the Son of God. .The angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (like a shining cloud); and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.
This was not just an ordinary shadow! It is the very surrounding presence of God that provides protection as well as power. Literally, those who are surrounded by the presence of God have a shield that surrounds and covers them so that the enemy and his arrows cannot penetrate their lives, allowing them to overcome and possess their promise land. “.You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head.”
FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, WAIT ON HIM IN PRAYER!
Then Holy Spirit brought me to Acts 2:4 where the disciples were filled with the Spirit. He said, “The baptism of the Holy Spirit was never meant to be a one time experience like many of My people have understood.” This experience was as a result of Jesus instructions: .while being in their company and eating at the table with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, of which (He said) you have heard Me speak. For John, baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.
The word wait here is the Greek word perimeno. It means to stay around, and to wait for. It implies waiting in fellowship through relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for baptism here is the Greek word baptizo. It means to make overwhelmed. The idea is to continue to repeat the same process until the object is fully saturated and overflowing. It is often illustrated by the picture of a pickle being saturated in dill brine by dipping it over and over again.
Then the Holy Spirit took me to Acts 4:31, AMP where it says: And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage. The Holy Spirit was showing me that the power they received was a result of waiting on Him in prayer. Then He said something that I had never understood before! “The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit after they had already been filled with the Holy Spirit!”
The Holy Spirit began to reveal to me that those who have been overshadowed by the presence of God are not being touched by the arrows of the accuser. They had made it a lifestyle to continually fellowship in relationship with Him. The result is revelation to see into the spiritual realm and receive protection in the natural realm, all while manifesting His supernatural power to experience the abundant life. The Holy Spirit said: I Am” beginning a new season in which I am going to shake the places where My people fellowship in relationship with Me! Everything that can be shaken on earth that is not of Me will be shaken through relationship resulting in revelation and power to manifest heaven on earth! I will “.shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” through the Spirit living in My children. They will testify to the world that I am alive by overcoming every obstacle and possessing their inheritance!
