Dear friends,
In the last three years, since moving up to Seattle, World for Jesus Ministries has grown more than at any other time since it was founded 33 years ago.
The Lord called us to start Joel’s Army, a prayer ministry to save the nations and we now have prayer cells in over 50 countries. We have dedicated Joel’s Army International Coordinators, some who remain fixed in their nation traveling throughout that nation to raise up and train prayer cell members, and one who travels all over the world to not only raise up prayer cells, but to train the intercessors how to effectively pray for their nation.
The Lord called us to begin a ministry to those in need through CedarWood Blessings and we now feed and clothe hundreds of people every week through our CedarWood Pantry, BackPack Kids program, Coats & Clothes Closet, and Emergency Meal Kits for both families and the homeless.
In addition, we continue to support ministries in and to Israel, orphanages abroad, as well as pastors who sacrificially pastor small community churches here in the States and overseas because part of our mission is to support those who shepherd His flock.
Our staff has more than tripled to accommodate the workload since moving to Seattle and yet, we know that we are about to grow again. We do not do anything without first seeking God to ensure He is behind the work we are doing and this is why He continues to faithfully meet our needs. However, the enemy is fiercely opposed to our work and we must pray for the provision of our Lord each and every month. Occasionally, we must come ask you, our dear brothers and sisters, to stand with us in the battle as we seek the Lord for a breakthrough in our finances. We always come to you in faith knowing that you will rise to the call and the breakthrough will soon follow!
Thank you in advance for your faithfulness to stand with us as we move forward in the commission of our Lord!
Blessings and love,
Ricci
Following is the first installment of “Leave Egypt and Prepare". I pray it will help you prepare for the days ahead.
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Leave Egypt and Prepare
Part B
By
Nita Johnson
Seattle Services
God’s times and seasons are in His own hands. We don’t always know when we will reach that level of maturity when the call must be answered; when, for so long, you’ve been praying for Him to do the work in your heart and for you to draw near to Him and separate from the world and just suddenly when you least expect it, you understand what you had not understood before. And faith arises in your heart; it’s like you’re seeing a door that you didn’t see before and you flee through it! That is what happened to Moses. He had grown into maturity and become great and in that place he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, which is where the Church must come to. You must come to this place; to the place where your will is engaged and you are saying in you heart of hearts: I refuse to be of the family of Pharaoh. I refuse the way of the world; I refuse this life of Egypt and to live like Egypt lives. Now, we’re not talking about going to bars and things like that—you already know not to do things like that. You know not to go down to your favorite idols store and buy a bunch of idols and take them home and worship them next to the idol of Christ, right? You already know that. You know that, as a Christian, you should never practice witchcraft and to stay away from the New Age movement and occultism—you know that. You know your allegiance is to Christ and Christ alone, correct? Yet Egypt is in your heart.
When you’re not walking in the fullness of the Spirit, Egypt is still rooted deeply in the soul and only God knows how to break it out, but something in you must happen first. You must come to the place of seeing what Egypt offers and fear it. Should you be afraid? Yes! Why do you think Satan is depicted as a serpent? Most people, even a lot of men, fear them, and God wants us to look at the evil kingdom the way we do at the most dangerous snake. It is to be feared. Why? Because, my dear brothers and sisters, it will take your soul if you love it too much. Egypt’s ways are cunning. Have you ever fallen to a temptation and then turned around and said, “What happened? Why did I do that?” My oh my, how cunning Satan is. He slithers into your sphere, he cunningly speaks to you the very words you want to hear, words that stir up your inward desires—and only after you have fallen into the mud do you lift yourself up and ask, “Why did I do this?” Well, you did it because Egypt is in your heart.
Please say this: There is pleasure in sin for a moment and when we can look at that and say that honestly in our heart, now we’re starting to speak truth and God has something he can deal with. We always take responsibility for our behavior; if we don’t, there is lots of trouble. If we do, he’ll cut us free of the trouble quickly.
Hebrews 11: 24-26 [Aroused] by faith Moses, when he had grown to maturity and become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, Because he preferred to share the oppression [suffer the hardships] and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life. He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense). Think about this. It doesn’t say that he desired a pleasant life, all comforts provided, all needs met; “life is fair,” getting along, peacefully passing year after year, looking at the clouds passing by and thinking, “Boy, what a great life this is.” Dip our foot in the pool with our little lemonade on the side of the pool and we think it couldn’t be better. Well, I don’t know, maybe you guys don’t do that here in New Orleans but in California they do. You fly into the city where our main office is in Fresno and it looks like almost every house has a pool. Everybody in Fresno has a pool. He’s not saying that he’s looking for the comforts, the materialism, the joys, the happiness, everything going great compared to the life of Egypt and rejects Egypt for that better life. But what it says is that He considers the hardships, the oppression, the shame, the contempt and abuse to be a greater treasure than all the riches of Egypt.
When you come to this place, you will be like Paul who looks at the world and all things in the world and says: It is but dung to me. Now you have a godly appraisal of the things you once loved. See, in the Church, you’re not taught to hate the world, are you? You’re taught that God has blessed you if you can surround yourself with every kind of material comfort. Am I right? You’re not taught that your energies, your love, your passion must be to grow in the love and virtue of Jesus Christ—that’s not what we’re taught. We’re not taught that you live every moment for His holiness, to walk in His righteousness and to walk in relationship with Christ. To worship and adore Him, having an ongoing intimacy with Him every day; you’re not taught that, right? What you’re taught is that God loves you, grace, grace, blessing, blessing; He’s really proving how much He loves you when your life is saturated with the world and the things in it. You’re taught that, yes, the more you have, the more you’re blessed, aren’t you?
Let’s read this again and see how this fits: Hebrews 11: 25-26 Because he preferred to share the oppression [suffer the hardships] and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life. He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense). I’m telling you, the Church has got things a little confused, which is part of our problem. We have a double focus; James called it double-mindedness. The Lord said Himself: Seek ye first the kingdom, secondly His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. He’ll add what He knows you need and He’ll take care of you if you love Him first, if your desire and passion is for the kingdom first.
...to be continued next week...
In His Amazing Love, Nita Johnson
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Check our "Schedule of Events" page for updated meeting information.
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Joel's Army - Illinois! June 20,2015!
Kin & Debbie Clark are coming to the Chicago area for one day only to meet with existing and potential Joel's Army Intercessors. We only have seating for 100 - so reserve your seat now!
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DC, Gathering of the Eagles, 2015! August 24-28, 2015!
Go to our Schedule of Events Page for more details including the registration links for the above conference!
Share WFJM with your friends:
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Corporate Intercession:
559-726-1300
182152#
Wednesday Morning
May 27 , 2015
10:20-Noon PST
11:20-1PM MST
12:20-2PM CST
1:20-3PM EST
Thursday & Friday May 28 & 29, 2015
5:50-7:30pm PST
6:50-8:30pm MST
7:50-9:30pm CST
8:50-10:30pm EST
Sunday May 31, 2015 5:50-8PM EST & PST
Chinese Corporate Prayer line Call in: 209-647-1600
Access code: 336087#
Canadian Corporate Intercession
3:20 PM PST
Call in: 712-775-7035 Access code: 444928#
All are welcome to attend any of the above calls. |
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CedarWood Food Bank
The CedarWood Pantry:
Monday June 1st 1-2:30pm
Location:Bethel Chapel 23010 66th Ave W Seattle, WA 98043 -Volunteers are needed to assist in the set up and tear down of the Pantry each week. Contact the office for more details. Here are some pressing needs our CedarWood department has: - Diapers & Baby Wipes
- Baby Food & Formula
- $5-$20 Gift cards for Gas for our volunteers who transport the food to and from the Pantry
- Our own Box and/or Refrigerator Truck
Donations can be dropped off during the Pantry or mailed into our office.
Coats & Clothes Closet:
Open Mondays and by appointment. We need volunteers to help organize and prepare clothing for visitors
The need is great and our numbers are increasing every week. Please pray that our volunteer base will increase as well!
If you would like to help with BackPack Kids, contact Ken & Kathy Rickey at KathyR@worldforjesus.org
We extend a special thanks to our CW Team and volunteers for their faithfulness every week.
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Joel's Army brings together intercessors to intercede for their nations. If you are interested in learning more:
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