Dear friends,
We are four weeks away from our New York,
Gathering of the Eagles, 2013. This is a critical time for The Church
and we are headed to New York to address the issues facing us on the
corporate front. Although this time may seem hopeless to some, the
intercessors realize it is a time for drawing closer to the Lord. When
struggles abound, people instinctually seek the Lord. For those of you
who want to pray from home and are unable to join us in New York, please
go to the Joel’s Army page of our website and click on “Save the
Nations” prospectus to learn more about the various issues we are
currently dealing with.
Of course, we also have news outside of
the Gathering of the Eagles. The World for Jesus Ministries has really
grown since our move to the Seattle area. The last two years have been
incredibly exciting for us and we value your participation in the work
we are doing. CedarWood International and Joel’s Army have both seen
tremendous growth in just two short years. Nevertheless, we are going to
need your help with both of them in the near future.
Let’s begin with CedarWood. God promised
to bless us if we would care for those in need and He is fulfilling His
promise. While we’ve had some financial struggles, which we have had to
pray through, they’ve only served to draw us closer to Him. This said,
we want to begin the process of launching the CedarWood Lunch Counter,
but in order to do so, we will need the space to accommodate the work
and the finances to cover the building. We will also need to hire
additional executive level help for this work. Please help us in praying
that we receive the necessary provisions and volunteer support on a
monthly basis, so we can cover this next phase of CedarWood Int’l.
Our Intercessory Prayer Cells, known as
Joel’s Army, have spread across the globe. We are continuing to connect
intercessors around the world to people in their area in order to pray
over specific issues facing their nations. It is exciting to hear
reports of growth from our International Coordinators and witness the
desire to see that kind of growth take place in every Nation around the
world. This increase, however, will require us to bring additional staff
support, and we would ask that even if you cannot provide direct
assistance, that you will still pray for us to receive the help we need.
Thank you for praying with us over these requests.
Following is the final installment in The “I” Syndrome.
The last two weeks have taught us the importance of complete reliance
on God as we pray. He will give us guidance and He will grant us wisdom
in our prayers. Often we don’t know how to pray but if we wait upon
Him, He will give us direction in our prayers. Allowing Him to guide our
time of Intercession allows us to pray effectively and helps us
develop as intercessors. Remember, at this time in history, answering
the call to prayer should take top priority for an intercessor. I pray
this lesson will be a blessing to all of you.
In Him,
Ricci
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THE “I” SYNDROME
Part C
By
Nita Johnson
Seattle
I am asking you to come to the low places
in Christ. Paul said, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Gal 6:14a) Until we learn that the
cross is the only thing in which we have a right to glory, we will
constantly seek after the world to be our quest and our satisfaction. We
must abandon all else for the sake of Christ. We must glory in the
cross because you cannot get to Christ without the cross. You must go
through the cross. It must create the cleavage in your flesh and in your
soul to make a place for the pouring out of that which displeases Him,
so that He can cleanse your soul with the sweet oil of heaven. Cry for
the cross. Cry that God will humble you until the cross becomes your
joy.
The door into the Holy of Holies is so
small, my dear friends, for good reason. He will not allow the pride of
the flesh to make it through that door. He wants the humbled heart and
the broken spirit to enter in where the Holy of Holies will transform.
Pride and self-idolatry are a stench in the nostrils of God. We all have
the sickness. Do not say, “No, the Lord has conquered that in me”
because you will be lying to yourself. Every human being has it except
for those who have been crucified with Christ and who live completely in
union with Christ at this hour. What do you think keeps you from union?
It is the “I” syndrome. “I” is too big. It is scary that we do not even
know how we suffer from it.
Cry out every day, “God, less of me, and
more of You. I must have more of You. Send revival into my soul, and let
me know what things prohibit my receiving that marvelous grace. What
are the sins I cling to that keep me from being in revival? What has
overtaken the hunger?” The Spirit lusts after you with fervent passion
and vehement desire. What keeps us so unresponsive and so insensitive to
Him? What is wrong with us that we do not lust after Him in the way He
lusts after us? How can we tolerate this fallacy in our lives anymore?
We must be changed. We must find our satisfaction in Him alone.
Prayer:
Oh Lord, we are so sorry. The sickness
has persisted for so long that we no longer even know we have it, Lord.
Forgive us. How can we nurture this thing? It is such sickness in the
soul, and it keeps us from You. It grows like a cancer and drives us
farther and farther from the truth. Oh God! Heal our sin-sick soul!
Bring us to You! Glorious Jesus! Lord, we feel like Peter in the boat.
Call us, Lord, and we will come! It matters not that the sea is stormy.
We will come on Your word. Prayer ended
The Lord wants to put into your hearts a
longing so deep and so compelling that you lose sight of you. Wouldn't
that be wonderful? All He is asking of you is that you pray until your
alabaster box is broken at the feet of our Lord. He must be conqueror
over all. He has been given authority over all flesh. (John 17:2) You
must let Him conquer your flesh.
I want to ask you sincerely, out of a
heart of love, please invite God to begin dealing with your attitudes.
Every one of us has attitudes that keep us locked out of the glorious
presence of our Lord. Ask Him to begin revealing to you those nasty
attitudes that He hates so much. When He shows them to you, repent, and
you will see a newness of the life of Christ in your life. Ask Him to
show you how to plow up the fallow ground. As He does, take the plow and
plow up your heart.
May I tell you something of a truth? I do
not like your flesh. I do not like my flesh, either, and if you knew me,
you would not like my flesh, either. It is the truth. Rotten flesh
stinks. I love what Martha said. Jesus commanded them to roll the stone
away from the tomb. Martha said, “Lord, he's been dead four days. By
this time he stinks.” (John 11:39)
How long have you been saved? That is how long you have been dead, and
your flesh stinks. Aren't you glad to find out how wonderful you really
are? We have to come to grips with this truth.
I just love this. Someone says, “I want
you to mentor me and show me the way to Christ.” But the minute I touch
one area of their flesh, they get heated and offended. That flesh gets
so foul. They think I am crying because I have been too close to an
onion, but I have picked up the Kleenex, and I have been crying and
blowing my nose because that flesh stinks.
We all want to be captured by the Spirit
of life. We want Jesus to have His victory in us. We want Jesus to bring
us close to Him without Him having to smell our rotting flesh. We want
to bear the fragrance of the alabaster box and its scented oil. When we
draw close, we want Him to say, “Please don't leave. I like it when
you're here.” My dear friends, find Christ while you still can. Do not
say, “I already know Him.” You do not! Find Him! You will know you have
found Him when you cannot live without Him and the magnanimous,
manifested presence of the Lord.
Do you know that I love you? Do you know
that Jesus loves you? He would never, ever put you through a message
like this if He did not love you. It is love that does it.
Come all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest!
In His Love,
Nita Johnson
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