Prophetic Insights

At Willow we believe God still speaks today. One of our values as a body of believers is “Hearing and Following God”:

• God speaks to His people.
• As His sheep, we can hear Him (John 10.27).
• His words bring life and healing (John 6.63).
• His voice is heard clearly through His Word.
• The Scriptures also record that He communicates through many other means, such as prayer, circumstances, dreams, the spiritual gifts of the word of knowledge, wisdom, and prophecy.
• All revelation is evaluated according to Scripture.
• God will reveal Himself to anyone, regardless of age, who will seek after Him.
• Our desire, as individuals and a body of Christ, is to hear His voice.
• By obeying the Word and the Spirit, we will make necessary changes to follow God and reach our community.

We highly value the revelatory gifts (words of knowledge, wisdom, prophecies & tongues). When properly used, these gifts have a profound and positive impact on individuals and congregations.

On occasion the Lord gives us insights that we believe to be for the entire body of Christ. We have posted current insights for your prayerful consideration.

"Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:19-2

Over the last several weeks, six people have stated that we must prepare quickly for what the Lord is about to do. Whenever six people get the same idea you can be sure the Lord is speaking. Quick preparation is needed to advance into God’s purposes.

Quick preparation means we jettison all sinful habits and beliefs and we relinquish the “lesser things”. I think we understand turning from sinful habits and beliefs, but letting go of “lesser things” may be more ambiguous.

“Lesser things” include those activities which have little or no redeeming value. It is activity we do ever day, which can either drain or stifle God’s work in our life. For instance, I listen to almost an hour of news radio every morning. There’s nothing filthy or evil about the news, but it can clutter my soul with information and anxiety. “Lesser things” keep us earthbound so the voice of the Lord is but a murmur.

Within this word there is also a call to remove sin. We must not compromise with the world and sinful tendencies. They are doorways that open our lives to demonic oppression and spiritual strongholds. The mixture of sin and the Spirit is a formula for spiritual lethargy.

Another side of preparation is to be filled with the Spirit continually. The empowered Christian life is absolutely essential for victorious living in good and challenging times ahead. Here’s a simple, but profound equation for the Spirit filled life. It encompasses both turning from sin and the fullness of the Spirit

• Separation from sin and “lesser things”;
• Dedication to God and His kingdom;
• Appropriation of the Holy Spirit by faith
  

Why do we need to be prepared? God hasn’t clearly stated why. It may be that something very positive or negative or both are headed our way. In part, I think the Lord wants to release a greater measure of His presence or His glory among us. The word “glory” means weightiness. In order to carry the weightiness of God, we must be spiritually fit. We can only bear as much of His presence that we are spiritually ready to handle.

Please pray this back to the Lord and quickly respond to his call for preparation.

We sense an ongoing need to pray that our President and other national leaders have a clear, God-honoring perspective about the Jews and the land of Israel. The Lord seems to be highlighting the need for those in authority to have a "black and white" understanding of Israel. We don't claim to know what that is, but we do know that due to political and spiritual influences there is too much gray. This is leading to both poor political decision making, and potentially may position America for greater discipline from the Lord.