Thoughts, Meditations, Poems, and Prayers
Let me experience revival Lord;
Your true revival, not that worked up by man.
Let my eyes see revival, oh Lord.
Let my ears hear it.
Let me smell the fragrance of it.
Let me touch those who are drenched in it.
Let me dance in the crystal clear River of Your Presence.
Let me be revival, oh Lord.
Use me.
None of us here agree with the disaster folks; those who are prophesying earthquakes and tidal waves and believe the punishment of God is about to be poured out upon us all. There may be more challenges that usual in 2012, but it seems to me Jesus talked about that as a sign that He would be coming soon, not the wrath of the Father. What I know in my heart by His Spirit is that no matter what goes on this year, His glory will outweigh it all.
I am hearing Big Big Big from the Lord and to prepare for explosive increase, outpouring, miracles, glory and provision like we have never seen before. Spotlights are coming on faithful ministries and the value and worth of what the remnant are doing will be recognized by the lost and hurting and those who are starving to death spiritually in the religious church structure. The starving will come by droves to His Amazing Light. It is an exciting time.
But, I am also hearing from the Lord that there will be great stress on the man centered churches. The Holy Spirit said to stop praying over the “Saul institutions” and leave them in His care. He said to pray that the people caught in those institutions are freed of religious chains. “Let My people go!” Is a cry louder than ever before. It is time for an Exodus so that the people may Worship Him. (And a time for transformations of whole churches as they become bold and stand against controlling spirits). He told our ministry to focus our prayers on the building up of the Tabernacle of David. It is a year to build HIS KINGDOM, one without walls. When the Tabernacle is complete, then we can start to build up the Temple of Solomon. That is the one that God so filled with His Glory no one could even stand. I say, YAY God! 2012 is destined to be an AWESOME year!
This has been an intriguing year with the number one and eleven. There were those unusual dates this year starting with 1-1-11 then 1-11-11, 9-11-11 (the 10th anniversary of the tragedy in NYC), 11-1-11 and 11-11-11. All these ones and elevens grabbed nearly everyone’s attention. Then there is the mathematical fun of adding the last 2 digits of the year of your birth to the age you turned in 2011. No matter who you are across the entire planet, if you were born before the year 2000, it will add up to 111. (50 + 61 = 111). If you were born 2000 to 2010 it comes out to 11. (03+08 = 11).
The gamblers had 7-11-11, 11-7-11 and 11-11-11 as special “lucky” days to try to hit it big on the slots, wheel or cards. Metaphysical practitioners believed the dates to be significant days of spiritual activity to connect with spirit guides and to achieve personal inner growth. Superstitious folks were freaked out by all of it to the point some figured we were headed for the end of the earth. And lots of folks found these to be wonderful dates for a wedding!
But none of that is really what this day was about. It was an appointed God-time and 11-11-11 began to surface as a date important for Christians. From everyday church attenders to prophets and apostles that date began to emerge as one important to God. A desire to gather and give glory and honor to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, began to burn in the hearts of thousands. Spontaneously prayer meetings and gatherings were scheduled across the nation and then the world;
with over 30,000 Christians gathering at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena being a highlight of the movement. They gathered to worship Jesus, to pray and repent. There were no famous keynote speakers or big name worship groups to draw people… they went to the Rose Bowl because they all desire to see a divine sovereign move of God that transforms the church and thereby the culture.
But, why 11-11-11? Was it just because it is a really cool date that won’t happen again until 2111 a 100 years from now? No, I think our God chose that date to begin something; something wonderful. So, I looked up the biblical meaning of the number 11. Truly, I was expecting something pretty exciting.
After all, it was a world-wide day of prayer and impacted the lives of many thousands of people Christians and non-Christians alike. To my surprise, I found out that eleven is the number of disorder, imperfection and incompleteness. Eleven signifies a state not yet full.
What then could be so exciting, wonderful and life-changing about a day that would prophetically be disorder, imperfection, and incompleteness times three? The answer came as a prophetic vision of a line drawn in the sand. It was to be a time of making the choice to cross over a line drawn in the sand; no matter the cost. The Rose Bowl event planning committee received the original symbolic line in the sand via two prophetic words. As I pondered my research and the prophecies regarding this day, the Lord spoke to me that we needed to step over into the number 12. As we cross the line we leave 11 and enter 12. The number twelve speaks of order, completeness, fullness and governmental perfection or rule.
Wow! I got it! The Lord drew a line in the sand asking us to step out of the disorder, chaos, imperfection and incompleteness of our culture, out of our worldly man made government into the fullness of His order, His complete and perfect government. We live in this world but we are not of this world (John 17:15-17) and it is time that we unconditionally take our position in His government (His World) so that our culture can be redeemed and thousands, yes millions of souls will be saved.
This was a day of commitment to Him no matter what…even to the death. “We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony and we love not our lives even to the death.” Revelation 12:11
And thousands of people in meetings all over California, the USA and the world made that commitment by symbolically crossing a line in the sand.
That alone makes 11-11-11 one of the most important days for followers of the Lord Jesus in recent history. I believe the affect of this heartfelt commitment has already and will continue to profoundly change every person that “crossed over” and thereby will change every person they come in contact with. The remarkable unity alone that was birthed this day has saturated the participants with refreshing dew and anointing oil. They walk in grace and favor of the commanded blessing of the Lord (Psalm 133). That oil of unity, refreshing dew, grace, favor and blessing pour out to everyone around them.
Even more good news is the other symbol for this year found in the plethora of ONES in the dates. One is symbolic of unity, a new beginning and it represents God Himself (our God is ONE). In Christ Jesus every day is a new day. In Christ Jesus we have common ground. We are ONE NEW MAN IN HIM!
The Lord gave me Psalm 98:1 “Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.”
Choose this day to cross over the line the Lord has drawn in the sand. Come on over to His perfect governmental rule singing a new song! Leave the bondage of religion behind - Jesus is a person, not a religion. Cleave to Him. Leave the chaos and unfullfillment of the world and step into the “something wonderful” He is doing. With wholehearted devotion, become a builder of His Kingdom, not the world’s, not your own, but His and His alone!
Rev.Cheryl Birch
copyrighted 2011 Cheryl S Birch All rights reserved
My answer may surprise some of you, but there is a lot for a Christian to celebrate on October 31st.Though many calendars note November 1st, it was October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, obeyed the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God and posted his 95 Theses on the church door. This action birthed the Reformation and the Protestant branch of the church sprung up out of the revelation God gave to Martin Luther that “the just shall live by faith” as well as many other truths that were kept from the common folks of that day. Martin Luther knew his action would put his life in peril. He knew that many people would perish without knowing the Savior if he did not take action.
It was one of the darkest times ever for the body of Christ. The church was overtaken with corruption. It was led by false teachers and power hungry profiteers who withheld the Word of God from the people, charged them money to pray for them, and they silenced anyone who spoke against them. In effect they withheld the Gospel and thus the Lord Jesus’ saving work and replaced the truth with man made doctrines and dogmas. The people suffered in darkness during that time. When Martin Luther obeyed the Lord and posted the truth for all to read, the darkness broke, the church was reformed over the coming years, the people once again heard the word of God and many were set free.
At the time it was the greatest awakening ever of the world to the truths of God, save the resurrection of Jesus Himself, and it still blesses us today!
It is because of this obedient act of Martin Luther that the Devil hates October 31st.
Ever since that day in 1517, he has worked overtime to spread pagan practices, to twist, distort, pervert and choke this day with evil.
But, I declare to you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that this is a day that the Lord has made!
We who know the Lord should be celebrating our freedom and rejoicing in the fact that this is the day the Reformation was birthed. But, we should not be celebrating evil.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 3 John 1:11 (NRSV)
I am saddened, even at times outraged, at the blatant flaunting of evil and celebration of death in our culture. The folks who don’t know the Lord and celebrate concerns me. They need to hear the truth. What really grieves me is the church condoning and the body of Christ celebrating evil that truly hurts my heart. This time of year is suppose to be a glorious time to celebrate not only the Reformation, but Harvest and remembrance of the provision and abundance of our God. It is a time to reflect on our relationship with Him and how good He is to us and how He has cared for our families and loved ones. It’s suppose to be a celebration of life abundant. Instead, as we go about our business we are greeted with witches, black cats, skeletons carved pumpkins, and myriads of grotesque and evil images, grave stones, ghosts and goblins.
Of course, there is evil with us constantly as the pagans and heathens do not understand holiness and the devil goes about doing his worst. To me the real problem is that the evil portrayed during October is more and more permeating the lives of those who profess to be believers in Christ Jesus. I hear all too often from my brothers and sisters in Christ that this celebration of evil and death is “just for fun” or “it’s family tradition” or “it’s for the children.”
I have to say those are poor reason indeed!
According to the Word of God, there is no excuse for a born again believer to glorify or condone evil.
There is no debate about October 31st Halloween celebrations – plain and simple they lift up evil and the Lord condones nothing evil for His church. This holiday opens the door for Satan to torment you and your family with fear, anxiety, strife, illness, insanity and more. It most assuredly is not a thing that anyone should teach their children or keep as a family tradition.
Read the following scriptures. It is very clear that believers are not to imitate evil. Not even for “fun.” These are just a few of the scriptures that deal with evil things like Halloween.
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; Romans 12:9 (NRSV)
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:14 - 15 (NRSV)
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8 - 9 (NRSV)
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12 (NRSV)
For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servantsof God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.1 Peter 2:15 - 16 (NRSV)
For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Romans 16:19 - 20 (NRSV)
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”John 3:19 - 21 (NRSV)
As a follower of Jesus Christ, it is important that you do not come into agreement with evil. The more the devil can get Christians to agree with him, even in jest, the more entrenched the evil is. Especially if you are a prayer warrior or in leadership in the church, you must take a stand against the infiltration of occult, witchcraft, sorcery, and the celebration of evil and death in every form. Until we root out every vestige of pagan celebrations, such as the one on October 31st or the “Day of the Dead,” from the church and teach all believers the truth about this time of year, we will see gross darkness every October.
It’s important that you repent if you have been complacent toward evil. Repent if you have participated in any activities celebrating Halloween or the Day of the Dead. Ask for the Lord’s forgiveness and then renounce your participation. Then don’t take the kids trick or treating, don’t put up Jack- o- lanterns , black cats and skeletons or ghosts. Don’t participate in Day of the Dead parties or vigils.
Be the light you have been called to be. As the Lord gives you opportunity, share the truth about the evil of these days with your family, church friends and others that you know love the Lord.
Arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. (Isaiah 60:1-3)
If we as believers can come into unity and agree in prayer that there is no place for evil in our own camp (the church and our families), then we can storm the gates of hell and begin to help all people get free through salvation. If we stand together whole cities can be redeemed. We should be sharing the good news of Christ with all who will listen. Remember “Where darkness abounds, His grace abounds that much more!”
Okay so, what should we be doing on October 31st? Should we shut ourselves up with the lights off in our houses hoping that no one knocks at our door. No! Celebrating evil is a matter of the heart. You can decorate your house with un-carved pumpkins, fancy gourds, and dried corn stalks and have a costumeless party for your neighborhood blessing them and their children. If they show up in costume, fine! Let them ask you why you and your children don’t dress up. Give out a salvation tract and a treat to folks who come to your door. It is the one time of year that perfect strangers come to your door and you can give the HOPE! If you were wondering where I stand regarding church events, look back at the first paragraphs.
Celebrate the Reformation!!! Celebrate our Freedom!!
October 31st is a great time to celebrate Christ Jesus. It is a good thing to have a Harvest celebration as an alternative for people. Decorate with fall theme but not a Halloween theme. Don’t dress in costumes. If the visitors do, that’s okay. Open your church campus to children and their families. Feed them, love on them, give the kids some candy and share the Good News. Be a peaceful, joyous, loving safe-haven where no evil is condoned or celebrated in the hearts of the Christians and watch the Holy Spirit change lives.
Copyrighted 2005 Cheryl S Birch
From 8-3-11
Suddenly, we have seen the answers to years of prayer, I mean YEARS of prayer for our region, begin to unfold like the opening of a lovely rose right before our eyes these past two weeks. Just this AM I was moved to tears as precious people of God spoke of servant leadership, humility and repentance that is beginning to change the very heart of our city. We are in a season of Suddenlies saints. Prayers, old and new, are being answered. Watch, listen, and expect many things you have been waiting on for a long time to suddenly happen. Even those things that seem completely dead and you have stopped praying about them, revisit with new passion. The Lord is speaking to my heart that it is time to call upon His resurrection power and as we do dreams, plans, hopes are being raised up and given new life. ” Do not be afraid,Only Believe.” said Jesus in Mark 5:36. Only believe church! It is time for your “Suddenlies!”
From 8-6-11
Get ready for surprises pouring out of heaven from the heart of the Father. Along with the “suddenlies” where there is an amazing answer to long time prayers and resurrection of promises, dreams, and vision, the Lord is about the business of surprising us with reunions, new wonderful connections, opportunities that we would not have dreamed of. He is giving sweet gifts of simple heart desires and we will experience surprising favor wherever we go. Those who have been faithful to Him and have shared His love with others, those who remain humble before Him, those who have taken time to enter into His presence are and will increasingly experience wonderful surprises delivered by the Holy Spirit and His angelic hosts. Times of great delight and joy in our Lord are here to cancel the dark oppresive onslaught of the enemy. These gifts from heaven will enable us to move forward in the Father’s divine plan for our cities, our nation, the nations of the world. We will be supported and strengthened by these surprises and more able to run the race and gain the prize of our highest call!
Get ready to see Jesus high and lifted up in ways you never dreamed. Don’t give in or give up! Look up! Look up! Look up! See the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He is about to exalt those who are humble, hidden and unknown. Surprises are pouring out as we receive His Grace. Surprises to help us in our Kingdom building work are here and more are on the way. Bless His Holy Name!
respectfully submitted
Rev. Cheryl Birch
copyrighted 2011 Cheryl S Birch
Our God is MIGHTY! He is absolute, all-powerful, invincible, omnipotent, supreme, unlimited… He is legendary, notable, acclaimed, applauded, celebrated, exalted, excellent, extraordinary, foremost, glorious, grand, great, honored, outstanding, peerless, preeminent, remarkable, and renowned in all the earth!
Our God is GOOD! He sets the standard for moral, virtuous behavior. He is admirable, blameless, charitable, ethical, exemplary, honest, honorable, praiseworthy, pure, right, righteous, sound, uncorrupted, untainted, upright, able, reliable, trustworthy and worthy of our praise and adoration!
Our God is just. He is accurate, precise,authentic, concrete, correct, definite, perfect, detailed, exact, explicit, factual, faithful, genuine, judicious, on the button, on the money, on the nose, smack dab in the center, right, solid, specific, ultra-precise and unerring! We can trust His Word!
Our God is overflowing with patience! He is willing and has an unending capacity to endure and wait upon us without becoming angry or upset as we seek His will and way. He is constant, calm, and long-suffering. He is steady, persevering,and persistently guides us to the center of His heart. He has staying power that simply will not let us go - all because of the shed blood of His Son, Jesus! PTL!
Our God pours out Grace upon us. In that amazing grace is mercy, forgiveness,benevolence, charity, clemency, compassion, favor, generosity, good will, goodness, kindness, love, pardon, reprieve, responsiveness, and tenderness. WOW!
Our God is merciful! He has empathy, pity, and sympathy for our situation. He is understanding and grants favor, grace, benevolence, care, compassion, gentleness, goodness, and kindness, He is full of tenderness; generosity, affection, devotion, and He LOVES US!
Our God is Generous! He is abundant, affluent, ample, aplenty, bounteous, bountiful, lavish, liberal, luxuriant, no end in sight, overflowing, plenteous, rich, wealthy, magnanimous, thoughtful and benevolent! He takes good care of His kids.
Our God is awesomer than awesome! That means He is far beyond what is usual, normal, or customary… He is exceptional, extraordinary, magnificent, outstanding, preeminent, rare, remarkable, singular, towering, uncommon, unusual, standout, and out of sight.
I think we all know the first verse of this wonderful old song but the 2nd and 3rd verses are truly what we need now. I offer this as a 4th of July birthday prayer for our great nation
Verse 1
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Verse 2
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Verse 3
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
In Jesus name I pray! AMEN
Through the blood of Christ Jesus we have His total and complete favor. He fully supports His kids publicly and privately. As we enter into His presence and yield to His word He advances us, advises us, argues on our behalf. He is in our corner to bolster, boost, brace up, build up, campaign for, and champion all of our life and Kingdom efforts. He lifts up His countenance upon us, defends, runs interference and encourages us. He gives us a leg up, a lift, goes to bat for us. He goes before and with us. He supports, upholds, vindicates and justifies us. We have purpose in HIM! We are blessed indeed!
Our God is compassionate. He has tender feelings toward us. He is big-hearted. There is room for every one of His kids! He is benevolent, charitable, kindhearted, merciful, responsive, sympathetic, tenderhearted, understanding, warm and loving. So much so that He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace rests on Him. Praise His Holy Name!
Whatever you are going through Jesus has already provided the way for your Victory! He broke through when He went to the cross, shed His blood and rose from the dead! He provides advancement, enhancement, improvement, refinement, expansion, growth, innovation, witty invention, discovery, development and revival! He is our quantum leap and supernatural boost into increase, understanding, revelation, and illumination. With Jesus in your life you are on the upswing, uptrend, upturn and you are growing leaps and bounds! Nothing can hold back His love for you. His plans are to prosper you and to bless you! Hang on to Him, believe His word, stand in faith and lift up those praises and thanksgiving.
