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This issue of Rhema Now recounts two recent words that the Lord spoke to us just last month, in July 2023. As we sensed the urgency of speaking forth this message from His heart sooner rather than later, we will return to talking about this decade of Historic Transition in the next issue.

Even as the Lord has spoken that this is a Historic Transitional Decade that requires the Preparation for the Times (issue #2), and that the 1^st of Nisan 2023 was a transition into this intense seven years of running in preparation (issue #6), He is still continuing to speak out of His zeal for us.

This is because He desires each and every one of His people to awaken to not only the seriousness of the times, but to start running now in Preparation for the Times.

What a perfect and zealous Shepherd and Commander we have!

We need to take careful heed of His words, examine ourselves, and not assume that we have responded. Scripture is clear that if we are only hearers and not doers of His word, we deceive ourselves (Jas. 1:22). May we not be deceived!

Even as we share this urgent message for the hour, just as we had emphasized previously (issue #3), our confidence and discernment of truth are not based on visitations and dreams, but on the Word of God and in the leadership of Jesus.

The Call to Run in Preparation

Click above to watch “The Call to Preparation”

In the early morning hours of 7 July 2023, Kay-Chong (Director of IHOP – One Thing Ministries) was awakened by an angelic visitation.

He was terrified with the fear of the LORD because it was a mighty angel — the same angel from Revelation 10. The angel carried a silver shofar in one hand and a scroll in the other.

He began to blow the shofar, which sent forth a strong blast with a clear message from Joel 2:1–2:

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand: a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness…”

The angel then proclaimed that this was more than the sounding of the alarm to be awakened, but to run. It is time to be intentional in Preparation for the Times!

While some of us may have been awakened to the seriousness of the times and the global escalation of darkness, this may not mean that we have responded to put our hands to the plough in preparation.

The time is short and the days are evil. It is high time to throw ourselves fully into these seven years of Preparation for the Times that the Lord has clearly marked out for the Body of Christ!

The angel then communicated that the scroll represented the preparation plan for God’s people — there is a general plan for the corporate Body of Christ, but there will be specific plans tailored for different ministries and individual believers.

If we are asking, “What does preparation look like for me?” let us diligently search His Word and seek Him on how He wants us to respond as individuals. For sure, it will require each of us to re-order, re-align, and re-prioritise our lives in accordance to His plan for preparation.

However, the end goal is the same: we are intentionally preparing ourselves now so that we may arise as the mature Sons of God and equally yoked Bride of Christ unto becoming the John 17 generation!

The visitation ended with the angel giving two Scriptures:

Jeremiah 12:5 — “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?”

Matthew 11:19 — “… But wisdom is justified by her children.”

Truly, God’s message to His people is that there is a requirement to prepare that is commensurate with the glory and crisis that is to come!

It goes beyond simply hearing and knowing in our minds. It goes beyond minor adjustments while holding on to the self-driven pursuits of our life.

This requires a radical, committed, and sustained response from God’s people!

Becoming Real, Deep, and Authentic

Click above to watch “Becoming Real, Deep, and Authentic”

Around 11 days later, on the morning of 18 July 2023, the Lord gave Kay-Chong yet another encounter — a prophetic dream.

In the dream, he was taken before the Throne of God where Jesus appeared as the Transcendent and Almighty King who was ready for battle as the Captain of hosts.

Jesus spoke a very strong message to him:
“Tell them not to be impatient! Tell them not to be casual! Tell them to be wise!”

The Lord then threw a tablet of stone towards him. On one side was written “Daniel 11:32–33” and on the other “Matthew 16:18–19”.

Immediately the LORD gave a stern exhortation to take heed of His words:

“Be diligent and be intentional to prepare yourselves to become the Daniel 11:32–33 people (which is the OT version of the John 17 generation). The divine blueprint has been given. Take heed WHAT you hear! Take heed HOW you hear! For wisdom is justified by her children!”

Then He continued, “Be wise to build firstly on the right foundations: walk in intimacy with Jesus (the Living Word), be grounded in the Written Word of God (the Transcription of Jesus’ soul), and be established on the Highway of holiness! It is upon this three-fold Rock that I, the King of glory will give you the keys of the Kingdom!

For many seek the keys of the Kingdom without firstly being established by Me on the Rock of who I AM! For many seek to walk in the authority of the Ekklesia without firstly becoming AUTHENTIC as My Ekklesia! Didn’t I say to seek FIRST My Kingdom and My righteousness?”

Then He warned, “If you are impatient, you will cause great harm and turmoil to yourselves and to many people!”

Kay-Chong felt much pain and sorrow especially with the last statement.

While the angelic encounter emphasised the urgency to run in Preparation for the Times, this prophetic dream emphasised the focus and heart posture as we run in preparation.

It is not about using our own human wisdom and strategy, but about submitting and yielding to God’s plan of preparation that He has given.

It is not about running to and fro with activities, but about running in preparation — prioritising the cultivation of a real, deep, and authentic relationship with the Lord.

It is also not about “making something happen” in our own strength, but about waiting patiently on the Lord for Him to work in us and through us.

Time to Run in Preparation
Truly the Lord’s heart is for His people to be made ready. Thus, He has spoken again to awaken and bring us into alignment with His divine plan and His timeline.

May we take heed of what we hear and how we hear! Let us put our hands to the plough and run in Preparation for The Times now!

As we discover the very great and precious promises that God has for this generation to inherit and step into, some of us may be asking, “Why? Why does God have so much in store for the End-Time generation?”

To answer this, we need to take an even bigger step back through Biblical history to see from the perspective of God’s overarching salvation and redemption plan.

Three Major Transitional Generations

God has ordained His redemptive story to include three major transitions on this side of eternity, corresponding to three generations:

1. The establishment of the Old Covenant together with the birth of Israel as a nation — Moses’ Generation;

2. The establishment of the New Covenant together with the birth of the Ekklesia at Jesus’ First Coming — the early Apostles’ Generation;

3. The inauguration of and transition into the Millennial Kingdom at Jesus’ Second Coming — the End-Time Generation.

The generation we are living in, the End-Time generation, is one of the three major transitional generations in God’s overarching plan for the redemption of mankind.

There are a few common elements that characterise transitional generations:

1. God breaks in through unusual ways in an unprecedented manner (plagues over Egypt during the time of Moses; outpouring of His Spirit at Pentecost);

2. God releases an unusual level of power and glory (God’s pillar of fire and cloud; supernatural provision and direction in the early Church);

3. God opens a door for His people to enter into a new dimension of relating with Him (God dwelt in the midst of Israel; the indwelling Holy Spirit is given to each believer).

For us who are alive today, the scope and reach for this participation go beyond one geographical region or ethnic lineage (unlike Moses’ and the early Apostles’ generations), but encompass all of His redeemed across the nations!

Wow!

Not only that, the Lord has called the End-Time generation the “best of all generations”. We will walk in love, character, maturity, and things of the Spirit that surpass all previous generations!

The Finest Generation

January 1979…

Bob Jones receives a vision (“The Sands of Time”) from the Lord about a generation of young people who would arise walking with the unprecedented anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Through this vision, Bob Jones is made to understand that unlike previous generations of saints who only saw by faith from afar, the fullness of the promises found in the Bible for God’s people will come to pass in our time, in the End-Time generation!

The Lord speaks that He will begin to draft leaders and “officers” of His End-Time army from across the nations at a specific point in time — when postage in the USA increases to 20 cents per letter. This happens on 13 October 1981.

In hindsight, it was in the 1980s and 1990s when many spiritual leaders of today were marked by the Lord and called into ministry and partnership with Him.

It would be these leaders’ children and grandchildren (whether spiritual or natural) — the Millennials, Gen Zs and Gen Alphas — who would walk in a measure of the Spirit that would far surpass previous generations.

The Lord spoke to Bob Jones, “Their children and grandchildren will possess the Spirit without measure if they walk in a life with no mixture. For they are the best of all the generations that have ever been on the face of the earth.”

There is coming a time when even children — the seven and eight-year-olds — will move in the anointing of the Holy Spirit that surpasses the book of Acts! This is where the authentic Church of Jesus Christ is heading.

The God of Generations

However, even though it is the younger generation that will attain the fullness, the Lord always works through multiple generations — biblically, three — walking together. He identifies Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. His Word is written to the “fathers”, “young men”, and “little children” (1 Jn. 2:12–14).

In God’s family, each generation is given a unique and irreplaceable role. Yet all three generations are dynamically related!

The leaders, who are the first generation, were drafted in the 80s and 90s to fulfil a vital role — to lay the right foundations and disciple their spiritual children and grandchildren who will arise as the End-Time army of God. The young people of today are called to lead the charge in boldly laying hold of and stepping into the reality of the prophetic promises that are coming to pass.

Without the previous generation’s perseverance in labour and faithfulness, the young generation of today would not be able to fully step into all that God has for them in this hour.

But wait — lest we think that it is now time for the older generation to “take a backseat” and fade into the background, the Lord has ordained something different.

In this hour, there is, more than ever, a crucial role for the fathers to equip, disciple and guide the younger generation with the governmental authority that has been given to them. And from the younger generation, there is a response God requires of them to take heed and give ear to the godly wisdom and experience of the older generation.

Truly, each generation is vital and significant to God’s purposes for this hour. He is calling all three generations to run together so that there will arise a people who will perfectly represent His Son in the End Times, and who will enter into the fullness of His promises!

A Call to the End-Time Generation to Respond

Without a shadow of a doubt, God has laid up a great inheritance for the End-Time generation. We are truly living in exciting times because we get to carry and express God’s glory even in the most challenging of hours.

However, entering the promises of God is never automatic. In fact, it is presumptuous to assume that there is no requirement to respond.

The Lord spoke to us, “It is foolish to live within the fulfilment of God’s promises, but to not have comprehended. It is tragic and sad to live within the divine moment of God, yet to not have taken hold of it.”

Surely, an ordinary response will not suffice for such an extraordinary generation!

If this is so, how then should we live?

The life of John the Baptist gives us a clear prophetic picture (Matt. 11:7–18). He was a young person who lived in a transitional generation. He was one of the last Old Covenant saints. He was given the privilege to participate in what God was doing in his time — to prepare the way for Jesus’ First Coming.

How did John the Baptist live his life?

His life was one of wholeheartedness unto God and holy violence for the things of God. For us, this translates into:

1. A radical pursuit of Jesus and the fullness of God’s purposes and promises for our generation (Gen. 32:26; Matt. 11:12);

2. A refusal to compromise even when it is difficult, costly and counter-cultural (Matt. 11:7);

3. A refusal to settle for the comforts of life or accept any alternative narrative (Matt. 11:8);

4. A zeal to remove every hindrance and obstacle to fullness (Josh. 3:5; 2 Cor. 7:1).

In Matthew 11:16­–19, Jesus brought an indictment upon the generation then who would neither respond to the “wedding song”, which represents the promises of His glory, nor the “funeral song”, which represents the warnings of shakings and judgement-to-come.

Through it, Jesus is also making a strong generational appeal, especially to the End-Time generation, to guard against indifference, passivity, casualness, self-entitlement and self-justification (v17–18). He is exhorting us to respond to Him in a manner that is worthy of Him and His calling for our generation. If John the Baptist had lived in such a radical manner in his time, how much more for us in this darkest and yet most glorious hour of human history?

Hence the question is:
In this Sovereign Appointed Time, will we live wholeheartedly and radically for God?

May we respond in a way commensurate with the glory and power that is coming, so that we may enter into the fullness of God’s inheritance for our generation and our lives!

The Lord had begun a separate but parallel thread of His story in 1979 that would later converge with the story that was unfolding in Kansas City (Rhema Now #12).

Both parties were unaware of the other. Both were living their own lives in separate parts of the nation. But the Lord, through them, spoke about the generation that would arise at the End of the Age.

A Visitation to the Throne of Heaven

New Orleans, USA, August 1979…

Howard Pittman, a Baptist minister, dies of haemorrhage of a major blood vessel in his body. God brings him before His throne in heaven, where He soundly rebukes him for a life lived for himself and not for the Lord.

It was a rude awakening for Howard Pittman who was totally shocked by God’s evaluation of his life. However, he was given a second chance and sent back to earth with an important message for the Body of Christ. (His full account, with the message that God gave him, can be found in his book, Placebo.)

He was made to understand the following:

1. His “ministry of prophecy” would last exactly three years;
2. At the end of the three years, a supernatural event would occur;
3. There would be an “announcement in the sky” to mark this event.

His ministry began on 7 May 1980, when God told him to “go”.

It ended exactly on 7 May 1983! This was the first day of the 21-day fast that was called by Mike Bickle and confirmed by the unpredicted comet!

Surely this is more than just a coincidence! The Lord is so precise in His timing!

The End-Time Gideon’s Army

God’s promise through Howard Pittman was this: the end of his three-year ministry would mark the beginning of the recruiting of the Gideon’s army in earnest (the supernatural event) and it would be accompanied with an “announcement in the sky” (the unpredicted comet).

The Two Threads Converge

November 1983…

God sovereignly places Howard Pittman’s book in Mike Bickle’s hands, unfolding His prophetic puzzle and divinely weaving these two threads together. This not only brought another confirmation of the significance of the May 1983 fast, but also added greater clarity to the words given to Mike Bickle.

Putting together these two separate threads, the picture becomes very clear:

1. The End-Time prayer movement for Israel is also the End-Time Gideon’s Army (Judg. 6 – 7);
2. Just as Gideon’s army stood with God and fought for Israel, the young people in this End-Time move of God will be fearless and radical. They will partner with God in supernatural works, and faithfully stand with Israel until the end!

The supernatural confirmations from the Lord regarding these promises are nothing short of astounding! He sent the angel Gabriel. He sent a surprise sign from heaven. He sent a man back down from His throne in heaven.

God is so zealous for the fullness of this End-Time generation! Surely we want to give ourselves fully to be part of His story in this generation!

Besides these promises from May 1983, God also gave various other words and promises, especially between the years of 1982 – 1984 that give more insight into what He is doing and the kind of people He is raising up.

The Change in Understanding and Expression of Our Faith

19 September 1982…

The Lord speaks to Mike Bickle through an encounter: “I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the whole earth in one generation.”

This change refers to a shift in how we live our lives as believers. Specifically, God is emphasising values that are important to Him that need to be embraced by the End-Time Church. He spoke that His people will become people of:

• Prayer and Intercession — a people of prayer and fasting, both individually and corporately, living out the Joel 2 Lifestyle (Joel 2:12–17).
• Holiness — a people who walk in the Sermon-on-the-Mount Lifestyle, and who are wholehearted in love, relentless in trust, radical in obedience and reckless in abandonment for God.
• Extravagant Offering — a people who live simply for themselves and extravagantly for God and His Kingdom.
• Prophetic and Power — a people who have a history with God in His providence, protection, leadership and guidance, and move in His supernatural power.

In short, how we understand and express our faith as believers in Christ will change!

Indeed, things have been changing post-Covid, both in the world and in the Church. As believers, we need to shift to align with God’s heart for us, and not align with the world or find our own “new” expression of Christianity based on our own wisdom.

Because the Lord says that He is the One who will bring about this change, we can be confident that His people will live out all four of these values individually and corporately! There will be the emergence of a generation who will persevere in these necessary lifestyle traits that God desires and requires!

The Anointed Ones on the Isaiah 35 Highway of Holiness

3 July 1984…

Bob Jones sees a vision of about 35 young leaders exalting and carrying the Lord in a procession, like how the ark was carried during King David’s time (2 Sam. 6). They were leading a great procession of people who had been healed through their ministry.

The number 35 points to the Isaiah 35 highway — a highway of holiness. Through this vision, God promised the following:

1. Leaders will arise that God will use as vessels for releasing His unusual glory and power;
2. They will have the power to preach the gospel and heal the sick as in the Book of Acts;
3. They will bring God’s glory in through the Isaiah 35 highway of holiness.

While there have been leaders in the past who have unfortunately sold Jesus out to immorality, gold and fame, the Lord is promising that a generation of leaders will arise who will be completely holy unto the Lord! They will keep Him high and lifted up all the days of their lives. They will not sell Jesus out but will serve Him and be faithful till the end.

Pressing In for the Promises in this Sovereign Appointed Time (1 Tim. 1:18)

We are now at or around the 40th-year mark of many of these promises. It is truly God’s Sovereign Appointed Time, the prophetic moment when we are entering into their actualisation.

If the Lord has divinely orchestrated the global Isaiah 62 fast for Israel as that down payment, surely we can have confidence that the rest of His promises will come to pass!

Knowing this, it’s time to ask ourselves some questions:
In this prophetic moment, how does the Lord want us to respond?
How do we position ourselves so that we can participate in their fulfilment?

God has given us His great and precious promises so that we can contend fervently in prayer unto their fulfilment (1 Tim. 1:18), and reach for them in our individual lives. But while these promises will certainly come to pass for the generation, whether each of us will be part of that depends on our individual response.

Whether it’s the unprecedented outpouring of the Holy Spirit, or the emergence of a people holy unto the Lord, let’s take these promises into our hearts, believe and fully embrace them, and contend for their fulfilment!

Indeed, let’s throw ourselves fully and wholeheartedly into His story, and be the Joshuas and Calebs who boldly step into the actualisation of God’s promises in this Sovereign Appointed Time!

Further background details on the promises can be found at these links:

The Change of Understanding and Expression (1982)

Isaiah 35 Prophecy (1984)

The first Jordan River transition is signified by the transition from Moses to Joshua. Just as that generation of Israelites entered into the Promised Land, the global Church is in this Sovereign Appointed Time where we are entering into the promises of God for our generation. Many of them have been 40 years in the making, and are a divine tapestry of precise dates and astounding events woven together by the sovereign hand of God!

God has given supernatural encounters, even signs in heaven that cannot be manipulated by man, to authenticate these promises.

Why?

It is because God is zealous for His people to fully step into the promises that He has ordained for this generation. Through these events and supernatural signs, He is highlighting the immense significance of these promises for us as the global End-Time Church.

Even though these events are from 40 years ago, the Lord is using them to make known His heart and will for this generation and for the global Church including the Church in Asia.

Of course, as the stories regarding these events are recounted here, we also recognise that the earthly vessels that God uses are often flawed and imperfect. However, we do not want to dismiss the prophetic words and promises if they are truly of the Lord.

Ultimately, every prophetic word cannot contradict the full counsel of Scripture (1 Thes. 5:20–21), and even in the midst of embracing these promises given through imperfect vessels, our confidence and hope are always placed in Jesus alone.  

(What follows are shortened accounts of the various events, as it would be too long to include every detail. However, we are providing links to resources that give the full story at the end of the email.)

The date was 7 March 1983…

Mike Bickle (then a pastor of a local church in Kansas City, USA) meets Bob Jones for the first time. It was the day that began God’s prophetic season of intense divine encounters and encounters that prepared the ground for what we are stepping into today.

On that day, Bob Jones prophesies the following (which he would repeat over the years):

1. Mike Bickle would be involved in leading a worldwide youth movement of singers and musicians to mobilise millions in prayer for Israel.

2. This movement would receive abundant grace for the prophetic and intercession, and be deeply connected to God’s people in Asia.

3. God would place spiritual intercessors for Israel on the former US President Harry Truman’s property in Grandview as a sign and wonder. (Harry Truman was key in the birth of the state of Israel in 1948, and thus a “political intercessor” for her.)

4. People in Asia would be watching these singers and musicians through “unplugged TV sets” (what we know today to be smartphones) and wristwatches from rice paddy fields.

He also prophesies that Mike Bickle would come to accept his prophetic role after a supernatural sign that would follow: snow would unexpectedly fall on the first day of Spring.

40 years ago, these prophetic words sounded incredible and incredulous, even to Mike Bickle himself. TV sets were bulky and always connected to power sources. Communication via wristwatches was the stuff of sci-fi movies.

Furthermore, he was at that time primarily focused on seeing revival come to his city. There was hardly any inclination towards a worldwide movement of unceasing prayer and worship, Asia, or even Israel.

However, God is so zealous for what He has for this generation that He supernaturally confirmed His words.

Just as Bob Jones prophesied, a winter storm swept through half of the US and snow fell in the Midwest exactly on 21 March, the first of Spring that year.

Further Supernatural Confirmations for a 21-Day Fast

Fast forward to mid-April 1983…

The Lord speaks Daniel 9 and 10 to Mike Bickle and instructs him to call for a 21-day fast in May — specifically from 7–28 May 1983.

Confirmation comes a day later through Bob Jones — in a night vision, the angel Gabriel visits him and gives two prophetic words as an authentication of the fast:

1. Bob Jones was to give the Scripture “Daniel 9” to Mike Bickle, which he would immediately bear witness to;

2. God would send a comet on 7 May that was completely unpredicted by scientists to verify that this vision from Gabriel was true.

Lo and behold, on 7 May 1983, the local state newspaper reported on a surprise comet that was flying by Earth that week!

(It was only on 4 May that scientists announced the discovery of this comet. Various national news outlets reported on it throughout early May, with one headlining it a “surprise visit”. Even today, it is still remembered as a surprise, “out of the blue” comet.)

Thus, with such supernatural confirmations, it was with great anticipation that a few hundred people gathered together in May 1983 to fast and pray for revival in their city.

Unbeknownst to them, God had other plans.

Prophetic Promises for this Generation

The Lord gave four words (corresponding roughly to the four Saturdays in the fast) to Mike Bickle. These words encompass promises that extend far beyond just revival in their city and instead include God’s heart and plans for the End-Time generation.

Briefly, these four promises are:

7 May 1983 — The End-Time Prayer Movement for Israel
God used the comet in the sky to confirm His emphasis on Daniel 9 and 10 (chapters about Israel), and thus the earlier words given by Bob Jones regarding the End-Time prayer movement for Israel.

Through a separate thread of God’s story, which later converged with these promises to Mike Bickle, the comet also confirmed that God was going to raise up an End-Time Gideon’s Army that would be radical, fearless, set apart, and partner with God in great exploits. (This thread will be recounted in the next issue.)

14 May 1983 — 24/7 Prayer with Worship and Psalm 27:4
God spoke that He would raise up 24/7 worship and prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David in the context of Psalm 27:4, which was written by King David in the midst of crisis.

God will release the unprecedented revelation of the beauty of Jesus to and through prophetic singers who will sing forth who He is. The knowledge of Jesus is what stabilises hearts in times of crisis (Isa. 33:6), and especially so for the one at the End of the Age.

21 May 1983 — “No disease known to man will stand before this people”
Through this word from Bob Jones, God promised to release an unprecedented measure of His healing grace upon the End-Time youth movement. The End-Time generation’s healing anointing will far surpass the early Apostles, the healing evangelists (e.g. John G. Lake) and even Jesus Himself (Jn. 14:12).

The Lord also gave three passages to accompany this promise: Psalm 28, Matthew 10:8 and 1 Corinthians 15:10.

28 May 1983 — The Unprecedented Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
The Lord promised through Bob Jones of an appointed time when He would sovereignly break in with His Spirit (Joel 2:28–32). However, it would be after a period (what would end up being years) of spiritual drought.

Bob Jones further prophesied that God would confirm this word through a three-month-long physical drought over the Midwest that would be broken by rain on only one specific date picked by the Lord. Sure enough, this word came to pass and it rained as prophesied on 23 August 1983!

40 Years Later…

We stand at this Jordan River Prophetic Moment — this Sovereign Appointed Time where we are witnessing the prophetic promises come to pass. Though they may only be down payments at present, they speak of the sovereignty and great faithfulness of our God!

Here are some of the milestones and prophetic down payments of the above promises over the years, with the most historic at the 40-year mark this year:

7 May 1999 — The International House of Prayer, Kansas City held its first prayer session. It went 24/7 four months later in September 1999.

27 January 2008 — Ownership of the former Harry Truman property was transferred to IHOPKC through God’s supernatural provision. This was exactly 50 years to the date that Harry Truman sold this property to a Jewish family!

10 – 14 May 2022 — In a lead-up to “The Send” gathering, tents for 24/7 prayer and worship were set up on the Truman property, one of which was dedicated to praying for Israel.

7 – 28 May 2023 — The Lord divinely orchestrated the global Isaiah 62 Fast for Israel, mobilising over 5 million intercessors and 7,000 ministries worldwide to pray for her, culminating with over 100 million intercessors joining together in the Global Day of Prayer for Israel on Pentecost (28 May).

Undoubtedly, God has initiated the coming to pass of this promise of a global End-Time prayer movement for Israel.

Surely, we are seeing the acceleration of the actualisation of these promises in this Sovereign Appointed Time!

More to the story

But wait, there is more!

God has also given further promises regarding the End-Time generation that clearly define the kind of people we will become! He has also woven a separate thread in His tapestry of history that would eventually converge through the surprise comet in the sky on 7 May 1983.

Stay tuned!

Further background details on the promises can be found at these links:

7 March 1983

7–28 May 1983

Imagine you’re Joshua. You’re standing at the Jordan River, gazing across at the Promised Land. You’ve held on to the glimpses of a land flowing with milk and honey as Israel wandered in the wilderness. It has been 40 long years!

However, with the wilderness wanderings now behind you, and the God of Israel going before you, your heart is filled with faith and eager expectation. Tomorrow you will finally enter the promised land!

Like Joshua, we are now at a Jordan River crossing moment: we are at the divine moment of entering into God’s promises for the End-Time generation. It is a significant kairos hour on the calendar of God that does not happen every generation. What a privilege it is to be alive in such a time as this!

From Prophetic Season to Prophetic Moment

One of the keywords that God spoke to us for 2021 was “enter into” (Rhema Now #5). The Lord was speaking of the transition from a prophetic season to a prophetic moment.

The prophetic season is a period when there is heightened release of prophetic words from God to give focus to His people, and to highlight and emphasise things for us to take heed of and align to. It is a season where He was directing us to “set things in order” especially in our hearts and lives, so as to be in greater alignment with Him.

The prophetic moment, on the other hand, is the kairos hour for the actualisation of the promises of God. It is the moment when we will witness the fulfilment of all that God has promised in the past season before our very eyes.

And that very moment has come!

We have indeed transitioned from a season of simply receiving prophetic promises to the moment of their actualisation. We are no longer talking about promises that will happen in the future but will see them being fulfilled now before our very eyes.

One example is the 21-day Isaiah 62 Global Solemn Assembly that just took place last month (7–28 May 2023). What many may not realise is that this is actually a down payment of a prophetic promise given to Mike Bickle in May 1983 about God raising up a global End-Time prayer movement for Israel!

How exciting is it to be living out the reality of God’s prophetic storyline!

Of course, these fulfilments will not be completed in one instant but the promises will come to pass progressively until they reach their fullness.

Three Notable Transitions

The Lord highlighted three Biblical transitions that took place at the Jordan River that give prophetic representations of three transitions that God is bringing His people through in this hour.

(Though distinct, the three overlap with one another and will be elaborated upon in greater detail in subsequent issues):

1. Moses to Joshua (Josh. 1)

Just as how Israel crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, we are in this prophetic moment of entering into the promises of God for our generation that have been 40 years in the making. These promises pertain to the End-Time move of God in this generation.

2. Elijah to Elisha (2 Kings 2)

The transition from Elijah to Elisha signifies the picking up of the prophetic mantle that God has for the End-Time Church, which will far surpass all previous generations. It also highlights the prophetic character that God wants His people to cultivate to carry the anointing.

3. John the Baptist to Jesus (Matt. 3:13–17)

This signifies God’s people stepping into the glory realm of God and into the Luke 4:18 moment. The result will be the Zechariah 8:23 reality — where the End-Time Church is so aligned to Him that His Presence and glory will be constantly upon us and in our midst, just as how the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus.

Stepping Into The Promises As We Engage in Preparation

In light of these very great and precious promises, and the transition into their fulfilment, how should we as God’s people respond? And how do they relate to this season of preparation we are in?

While God will bring His promises to pass because He is faithful to His word, knowing about them does not automatically translate to us stepping into them.

As individuals, we need to embrace them for ourselves, engage with the Lord through contending for their fulfilment, and intentionally step out to walk in them until we enter into their fullness for our lives (1 Tim. 1:18; Heb. 4:1,11; 12:1).

In the midst of escalating crises and intensities, these transitions are God’s pre-emptive strike upon the kingdom of darkness. They are certainly part of God’s plan to prepare us to be the Daniel 11:32–33 people.

We will need to step into the promises, we will need to move in great prophetic anointing, and we will need to have His glory upon us in order to stand and shine in the days ahead.

However, beyond being able to thrive in the days ahead, we get to fully partner with God in all that He wants to do in the days ahead as the End-Time generation!

May we arise as the Joshuas and Calebs who enter into and possess the fullness of His promises with faith, courage, wholeheartedness and radical obedience!

Stay tuned for details of these transitions that God is bringing His people through!

In the previous issue, we talked about the shifts and doorways that will release increasing darkness in this decade of high transition. As this is happening, the Lord is also bringing various shifts in His Church to enable us to be ready for the unprecedented outpouring of His glory in the midst of the greatest darkness (Isa. 60:1–3).

This glory will be so unsurpassed that if we as God’s people do not align with these shifts, we will either not be able to receive His glory, or else fail to carry its weight and steward it well!

The Lord is always looking for vessels. However, more than just being willing, we need to be ready.

Will we prepare ourselves to be ready vessels strong enough for Him to use? Or will we be found wanting and unprepared to carry His glory in the coming hour?

More direly, will we be swept away and overcome by the increasing darkness?

This season of preparation is thus for us to become that vessel that is made ready for God’s use.

THE SEVEN POSITIVE DIMENSIONAL SHIFTS IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST

There are seven positive dimensional shifts that God is bringing in His people.

We need to pay attention to and align with what He is doing so that we can receive the fullness of His glory for us!

1. The Change of Season for God’s People

We have flipped the page into a new chapter in God’s storyline. God’s people have entered into a season of Preparation for the Times in order to be ready for the Dawning of a New Era, where there will be increasing darkness as well as unprecedented glory of God for His people.

There will be grace in this decade of preparation to grow depth in God and in His Word. However, this season will not last forever, and we need to align with God’s shift in emphasis and seize this window of grace to grow a real, deep and authentic relationship with Him, and strength in our character and inner man.

2. The Shift into a Wartime Framework

We are no longer living under a peacetime framework but have shifted into a wartime framework. It is crucial that we awaken to this reality!

This battle is not in the natural but in the spiritual, and the enemy has increased his assault across the nations. We must not be lulled into thinking that we can “sit out” of this war. Even now, Jesus, the Commander of the LORD’s army is gathering and training His troops and we need to hear His voice and fall in line!

In this season, the Lord is emphasising Psalm 23. There is a reason behind this. In order to be strong and be able to prevail, we need to enter into the rest of God, and learn to wage spiritual warfare from the place of rest and abiding in the Lord (Rom. 16:20; 2 Cor. 10:3­–6, Eph. 6:10–12)!

3. The Arising of the Ekklesia

One of the major changes in the understanding and expression of our faith is understanding and stepping into our role as the Ekklesia (Matt. 16:18–19). In this new season, the Lord is bringing a divine upgrade to His people in authority, power, things of the Spirit, and moving in the angelic realm. He is lifting us higher to move with His Spirit and to know how to wage war in the heavenly places.

Of course, we will never graduate from the foundation of intimacy with God. In fact, it is upon this foundation that His people will arise as His Ekklesia. The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits! We will be anointed and empowered by His Spirit to push back darkness and even turn darkness into light (Isa. 42:16)!

4. The Intensifying of Our Posture of Preparation

Our preparation needs to shift gears from perseverance in delay to perseverance in intensity. This means that those of us who have been casual in our faith cannot afford to be so anymore.

Now is the time to be intentional, to throw off everything that distracts and hinders, and run the race of preparation with all our might (Heb. 12:1)!

The outward behaviour of a “good” Christian without the inward transformation and true history with God is no longer sufficient. We need to get real, get oil from the Lord and get ready!

Furthermore, as the intensity increases all around us, our intentionality needs to, by God’s grace, increase as well, so that we will develop perseverance and the character needed to emerge as the vessels that can carry the glory of God!

5. The Shift in the Focus of the Church

The Lord is shifting the focus of the Church away from being primarily pastoral back to being apostolic and prophetic, just like it was in the book of Acts. While this does not mean that the needs of the flock are unimportant, it does mean that our primary focus as a Church has to shift from meeting congregational needs to advancing the Kingdom of God.

God is shifting us away from “consumerism” Christianity to God and Kingdom-focused Christianity. He is raising up John the Baptists in this generation, the radical meek ones who will humble themselves for the sake of the kingdom and say, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:28–30)!

6. A Change in Mindset and Perspective

God is calling His people to put on a new lens and align with His perspective in this new season. What was “perfect” and used to work in the past may not work anymore. We need to ask God to renew our minds and see things through a Biblical, supernatural, prophetic and spiritual lens.

This has to happen at all levels of the Body of Christ — from elders and leaders to those in the congregation. Every person will need to align individually with God in order for us to be able to move forward as His Body. Each of us will need to seek God for His wisdom to know what we ought to do in this hour (1 Chr. 12:32)!

7. A Shift in Focus to Jesus as the Bridegroom King

While many believers have learnt to relate with Jesus as our tender-hearted Shepherd and loving Bridegroom, He is now directing us to learn how to relate with Him as our King and Commander of the LORD’s army. Just as a king’s sons would go out to war with their father in ancient Israel, Jesus is inviting us to ride with Him into battle as His warrior Bride!

This will require an attitude of radical obedience that does not question the commands of our King.

Yet, at the same time, our primary focus is not to be on our assignments, but on our relationship with Him as His beloved Bride. Our first love is still Jesus and our eyes and our hearts will always remain fixed upon our Bridegroom King, even in the fiercest of battles!

Indeed, God has prepared a delightful inheritance for us. Let us press in to lay hold of God’s fullness for us, to be the ones upon whom the glory of God will arise, the ones who will burn and shine for Him in the hour of greatest darkness (Isa. 60:1–3)!