Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Global Economy - A Prophetic Perspective

Yesterday I received a spam letter from a national ministry. In it the leader said of the economy:
This will become a major global economic transition like the world has yet to experience! The American dollar and worldwide currencies will no longer retain their value, as a recession will affect everything we do and need! NO ONE WILL ESCAPE! Everyone will be drastically affected!
Of course he has a solution:
I will teach you. I will anoint you. I will show you how to PROSPER in this time of financial FAMINE! Job 5:20-22, NKJV, will be a reality in your life: In famine he shall redeem you from death … And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. You shall laugh at destruction and famine … .

The Holy Spirit has anointed me with the wisdom of God for such a time as this! I have taken this wisdom and prophetic insight and placed them in a new book, never before published. It was prepared just for your end-time financial anointing. John 8:32, NKJV, declares: And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

AND OH BY THE WAY he offers:

Friend, I encourage you to sow a special offering that will be your seed sown in the ground to reap a supernatural, superabundant financial harvest. This act of obedience will be your protection—just like God protected Israel in Egypt—from the tricks and strategies of the devil to try to attack you, defeat you financially, and rob you of God’s financial anointing!
This is absolute drivel. This is using people's fear to sell a book, get people to a meeting and take an offering. What a bunch of hooey. I won't tell you who the spam note is from but this is a national ministry on TV and one who has me on his spam list for some reason or another. Ignore him.

Then a good friend sent me this from a nationally recognized teacher. She (the teacher) is one who I trust and one who I believe hears from God. But the level of grief she is feeling when she shared this at a conference recently was profound:
.....her spirit was heavy and there was a certain “heaviness” in the atmosphere even before she started to speak. She said that she had been literally physically sick to have to bring us this message and right out the gate she said,”We are in grave danger.” She said that God had revealed to her that a literal famine is coming to America. Physical, not spiritual. She said that God is moving in judgement against our nation. I know I can’t describe this well enough, but the atmosphere was ominous. She is a seasoned speaker and she had to BATTLE to get through her message. She stumbled over scriptures and had an extremely difficult time. At times I was almost expecting her to collapse. At one point she just had to stop and pray.

Her prescription was not, send an offering, come to her meetings or buy her book. She was more practical.

1. We are to break up the fallow ground. We do this by returning and repenting. (Jeremiah 4:3)

2. We are to mourn. (Jeremiah 9:17-18)

3. We are to pray fervently.

4. We are to love God's word, to know the whole counsel of God. (Jeremiah 20:7, Deuteronomy 8:3)

5. We are to love others as Jesus loved them. (Jeremiah 31:3)

6. We are to introduce people to Jesus Christ. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

7. We are to rest. Rest in the fact that if you do the other six points you can rest in His assurance. Rest in faith. He is the one who does the work and you are only the vessel. (Jeremiah 33:1-9, 15-17)

Now that makes more sense.

Pat Robertson, who as a Prophet has been nearly 100% wrong recently, (you can search this blog with the search engine at the top and see all the times I have called him on it) is calling for economic collapse. Of course the answer in Pat's case is send an offering, join the club and buy a book.

A few days ago a Non Profit Prophet in the secular realm, Phil Gramm (of Wendy - CFTC - and Phil Gramm) said that the economic whiners were spoiling the country. I agree with Phil and Wendy. Here is the view I buy into.

Even on CNBC when I watch the financial news the people reporting it are beginning to say, "people, get a grip, life as we know it isn't come to an end. It's tough, It might get tougher, but hang in there, you can make it, we did before, we will again". Most of this is driven by bad economic education, by political posturing, by liberals who want to make everything look bad, by people like T. Boone Pickens who wants to benefit from casting fear and by preachers who thrive on crisis. All are to be condemned.

I work with and spend fellowship time with some good sound trustworthy prophets in this area and nationally. I know the sound of the prophetic in my own spirit. It's not what the world and it's pressures are pressuring them into what they believe it to be. This is all fear. Fear is of the Devil. God did not give us a spirit of fear.

Not ONE of the prophetic voices in my life nor the one in my spirit bears witness to the truth of these fear monger prophets. I do accept that judgment is part of God's discipline but Mercy always trumps Judgment. Read Ezekiel 36. He doesn't do what he does for our benefit or ruin. He does it for his name's sake.

16 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman's monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, 'These are the LORD's people, and yet they had to leave his land.' 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

We in the USA have behaved just like Israel did. We have profaned HIS good name around the world. BUT, HIS good name is at stake. The profaners are being judged by fear and trembling. Some called by HIS name have bought into the fear.

As a minister of the good news I am here to tell you the good news is the bad news is wrong. No matter what, God is still God and we aren't. Not even Obama will save you. He can't even save himself.

I want to encourage you in Jesus. RIGHTEOUS ARE NOT FORSAKEN NOR BEG FOR BREAD Psalm 37:25. Jesus still multiplies fish and loaves. Happens every day.

So stop the fear. Even when Jesus was in the back of the boat and the storm raged all about, when the disciples woke him his first words to them were, STOP THE FEAR. Where is your faith he asked. He's still asking. He didn't hand the disciples a towel to dry off, he didn't try to soothe them, he didn't feel sorry for them. He rebuked them for the fear they had and had given each other.

He would say the same to you today. Even though the storm clouds form, even though the sky looks dark, He is still with you.

David Ruis long ago wrote a great song, Whom have I but YOU?

It's time to get that spirit back. Who or what DO we have but him?

That my friends is a prophetic utterance you can bank on.

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