Has God brought you to a place that allows you to be surprised at nothing and thankful for all of it? It's a place of peace I believe. It's a place I've visited. It's a place that I'd like to stay. A good place. A place that says "God has this. There's nothing too great for Him, in fact there's nothing He's not aware of and actively working through." It's this place, in this place, that we glorify God in all, even our infirmities. It is this place that His blessings are revealed as overtaking us. It is this place that we begin to recognize what's been going on the whole time, not just our time but ALL OF IT, all of time, the whole time: His Providence.
-Getting this?
Saturday I was physically in prison yet spiritually free. You hear these types of reports from Volunteers all the time. You'll hear things like, "We came to minister and got ministered to." and "What you have here we don't have out in the 'free world'" These are all good reports and all accurate.
The interesting thing about it is that when the Spirit of the Lord shows up, people will acknowledge the visitation by expressing their experiences verbally. You will see that the seeds were sown and know that they hit ground and you will see that others' seeds were watered and know they are springing up and you will see that the good ground will produce fruit.
There's a story here:
Years ago I believe there were 4 stones sitting in a basket. These stones were nothing and still are nothing more than rocks. They were brought into the Sons of God Chapel on the Coffield Unit and were prayed over by the elders, chaplaincy, and congregation. The prayer was to the effect that these stones would represent a marker in the spiritual realm. The pattern was wrought from a Jewish tradition to use stones as markers for a border. These stones would signify that the property marked by them was owned. We called out in prayer that these stones would represent the borders of the property hereby claimed and taken in the name of Jesus. The grace was that the chaplaincy was able to take these stones to the properties edge and cast them there on each corner. It is the prayers of the Saints that count and are more real than those stones. There is a plaque dedicating the Unit to God Almighty and we mean The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those prayers certainly are something. This was a long time ago.
There came a prophecy of drought in the spirit realm for Coffield in the middle of a revival. It was all beginning to lose its authenticity, the shell was there but if cracked you'd begin to see emptiness there. This was not an ending but a beginning none but few could see. Since that time the unit has gone through the drought. The powers that be moved key people around placing each man where God ordained to produce a pruning and trial that would purify the Saints. Trial only serves for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose and you think that we would have that figured out but we lose sight of it from time to time. The devil even knows it and although he enjoys playing he knows he's limited by the hand of Almighty God Himself. It seemed like it would never rain on Coffield again. Reminds me of Ahab and Elijah.
Shortly thereafter, maybe a few weeks, the presence of the Lord filled the temple and there was another prophecy released, that the drought would end and the latter would be greater than the former. Then the confirmation that that time was not yet because the drought had only just begun. A promise for God to fulfill was put in place by His Word.
Saturday was a day. As we entered the threshold of the Prince of Coffield the enemy began to work at stopping what God was about to do. It, again, only served to strengthen the faith of the minister standing by. The devil had to go. The task at hand was to graduate 35 men with Bachelor's and Master's and DR's Degrees from Soli Deo Gloria Bible Academy and Shalom Bible College and Seminary. As this went on, we began to see a manifestation of the plan of God. Each keynote speaker followed the pattern of producing change by using the knowledge the graduates had gained to love others and walk in that love. The Regional Chaplain brought a great Commencement Speech to this effect, followed by the Senior Warden taking ownership of the unit and committing to changing it for the better using ministers to do it. Every speaker followed suit. Head knowledge wouldn't work; they would have to walk it out to produce an effect. This is setup. The men and their families were able to spend time together and celebrate their achievement. It was a heartwarming and deeply moving moment for us all, those few hours. VERY important.
We asked to attend the Saturday Open Call Service which was next on the schedule and was granted permission. The Volunteer brought a wonderful and impacting message via exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5:17. She clearly explained the differences between being in Christ and thinking you might be in Christ. There was great response to the invitation. 8 men came for the salvation call and many more for prayer after that. In the end, we were asked to pray to close the service. As we stepped up to pray many men were able to see what was happening in the spiritual realm. The closing prayer turned into a warfare prayer. Anti-Christ spirits were called to leave and not return, the ground the enemy had been handed was reclaimed and in Jesus' name we took authority as a Body of believers. I believe we're looking into that prophecy. Either touching base with it to confirm it as His Word and sustain those who hope against hope with hope or we've seen the initiation of revival. With the headship there, it would not surprise me to see that the latter rain is beginning there.
We called to the men with a picture. There was a cemetery that we passed on the way up there. Its name was Providence Cemetery. Interesting that. We called to those men and said to them that God had declared and would cause, yes, but THEY were responsible to act in that calling. We did what we say we do, Called Christians to Service, and we did so in the Power of the Spirit of God.
We expect result.
