Pastor Bob’s Blog

In chapter 13 of the gospel according to Mark, Jesus instructs disciples of all generations about the signs of His return.  In Mark 13:33, after describing the signs, He winds it all down to this:  ”Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”

Why did He tell us to watch?  For at least two reasons.

First, Jesus wants us to watch so we will see and know the signs of the times.  We’re now seeing signs of what He referred to as the “beginnings of sorrows” in Mark 13:8 and Matthew 24:8: wars and rumors of wars, nations and kingdoms rising against each other, earthquakes, famines, and troubles.  The beginnings of sorrows will usher in a string of prophetic events culminating in Jesus’ return.

Disciples of Jesus should not be surprised by His return.  We’re supposed to watch so we will see.  In Matthew 24:37, Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah.  How is that significant?  Noah knew a flood was coming.  No one else even knew what a flood was.  But Noah knew because the Lord told him, and Noah prepared – despite the ridicule of his family and neighbors.  If Noah knew, so will we even as the rest of the world sits in darkness!

In fact, in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit tells us that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.  But in verses 4-5 he tells us that day won’t overtake us as a thief because we are not in darkness, but are children of light.

We should not be surprised! In John 16:13, Jesus announces that when the Holy Spirit comes He will reveal things to come!  Every Spirit-filled believer should be turning inwardly to see what the Holy Spirit is revealing.

Why should we watch?  So we’ll see and recognize the signs of the times.

There’s a second reason for us to watch.  Jesus told us to watch – and pray! We must watch so we’re thoroughly equipped to pray to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, effectively and with great precision.

If we as members of the Body of Christ step up, keep our eyes open, and pray with power in these days, great things will happen in the earth.  Will you take your place?  Will you watch and pray?

“’What about 2010?’ says the Lord.  What will the year 2010 hold?  2010 will be a year of judgment.  It will be a year of judgment for the nations.   It will be a year of judgment for churches.  It will be a year of judgment for people.  But you need not fear because remember what my Word says:  Judge yourself and you will not be judged.  So you must judge yourselves that you be not judged.  2010 will be a year of judgment and my Word says that judgment begins at the House of God.  There will be judgment in the Church and you will see and there will be revealed things that are happening in the Church – in the Body of Christ – that are not pleasing and are not consistent with my Word.  There are some who are high who will be brought low, and there are some who are low who will be brought high.  2010 will be a year of judgment.

2010 will be a year of sifting.  There will be sifting among the nations.  There will be sifting among churches.  There will be sifting in your life.  There will be sifting of people.  And as I prayed for Peter I pray for you that your faith fail not.

Do not put your trust in man, but put your trust in Me, says the Lord, for I will not allow you to fail.  If you put your trust in man, you will fail.  2010 is a year where you need to stay close to Me because those who stay close to me will not be judged.  And if they are judged they will be judged righteous because of the blood of Jesus.  If they are judged they will be chastened, but they will not be brought down, they will not be brought low, they will not be touched, they will not be brought low.  Keep yourself close to Me and you will have nothing to fear.

Pray for the mountains of Israel.  Pray for the mountains of Israel.  Watch and pray.  Watch what is happening in the Middle East.  And what people call the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are not what I call them.  Keep your eyes on Israel.  Remarkable things will happen in 2010.  I have said it, says the Lord, and it will come to pass.  But pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and pray for Israel.  Watch and pray.

Do not be discouraged.  There will be times of judgment in 2010, but you, if you stay close to Me, will not fall into judgment.  You will rather find yourself in your wealthy place, in your spiritual wealthy place.  So I say to you, fear not!  And I say again, fear not!  If you are my sons and if you are my daughters, then be led by my Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit that searches the deep things of Me, says the Lord, and you will never fail.”

Yesterday I posted a blog about Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ 2009 Southwest Believers’ Convention and the New York Times article covering it.  I want to be sure that what I wrote is not misinterpreted.

I’m not condemning the Times or the religion professor who is quoted in the article.  That’s not an appropriate response from a true follower of Jesus Christ, and that’s not what my response was intended to be.

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV) says this:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

As one who considers himself one of the Copelands’ spiritual sons, I consider an attack on the Copelands to be an attack on me.  What must be (and is) my response?  To love, to bless, and to pray.  And when a contrary thought pops up, it’s my job to cast it down, and to love, to bless, and to pray.

I pray for the Times reporter, for the religion professor, and for all those who have been so critical of Brother and Sister Copeland.  Will all of you who confess Jesus as Lord you join me?

Janet and Craig Watson.

Today I received a Skype call from my dear friend, Craig Watson, the pastor of Eagle Christian Ministries in Durban, South Africa.  Cherie and I have a covenant relationship by divine appointment with Craig and his wife, Janet, and we are becoming closely knit together in the Spirit.  Craig and Janet have been in Athens and have ministered at Abundant Life Church.  Talking with Craig via Skype (a free computer to computer “telephone” call) with web cams was like being in the same room with him.

Craig shared with me that his greatest passion over the last many months has been to live in the presence of God.  For years he has enjoyed daily fellowship with the Lord.  Lately, though, he has been hungry for the Lord’s presence, and has begun to spend each Wednesday morning in prayer and fasting before God.  The result has been striking.  Craig has experienced wonderful times of fellowship and received extraordinary revelation and anointing from God.

To Craig’s flesh, taking Wednesday morning to seek God seemed like a big sacrifice.  In addition to pastoring, Craig and Janet operate an international logistics business that is thriving in famine.  Time is not something he possesses in excess.  But he made the quality decision to make time to seek God, and has reaped enormous rewards, both in the Spirit and in the natural.

Craig reflected, and I agree, that we’re not “professional preachers” delivering a joke, three points, and a story.  We shouldn’t preach just to preach.  Instead, we need to preach from a position squarely in the presence of God.  The presence of God and the anointing that accompanies His presence makes the difference between just a nice message and a rhema word from God that will change the lives of the hearers, open blind eyes, heal bodies, bring deliverance to the captives, and cause miracles to occur.  Like Moses, we should not preach or do anything unless the presence of the Lord goes with us.  (Exodus 33:15).

In your own life, seek the presence of God and let it transform you.  Make a quality decision to spend time in the Word of God, being quiet before the Lord, and hearing His voice.  In your marriage, your job, your health, and every other part of your life, seek first His kingdom – and His presence – and everything you need He will supply to you.  (Matthew 6:33).   And when He supplies it, it won’t be by small degrees.  It will be exceedingly above all you can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) and according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Seek His presence, and let Him transform you!

On April 15, while taping the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast with his guest David Barton, Brother Kenneth Copeland received this word from the Lord:

This is the time that has been prophesied about, and at stake here is not only your welfare in the land, but also My move in the end times of a ‘Great Awakening,’” saith the Lord. “And it is that awakening that will save this land and others like it. For it is the time of the coming of the Lord, and you will rise up and you will be My name and you will be My power and I will manifest Myself through you, and many shall come and say, “Surely He is the God of all good.”

Sister Billye Brim had delivered a similar word a few months ago.  Both words bear witness in my spirit.

We must pray for our leaders as we are admonished to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-8.  But political leaders are not the salvation of the United States.  The Lord is the salvation of this nation.  More than anything else, we need people here and around the earth to be convicted of sin and righteousness, to be awakened to the Lord, and to turn to the Lord for salvation.

We in the body of Christ need to be praying and standing in faith for a Great Awakening!  Don’t be moved by what you see.  Pray, believe you receive, and stand in faith for this great end-time move of God!

Last Sunday, I preached on the first section of the prophetic word the Lord gave me for 2009.  “Rebirth” was the title of the message.  (You can listen to it on the “Resources” page of the church website, or on our iTunes podcast).  One of the points of the prophetic word said we should pray for the reapers and be a reaper.

When it comes to helping people be born again, we can fulfill one, two, or all three of the three roles involved:

1. We can be a pray-er (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2- pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers to the harvest).
2. We can be a sower of the word of salvation into the person’s heart.
3. We can be the reaper who leads the person to pray the prayer (or make the confession) of salvation.

During my time alone with the Lord this morning, he took me to Amos 9:13, and I got really excited:

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed. . . “  (NKJV)

What is a plowman?  He’s the guy who breaks up the ground to prepare it for the seed to be sown.  The person who is praying for the sowers and reapers is the plowman – preparing the way in the spirit realm for the Word of God to be sown and for the the person who is the object of the prayer to be reaped into the Kingdom.

The Lord is telling us through the prophet Amos that the whole process of praying, sowing the Word, and reaping souls will be tightly compressed.  Each person will be born again so fast that the reaper (the last one in the process) will catch up with the plowman (the pray-er) as the plowman is praying for the next person!  I believe this is that time!  These are those days!

That means the Body of Christ will be reaping souls left and right in 2009.  Figuratively speaking, the pray-er, the sower, and the reaper will be stumbling over one another trying to keep up with the pace of salvations.  Glory to God!

We’re already seeing it.  Riley Stephenson is the Minister of Evangelism at Eagle Mountain International Church on the grounds of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas.  Brother Riley leads teams of people into the malls, shops, and streets of Forth Worth and other cities where Brother and Sister Copeland have meetings.  The Lord used Brother Riley and his teams to pray, sow, and reap people into the Kingdom by the thousands last year, and the pace will pick up this year.

I expect to see the same thing at Abundant Life Church and throughout the Earth in 2009.  Plowmen, you’d better be praying, because the sowers and reapers are gaining on you!!

Years before Jesus was born, the Lord spoke through Isaiah the prophet about Jesus.  Here’s one of the things He said:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV).

Jesus is our Prince of Peace.  “Peace” is more than just the absence of conflict or torment.  The Hebrew word translated “peace” is “shalom.”  That word is packed full of meaning.  Here’s what Strong’s and Thayer’s concordances say about “shalom”:

Completeness, soundness, welfare, peace

a.  completeness (in number)

b.  safety, soundness (in body)

c.  welfare, health, prosperity

d.  peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment

e.  peace, friendship (of human relationships and with God, especially in covenant relationship)

f.  peace (from war)

g.  peace (as an adjective)

Jesus is everything!  In a time when the world’s economic system is plunging and whipsawing, in the kingdom of God (where we should be living), Jesus is our Prince of Prosperity.  As the world participates in the “flu season,”  and fears “drug-resistant bacteria,” Jesus is our Prince of Health.  In the midst of danger, He is our Prince of Safety.  While millions are tormented in their minds, Jesus is our Prince of Quiet, Tranquility and Contentment.

In this Christmas season, let’s remind ourselves who our Jesus is.  Let’s lay hold on all He is for us.  And let’s share Him with a scared, tormented, and struggling world, person by person.

Let’s share Jesus, our Prince of Peace!!

“Pay Attention to Me…My system is stronger than ever.”
Don’t pay attention to or make any plans based on what the media says
or what the politicians say. Stand on My Word in John 16. Pay attention to Me.
I [the Holy Spirit] will obey verses 13-15. I will show you things to come. I will
lead you through troubled times. I already have THE plan for you, and it’s very
good. Follow it. It will not only get you through, it will place you in a very high
place—a rich place—a strong place of victory.
You will have to discipline yourself and be diligent to listen to Me. All the
other voices will have a plan, a word, an idea for your future and security.
Don’t listen to Babylon’s system. It has fallen apart. My system is stronger than
ever. My kingdom is flourishing, and THE BLESSING is the place to be.
Keep your eyes on My Word. Listen to it. It will guide you and I will
perform it. Love Me. Love My people as I have loved you. Walk in it. Love never
fails, and neither does My plan.
Be very cautious to stay completely clean from covetousness. First
Timothy 6:10 must live in the forefront of your thinking. If you will do these
things and continue therein, you will come into your wealthy place. A place
lifted up. A place in Me already planned and prepared for you now. Here. Not
heaven—not yet. But it will seem like heaven right in the midst of all the
trouble, and you’ll be able to reach out to untold numbers of suffering people
with the Good News of the gospel.
I’m coming very soon. Sooner than you think. Keep your eyes on Me and
you’ll get the job done.
—Prophecy delivered by Kenneth Copeland
Oct. 19, 2008

Michael Phelps is amazing.  He’s amazing not just because he won eight gold medals at the Olympic games.  He’s amazing because of his intense focus and hard work.  His mantra was “eat, sleep, swim.”  That’s virtually all he did.  But he determined that doing everything necessary to win eight gold medals was more important than parties, television, or anything else his friends were doing.

Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is like a man who finds buried treasure in a field and sells all he has to buy the field, or like a merchant who sells all he has to buy a beautiful expensive pearl.  (Matthew 13:44-46).  Living in the fullness of the Kingdom of God always has a cost.  But Jesus also taught that every time we pay the cost, there’s a payoff – and that’s living in the fullness of the Kingdom of God.  (Mark 10:29-30).

How many of us are willing to pay the cost?  We get great teaching about the benefits of Kingdom living.  God really does want us to be healthy in our bodies, prosperous in our finances, and fulfilled in our families.  He wants us to grow daily in our fellowship with Him, to live free from sin and bondage, and to have peace in our minds.

But to enjoy Kingdom living, we have to pay the cost.  Are we willing to conform our lives to the Bible instead of trying to twist the Bible to conform to our lifestyle?  Are we willing to tithe and sow, and to forsake the world’s way of hoarding and going into debt?  Are we willing to forgive and love instead of holding grudges and taking offense?  Are we willing to spend time each day meditating on the Word of God and resting in the presence of the Lord?

Jesus told us to seek diligently the Kingdom of God, and that as a result of that diligent seeking, the Lord would supply all the stuff we need – and the desires of our hearts!  (Matthew 6:33; Psalm 37:4).  Are we willing to seek the Kingdom of God with as much fervor as Michael Phelps sought his gold medals?  If so, the payoff is huge!  It’s way bigger than Olympic medals – and it’s eternal.

Make a quality decision to pay the cost.  You’ll always be glad you did.

Television news, magazines, and newspapers are all screaming that the economy is tanking.  Reports of plant closings, layoffs, and escalating gas prices are everywhere.  Fear abounds – even in the church.

But we who believe in the Lord Jesus can abound during times like this, and be a blessing to hurting people.  How?

Sow in famine.  Look at Isaac:

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. . .  (Genesis 26:1-3 NKJV).

Egypt is a type of the world system.  Isaac was tempted to go to the world system for provision during a period of widespread lack.  The Lord told him not to do it.  “Stay in the Kingdom of God system and I’ll bless you,” He essentially said.

So what did Isaac do?  He sowed when everyone around him was hording seed!!

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.  (Genesis 26:12-14 NKJV).

A Christian who participates in the world system will stop tithing and sowing in times of lack.  That’s a big mistake.  In times of widespread lack, we who seek first the Kingdom of God need to keep tithing.  We need to keep sowing our financial seed.  We must pray and find what ministries the Lord wants us to support, and sow our seed.  We need to be led about what people He wants us to give to, and sow our seed (maybe by buying someone a tank of gas).  Then we need to water our seed with thanksgiving and praise.  Even in the midst of famine, we’ll reap a hundredfold and become very prosperous!!

So in a time of lack – sow!!  And give the Lord all the glory when He prospers you!