THE YEAR OF BREAKTHROUGH TO VICTORY
In this first blog for 2012, I want to share a prophetic article that was published on the Elijah List Email on December 8, 2011. I feel that it really speaks to where WME is right now, especially in relationship to the Honduras Church Planting Movement project. In 2011, I felt strongly that we should call the theme for the year, The Year of Moving Forward. In fact, “Moving Forward” was the theme for our Missions conference at Oasis Christian Center in Paducah, KY last April. And it really was a year of moving forward, and indeed the work “Breakthrough” really applies, because in this year the breakthrough to a beginning Church Planting Movement happened. At the beginning of the year we had results of nearly160 Discovery Bible Studies, but now 12 months later there are 159 churches and another 85 ongoing DBS groups. A year ago we were impacting perhaps 2,500-3,000 people, but today the churches and DBS groups may be impacting around 6,500 people. It was a “Moving Forward” and “Breakthrough” year for sure!
As WME looks to this new year, we are expecting the CPM to continue and new CPMs to begin in Honduras and Central America. We are planning a major training for several denominations in La Ceiba, Honduras during February 16-19. We are planning on giving assistance to new trainings for pastors and leaders for the new churches that have already been planted. We have been invited to return to Oasis Christian Center for another Missions conference April 13-15. The theme this year will be, “Taking Back The Fight”. Our prayer for this year is that 2012 will move beyond the Breakthrough that has been experienced in 2011, into God’s Victory for Honduras, Central America, and the World!
“Lord, Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven!”
As you read Arleen’s word, you may feel that this is a word for your and/or your ministry as well. Arleen Westerhof is from the Netherlands in Europe. She is the founder and facilitator of the Netherlands Prophetic Council and is the co-senior pastor of the church God's Embassy Amsterdam together with her husband Dick.
Arleen Westerhof: Advance from Breakthrough into Victory
Isaiah 61:3b-4 They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
As we get ready to move into 2012 it's already clear that it's going to be an important year for the Church. God, through His Holy Spirit, is saying: "SHIFT! The new is here. The season of the outpouring of My Spirit has begun. The prophets have been prophesying this for many years, and, ready or not, it's here.
The Clouds Part and Clarity Comes
The past five to seven years have been a very uncomfortable time for many churches and individual Believers. The ground under our feet has shifted, and we have struggled to discern the new thing that God is doing. In 2012 the fog is going to clear. Believers will find themselves at the edge of the wilderness looking out over the Promised Land. It will be a time of great joy and celebration as we realize that the time of our wilderness wandering is over. Many will receive new strategies from Heaven as God lets them see how they are called to take the land.
Isaiah 48:3, 5a I foretold the former things long ago, My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass...Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you.
Relational Shifts
Relational allegiances, some of them long-standing, will shift as people move out of places with an inward-looking orientation to places with a Kingdom emphasis. This will be a deliverance for many. There will be an acceleration in relationships cutting across network and denominational lines as more and more people choose to resolve their conflicts and misunderstandings for the sake of the Kingdom.
Fear
Fear of change, however, will paralyze many. Having tasted, they will make the opposite shift, preferring the wilderness to the new and often unknown challenges of moving into and taking the land. We cannot, however, afford to choose this option. The revival we've waited for has started and going back into the wilderness will only result in it passing us by – yet again.There are giants in the land that need to be driven out.
Deuteronomy 9:1-3 "Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall – Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" But be assured today that the LORD your God is the One who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you."God is raising up those with the spirit of Joshua and Caleb.
Numbers 14:7-9 ..."The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
Deuteronomy 1:35, 36 "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."
Picnicking on the Border
This will happen because many of us have not yet realized that breakthrough (revival) is not the victory. Breakthrough is a position from which we advance on toward the victory (reformation and transformation).In January 2010, during a period when our church was fasting and praying for 40 days, the Lord gave me a vision. In this vision I saw many Believers standing on the border between the wilderness and the Promised Land. They were celebrating. They had made it through the wilderness and were ecstatic. They worshipped and they praised God. Signs and wonders were prevalent. They spent time admiring the Promised Land from the border and talking about how wonderful life would be now that they had reached it.I was surprised, however, when the Lord let me see the situation on the border several years later. Memorials had been built on the border to commemorate the great work of God, in addition to many churches. Some of these were thriving. The people, however, were still on the border.In the end, a whole generation lived and died on the border without ever entering the land which still lay before them. They had confused breakthrough with victory and had failed to occupy the land. This is a caution to us all in the new season that we're in.
Move Forward to Victory!
God is saying to the Church – "It's time to cross over the border and move forward from breakthrough into victory." Several years ago Ana Mendez came to Amsterdam to do spiritual warfare against the spirit of prostitution. Within six months the places where the prostitutes work started shutting down. A year later Ana was back. As we talked she emphasized the need for Believers to buy up these places so that they could never again be used for prostitution.In order to occupy we're going to need money. While some may continue to receive anonymous envelopes with cash in answer to their prayers, the cloud has shifted. 2012 will be year in which God will re-emphasize the truth of Deuteronomy 8:18: "But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today."Great wealth will start to be transferred into the hands of Kingdom-minded Believers whom God has prepared for this task. In the past there have been enough scandals involving high profile Believers who have fallen prey to Mammon. This time, however, things will be different. Only those who have defeated this giant in their own lives will be entrusted with these finances at this level.
A New Breed – The Priest-King
Even in the current Kingdom paradigm we still make a distinction between those with a kingly anointing and those with a priestly (full-time ministry) anointing, between those who are called to pray and those who are called to go and to do. This dividing line will be blown to bits as God raises up a new breed – the Priest Kings. They will be those called to both pray and to do.Apostles and prophets will be raised up who have the wisdom, strategy and grace to mentor and disciple people who can lead corporations as CEO's, entrepreneurs, heads of communities, states and even nations. Apostles and prophets will not just plant and build churches, but they will have the structures for managing and rebuilding ruined cities and nations. Prophets will serve in government, helping to structure the educational policy of nations, etc.2012 will mark the beginning of the Church's finest hour. While the world sinks into panic as the economic crisis worsens globally and great societal unrest is unleashed, the Church, with the new breed of Priest-King in place, will shine and finally be able to walk in the Kingdom authority and power that God has always intended.
As WME looks to this new year, we are expecting the CPM to continue and new CPMs to begin in Honduras and Central America. We are planning a major training for several denominations in La Ceiba, Honduras during February 16-19. We are planning on giving assistance to new trainings for pastors and leaders for the new churches that have already been planted. We have been invited to return to Oasis Christian Center for another Missions conference April 13-15. The theme this year will be, “Taking Back The Fight”. Our prayer for this year is that 2012 will move beyond the Breakthrough that has been experienced in 2011, into God’s Victory for Honduras, Central America, and the World!
“Lord, Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven!”
As you read Arleen’s word, you may feel that this is a word for your and/or your ministry as well. Arleen Westerhof is from the Netherlands in Europe. She is the founder and facilitator of the Netherlands Prophetic Council and is the co-senior pastor of the church God's Embassy Amsterdam together with her husband Dick.
Arleen Westerhof: Advance from Breakthrough into Victory
Isaiah 61:3b-4 They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
As we get ready to move into 2012 it's already clear that it's going to be an important year for the Church. God, through His Holy Spirit, is saying: "SHIFT! The new is here. The season of the outpouring of My Spirit has begun. The prophets have been prophesying this for many years, and, ready or not, it's here.
The Clouds Part and Clarity Comes
The past five to seven years have been a very uncomfortable time for many churches and individual Believers. The ground under our feet has shifted, and we have struggled to discern the new thing that God is doing. In 2012 the fog is going to clear. Believers will find themselves at the edge of the wilderness looking out over the Promised Land. It will be a time of great joy and celebration as we realize that the time of our wilderness wandering is over. Many will receive new strategies from Heaven as God lets them see how they are called to take the land.
Isaiah 48:3, 5a I foretold the former things long ago, My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass...Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you.
Relational Shifts
Relational allegiances, some of them long-standing, will shift as people move out of places with an inward-looking orientation to places with a Kingdom emphasis. This will be a deliverance for many. There will be an acceleration in relationships cutting across network and denominational lines as more and more people choose to resolve their conflicts and misunderstandings for the sake of the Kingdom.
Fear
Fear of change, however, will paralyze many. Having tasted, they will make the opposite shift, preferring the wilderness to the new and often unknown challenges of moving into and taking the land. We cannot, however, afford to choose this option. The revival we've waited for has started and going back into the wilderness will only result in it passing us by – yet again.There are giants in the land that need to be driven out.
Deuteronomy 9:1-3 "Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall – Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" But be assured today that the LORD your God is the One who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you."God is raising up those with the spirit of Joshua and Caleb.
Numbers 14:7-9 ..."The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
Deuteronomy 1:35, 36 "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."
Picnicking on the Border
This will happen because many of us have not yet realized that breakthrough (revival) is not the victory. Breakthrough is a position from which we advance on toward the victory (reformation and transformation).In January 2010, during a period when our church was fasting and praying for 40 days, the Lord gave me a vision. In this vision I saw many Believers standing on the border between the wilderness and the Promised Land. They were celebrating. They had made it through the wilderness and were ecstatic. They worshipped and they praised God. Signs and wonders were prevalent. They spent time admiring the Promised Land from the border and talking about how wonderful life would be now that they had reached it.I was surprised, however, when the Lord let me see the situation on the border several years later. Memorials had been built on the border to commemorate the great work of God, in addition to many churches. Some of these were thriving. The people, however, were still on the border.In the end, a whole generation lived and died on the border without ever entering the land which still lay before them. They had confused breakthrough with victory and had failed to occupy the land. This is a caution to us all in the new season that we're in.
Move Forward to Victory!
God is saying to the Church – "It's time to cross over the border and move forward from breakthrough into victory." Several years ago Ana Mendez came to Amsterdam to do spiritual warfare against the spirit of prostitution. Within six months the places where the prostitutes work started shutting down. A year later Ana was back. As we talked she emphasized the need for Believers to buy up these places so that they could never again be used for prostitution.In order to occupy we're going to need money. While some may continue to receive anonymous envelopes with cash in answer to their prayers, the cloud has shifted. 2012 will be year in which God will re-emphasize the truth of Deuteronomy 8:18: "But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today."Great wealth will start to be transferred into the hands of Kingdom-minded Believers whom God has prepared for this task. In the past there have been enough scandals involving high profile Believers who have fallen prey to Mammon. This time, however, things will be different. Only those who have defeated this giant in their own lives will be entrusted with these finances at this level.
A New Breed – The Priest-King
Even in the current Kingdom paradigm we still make a distinction between those with a kingly anointing and those with a priestly (full-time ministry) anointing, between those who are called to pray and those who are called to go and to do. This dividing line will be blown to bits as God raises up a new breed – the Priest Kings. They will be those called to both pray and to do.Apostles and prophets will be raised up who have the wisdom, strategy and grace to mentor and disciple people who can lead corporations as CEO's, entrepreneurs, heads of communities, states and even nations. Apostles and prophets will not just plant and build churches, but they will have the structures for managing and rebuilding ruined cities and nations. Prophets will serve in government, helping to structure the educational policy of nations, etc.2012 will mark the beginning of the Church's finest hour. While the world sinks into panic as the economic crisis worsens globally and great societal unrest is unleashed, the Church, with the new breed of Priest-King in place, will shine and finally be able to walk in the Kingdom authority and power that God has always intended.
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