“YOU HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE”

For some the Lord is saying for 2016 that “you have come full circle” and are back where you started your ministry. Not that you must repeat all that you have gone through but rather that He is calling you to re-experience the stages you have gone through with the maturity that you now possess. Now why would the Lord say such a thing? You see as we begin anew we will carry all that we have learned from the past and bring it with us as we re-experience the stages of our Christian growth. Have you ever said, “I wish I could go back and re-do some things with the experience I have now”? Well that is exactly what I am hearing the Lord say.

For some 2016 will be like a second chance to get things right that you messed up before or you did not get as much out of it as you should have.  For me this began a few months ago as I began to share with the Church that I felt like I had been “born again.”  What a strange thing to say after 45 years of ministry. I could tell the Church was having a hard time understanding what was going on. Still I began to experience the joy, excitement, innocence and expectancy that was so present when I was born again in January of 1970.  I became hungry to learn and grow in Christ. I woke up every day with an excitement I could hardly contain.

Is it not true that many have lost the innocence of their first years with the Lord? Others have lost the joy and excitement of serving Him. Still others have allowed skepticism and disappointment to rob them of their destiny. I have heard the Lord say that 2016 is the year of the “full circle” for those who will receive it. A complete new beginning. I am especially reminded of the Prodigal son as a model of 2016! Although he had wasted his inheritance when he decided to start over from the bottom he was given the best robe in the house, new shoes and the signet ring of the Father.

What will it take to walk in what the Lord is saying for 2016? First it will mean that you and I will have to become like “little children again”.

Matt 18:3-5

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

NKJV

 

Humility, teachable, excited and full of wonder is what the Lord is calling us to re-experience.

Then the Lord spoke to my heart saying “Son I want you to re-visit all of the dreams and visions you have had over the past 45 years because you have grown so much since you had them and you will receive revelation that you missed back then. I cannot tell you what this has meant to me. Before we revisit the word for 2015 I would like you to read a Prophetic word that was recently given us. I believe you will be greatly blessed and will come to understand what 2016 can mean to you and those you love.

The Father says today that My promises are timeless in your life. There is no expiration date on My goodness. You have not passed up your opportunity, there is still time, because I am the God of time and happenstance. Because I have time says the Father, you have time. You are not running out of time because I cause you in My kingdom to walk in fullness of time. Every step forward is a step into My timeless bounty says the Father. Relax. Breathe Refuse to hurry. Refuse the lie that there is no more time. I am with you. As I made the sun dial go backward so I can turn back the clock in your situation and cause you to be on time, on target and on budget in every area of your need.

Keep trusting says the Father for you are walking in My Kairos timing. There will come new confirmations even this day of former promises that you thought perhaps had gone state. My Spirit does not ever go stale; therefore the words breathed by My Spirit never molder or cease to give life and blessing. Dust off those words says the Father. Even those promises from years gone by and I will breathe new life and new possibility into them and cause the words of former days gone by to become life and breath for you now in your current situation. It’s OK says the Father – you have My permission. I give you leave to lay hold again on every promise I have given you and expect it to produce and be viable toward breakthrough and blessing even this day.

Be Blessed

More To Follow

Apostle Robert D. Rogers

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Three Reasons Why The Apostles and Prophets Are Not Fully Functioning As They Should

       When the offices of Apostle and Prophet are fully functioning in the Church as Jesus intended them to, the great end time revival will sweep the earth with unprecedented power and glory. The reason that I say this is because the primary purpose of these two offices is to lay the only foundation that the Church can stand upon and that foundation is Jesus Christ. Indeed there are two things that will continue to increase until the tribulation arrives. First, an ever increasing revelation of our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and second, an ever increasing revelation of the Antichrist. 

Ephesians 2:20

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 

          If the foundation of the Church is not built upon the ministries of the Apostle and Prophet as the word declares, then it is no wonder we cannot build the Church into the powerful and blessed work she is called to be. It is the primary responsibility of Apostles and Prophets to reveal the exalted Christ in His glory, nature, and character. When the full revelation of Jesus Christ is made manifest, all men will be drawn unto Him. Each of the five-fold ministries are able to reveal Christ in the nature and character of their office. For instance, the Pastor will primarily make known the Lord Jesus Christ as the great Shepherd, the Evangelist as the great Savior, the Teacher as Jesus the great Rabbi, that is  the great Teacher. The Apostle and Prophet make Christ known primarily in His authority and power, wisdom, and love. Dear one, we will need to walk in this authority and power in these last days if we are to overcome the increasing wickedness and manifestation of the evil one. 

          Many have grieved at the loss of children to the influences of this world. One of the things that secular society has offered the young people is a proliferation of super heroes and of the supernatural. This constant flow of these seemingly super men and women have supplied the hunger of this generation for the supernatural. I believe this is the pattern that the enemy has used over the generations to circumvent the coming moves of God. Yet does not the Lord say that, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, I will raise up a standard against him”? That standard will be the Apostles and Prophets who flow in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. Seeing this, our enemy has done everything he can to discredit these ministry gifts of Jesus Christ to His Church! As the Apostles and Prophets flow in these powerful truths, it will release the other three five-fold ministries into the fullness of their anointing. 

Ephesians 411-15

11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers 

12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 

13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 

14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

 15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 

          Why then has the restoration of  the offices of Apostle and Prophet failed to impact the Church as they should? I see that there are at least three reasons why this is so. 

          The first and most prevalent reason is the existence and functioning of a religious spirit. The religious spirit seeks to pre-empt any new move of God by stubbornly and rebelliously resisting what our great God is doing through religious sounding oppositions. 

          The second is the lack of maturity in the present day Apostles and Prophets. This has resulted in many rejecting the restoration of these ministries that the Lord has purposed for these end times. 

          And thirdly, the Apostles and Prophets are not moving in the degree of “signs and wonders” their offices require. When the Apostles and Prophets are fully flowing in the area of signs and wonders, they will be quickly sought after in the local churches. Still, unless those flowing in signs and wonders are walking in the full maturity of the character and nature of Jesus Christ, their impact will be very limited. This of course is true of every believer as well as the five-fold ministers. 

          Let us deal first with the religious spirit that seeks to thwart every true move of God and render it powerless to accomplish its purposes. The reason this spirit is so effective is because it masquerades as the true function of that which is concerned with the things of God. The religious spirit loves good preaching, singing, and teaching as long as there is limited or no power associated with these biblical functions. The religious spirit loves good works and busy work, and looks down on those whose primary calling is to “wait upon the Lord.” Those with the religious spirit like Martha will miss the true visitation of the Lord because they are busy doing religious things. 

Luke 10:40-42 

40  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 

41  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 

42  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 

          Notice with me that Martha possessed three characteristics that seem to dominate many of today’s churches. She was filled with worry and troubled about many things. Is it not true that we too reflect the nature of Martha? When we meet and talk about the things of God does not worry and the troubling things that are going on in the church and our lives dominate most of our conversation and talk? Do we not find that after such “spiritual talk” that we are drained and weary? Whenever we find the spirit of frustration has engulfed our counsels and strategy gatherings, we should discern that this is often the work of a “religious spirit” that then begins to point out what we discern as a lack of someone else being involved in what we are doing. 

          When the scriptures say, that Martha “was cumbered about many things” it refers to the process of “dragging something heavy all about.” How often have we felt that way at the end of the day. We have dragged about some heavy weight of concern all day long and often blamed someone else for the problem. 

          How then should we handle these things? First, we should recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ has come to our door and is patiently waiting to be invited in so that He can have a wonderful talk with us and reveal His plans. 

Rev 3:20 

  20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

John 15:15  

 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 

          The religious spirit is prideful of what it presently has and has no desire to receive what the Lord is restoring to His Church. The religious spirit boasts of its history and past with no insight or desire for truths the Holy Spirit is restoring. That is why the previous move of God that has often become a denomination rejects the next truth the Holy Spirit is restoring. The religious spirit often hides itself in some of the hardest working people in the church. Even as Martha was yet willing to challenge even the Lord Jesus, and demand that He make Mary cease to wait on the Lord and join her in her religious work! 

          Many of us in the five-fold ministry are often deceived by this very spirit and are “distracted” by the amount of work that needs to be done instead of waiting on the Lord in sweet fellowship and then receiving His strength and direction. 

          Here are some of the characteristics of the religious spirit that Rick Joyner lists. Let us examine ourselves to see if this spirit has found a way to worm itself into our thinking and actions. 

The Religious Spirit will appeal to self-worth, self-esteem, self-actualization, self, self, self – New Age ideas Symptoms (Rick Joyner, Robert Heidler)

1.     See primary goal as tearing down what they believe is wrong – see what’s wrong, not what’s right – legalism

2.     Unable to accept a rebuke from those “less spiritual”–“listen to God, not people”

3.     Overwhelming feeling of guilt that can’t live up to the Lord’s standards — perfectionism

4.     Leadership style that is bossy, overbearing, intolerant of weakness/failures of others

5.     See themselves as closer to God than others

6.      Take pride in their “spiritual maturity”– believe they are on the “cutting edge” of what God is doing

7.     Have a mechanical prayer life

8.     Glory more in what God has done in the past than what He is doing in the present — tradition

9.      Suspicious of new movements, except if it’s their own 

10.  Tend to view all supernatural manifestations as evidence of God’s handiwork and approval

11.  need to figure things out, intellectualize the spiritual, explain God, instead of serving Him

12.  Independent, self-sufficient 

          To be set free from any deception the enemy may have sought to impose upon us is quite a simple matter if we choose to walk in humility and pray for a renewed mind. It is pride and stubbornness that gives this spirit authority to deceive and oppress us. So let us simply pray this prayer together: 

          Heavenly Father, I thank you for the dear and precious Holy Spirit who has come to expose the lies of the enemy. I reject, renounce, and bind the religious spirit that has sought to function in my life. I repent for allowing myself to drag around the weights as Martha did. I repent of worry and depression which are marks of the religious spirit. I confess your yoke is easy, and your burden is light. When I find myself weary and distracted, I will now recognize the presence of this spirit and resist it and it will flee from me. For I rest in your peace and trust in your sufficiency. I repent for failing to love the Apostles and Prophets as you love them and cry out for their full and complete restoration.

 

MORE TO FOLLOW 

Apostle Robert Rogers

www.onemillionvoice.org

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The Two Most Important Revelations I have Received

            INTRO. The Lord has graced me with many wonderful revelations. Each one, when properly examined  and tried by the Word of God have blessed me and others beyond my ability to express. Yet, there are two revelations that I know that have such power and depth that no matter how long I meditate, worship, and study I will never exhaust their power to bless and  reveal. The reason for that is that they are both about the Lord himself. The first revelation was an invitation to know His heart and the second was an invitation to know His power, authority, and wisdom.  In truth, these words from the Lord have been an invitation to experience the Baptism of Love that we have prayed for and preached and taught for the last ten years. For the longest time I thought that the Baptism of Love would be the final  experience that will bring the Church into its full maturity. Yet, I have come to know that we cannot know the Lord in the fullness of His love without knowing Him in the fullness of His power, wisdom, and authority. When these two revelations are grasped and walked out, the Church will begin to usher in the last great move of God and will gather the wonderful end-time harvest.

            I am not sure when I first learned about the three baptisms as foreshadowed in the Old Testament Tabernacle, but I can still remember the extreme joy and excitement  I experienced as these truths unfolded. The outer court of the Tabernacle, representing “Water Baptism”, the inner court, representing “Holy Spirit Baptism” and what we have yet to experience corporately, the Holy of Holies call to “the Baptism of Love”. Each of the previous  truths when restored to the Church have brought world wide revival. Oh! the joy and blessing that results when the Lord restores a truth that sweeps each continent. Ever growing with both power and speed as it empowers and conquers our hearts. Most who are reading these pages have experienced to some degree the Holy Spirit Baptism with its accompanying power and joy. Jesus said it best with these words.

Acts 1:8

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

            Indeed, when the Holy Spirit began to be poured out in great measure at the turn of the 20th century, a true world wide move of God was introduced into the earth. The power of that truth is still transforming nations. Yet, in spite of all of this, many would agree that the Church must experience a fresh and powerful motivational truth that will move us to use the glorious anointing in far greater measure than we are presently walking in. The truth is that even the great pentecostal denominations and movements that resulted in the restoration of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit have become so bogged down with the machinery of ministry that any real power to fulfill their calling and destiny is lost in the ecclesiastical tradition. A few years back I was attending the installation of the man who would lead the second largest pentecostal denomination in the world and the Lord gave me this dream the night before he was sworn in.

IN THE DREAM – I saw this man of short stature drop below the surface of the earth to what looked like a vast factory of gears, wheels, and machinery. As he was dropped into this factory, he could see that it reached to such vast proportions that it touched nearly every nation of the world. As his feet hit the floor, he became aware that the giant gears and wheels were slowly grinding to a halt. He then put his shoulder to one of the great gears (the gears were truly massive) and he pushed  with all of his strength. As a result, the main gear that his shoulder was against began to move. Since this gear was attached to all of the other machinery the rest began to move a little faster also. Yet, there was a strange thing happening. Where this great leader was using all of his strength to keep the machinery moving, the result was the further away each gear, wheel, and machine was from him therewas an ever-increasing crashing  and jarring shock. The result was that by the time his Herculean efforts were absorbed down the line a violent chain reaction was creating great damage to the rest of the machinery.

Where the leader worked, it seemed like a smooth operation and his efforts had kept this great machine from totally stopping. He had no way of knowing what was going on down the line, because where he was the gears and wheels were tightly meshed together. Yet, in reality the whole process was shaking so violently it looked like it would not survive.

            In truth this denomination was using almost all of the oil and grease it produced just to keep its own machinery running and there was very little left to produce a product that could bless the world. Yet, this is not only characteristic of many movements and denominations, but also of many churches and most Christian lives. As I was meditating on these things, I felt the Lord say to me, “The Church has had two thousand years to mix its traditions, ideas, reasonings, and plans into my pure purpose, and like Abraham has produced countless Ishmaels that are taking all their energy, time, and money to preserve.” I have come to call “Ishmaels” the seemingly good ideas we have introduced to accomplish the Lord’s purposes. Dear ones, good ideas are killing the vitality of the Church. We are not called to minister or serve because of good ideas, we are called to be supernaturally empowered to do the work of the Lord. Many building programs and ministry ideas that were birthed by the Holy Spirit were implemented and funded by Ishmael ideas. The result is always that more pressure and manipulation are employed to keep things moving. Indeed, the pressure and manipulation are now so great the Church is groaning under the weight.

Matthew 15:6 KJV

Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

            If you find that most of your Christian energy and prayers are being used to try to keep something running perhaps we need to ask ourselves if these are not the result of a good idea that ended up being an Ishmael. Isn’t it interesting that the descendants of Ishmael now control most of the oil industry, and we are having to invest ever increasing measures or resources to keep our machines running? In truth the Church was never meant to run on this kind of oil but rather the pure oil of the Holy Spirit anointing. This Oil costs us nothing in terms of money, but everything in terms of love and commitment. Dear one, there is no shortage of this Holy Spirit Oil and it flows to all and in all who know its value and are willing to wait on its outpouring.

Isaiah 55:1-2

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not?

            One of the most powerful purposes the Lord has for giving dreams and visions to His church in the last days is to deliver us from our religious thinking. The Apostle Peter had found that he was seriously handicapped by religious thinking when he went on top of his house to pray and fast. His heart was right but his head was wrong. The Lord wanted to communicate that His grace was to be extended to the Gentiles but Peter was unable to clear his mind of the false filters the Jewish traditions had trapped him in. The Lord therefore sent him a vision to break the “stronghold” that Satan had on this great man of God. You may think that the word “stronghold” is too strong a word to use for the place Peter found himself in. Yet, let us remember it had not been too long since the Lord had to say to this great Apostle.

 Matthew 16:22

 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

            As pure as the Apostle’s heart was, his thinking was wrong. If religious thinking and prejudice could create a stronghold in this great man of God, could it not hide one in us? Is it possible that our hearts are pure but our thinking is hindering the work of God? Following you will see a revelation that the Lord granted me that has begun to profoundly change my life and ministry. As a result of this vision, I have become very suspicious of some of the thoughts I have allowed and especially of so-called good ideas. Here is the first revelation

    THE FALSE FILTERS – In this vision I was experiencing Rev. 3:20 – I went over and opened the door to my heart and I saw the Lord standing there with an old wooden bucket in His hand. He came over and placed the bucket on my table. I looked into the bucket and it had was filled with crystal clear water that reached within two or three inches from the top. The Lord then put His hands into the bucket and scooped out tens of thousands of Zebra mussels and put them into my hands. I wondered what I should do with them and then I thought if the Lord was removing them from my bucket they must be worthless and so I discarded them. The Lord smiled and then began to dip His hands into the bucket and withdrew them many times. Each time His hands were filled with these Zebra mussels and each time I would discard them. This vision ended and the next day a second vision picked up where that one left off. Again the Lord came in and placed the bucket of pure water on the table – before I share more on this second vision let’s examine the first one.

            I don’t know if you know what a Zebra mussel is, but I live in Michigan and they have become an enormous problem here. They block the intake valves that our fresh water system draws out of the Great Lakes. I have found that the Lord often gives a Revelation that requires me not only to wait on Him for the revelation but also for me to do research to figure out. There is a great verse that all who God gives revelation in dreams and visions to should fully know and understand. Here it is –

Proverbs 25:2

2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

            As I searched out the what the meaning of the Zebra mussels were in the vision, I found understanding being released deep into my being. Zebra mussels were introduced into Lake Michigan through the discharge of ballast water of foreign ships and since they have no natural predators in Lake Michigan they have bred at such an astonishing rate they are creating havoc throughout the Lake Michigan ecosystem. Yet, you would  probably never guess why. The fact that they have no natural predators and therefore multiply at a dangerous rate is not the only problem. Zebra mussels filter water to such an extent that all of the nutrients in the water are lost. This super purified water cannot support the life that the fish need to exist. If left unchecked this can create a sterile lake.

            As I sought the Lord about this vision He began to tell me that many of our so-called good thoughts, ideas, and reasonings have so filtered His Word that the power and life have been taken out of His Word. We all know that negative, critical, and judgmental thinking does great damage to the Kingdom but how many of us have thought that many of our ideas and reasonings are doing far more damage? They are doing so because we do not know how to examine the difference between good ideas and Spirit-led truth. In truth we are partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The result of the partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that we far too often offer our opinions, ideas, and reasonings without knowing we are suggesting that others eat of the tree of the same tree. Do you know the difference?

MORE TO FOLLOW………….

Apostle Robert Rogers

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