INTIMACY WITH GOD

JOURNAL

FEBRUARY 2009

              Mike and Linda Schreurs

                           New wineskins!

   The above photo was taken last month while Mike and I took a much needed rest to Carmel, California.  We realized it had been over 20 years since we had actually gone away by ourselves, for ourselves!  Our vacations have always included others, but this trip was truly distinct in a number of ways. 

   One of those distinctions was the location of which this photo was taken.   We had gone to a particular restaurant several times, having discovered it the first day we arrived.  Taking note of our affection for this spot and saying how we intended to return again, the hostess wanted to personalize our visit by offering to show us their wine cellar.   We thought it would be interesting.   It was! 

   She spoke of varieties and vintages from local vineyards and those around the world.  We were then shown where the most expensive wines were stored.  They were locked behind gated, iron bars.  Only the owner has the key, as they cost thousands of dollars per bottle!

   So what does this have to do with you and I?  Lots!

   We felt this was a prophetic moment.  The Lord is indeed looking for new wineskins according to His own Breath:  “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2:22; my emphasis)   Our Divine Lover is searching for vibrant souls who are wildly on fire, increasing in their desperation and passion for Him.   

   If we do not enter into His fresh, spiritual wine, we may be putting ourselves in jeopardy.   This is a fact as stated by His own words in the above scripture.

   Saints, it’s time to be careful, very careful.  The Lord seeks for those who are willing to move beyond their yesterdays, whether they were good or bad.  We must move onward and upward taking hold of more of His Living Bread, Living Water, fresh oil, fresh wine!  Our holy assignment is to ascend into ever increasing intensity of His magnificent glory!  But are we?  (2 Cor. 3:18)

Come up!

   The Lord is protective of His own wineskins saying in Isaiah 27:2-3, “In that day, A vineyard of wine, sing of it!  I the Lord, am its keeper; I water it every moment, lest anyone damage it, I guard it night and day.”  Revelation 6:6d speaks similarly, “...and do not harm the oil and the wine.”  (See also Rev. 7:3;9:4)

   Come up from the cellar!  Come up into the new!  Technology is changing faster than we are!  You can hardly keep up with it these days.   Our Lord’s desire is for us to move upward so we can fulfill the entirety of our divine destiny in Him before His Second Coming.   We’ve got the invitation to ascend higher by entering the door of vibrant, vital, fresh revelation and experiences in the Lord through Revelation 4:1.   Let’s do it! 

   Let’s arise from our old ways.  They may have worked for a season, but it’s a new day!  Who wants day old bread or crusty, moldy bread?  Who wants old stuff?  Who wants sour wine?  

Sour wine

   Jesus drank sour wine for us!  He did so that we might drink the new, fresh, holy wine of His abiding Presence.  O taste and see that He indeed is good, O so good!  (Ps. 34:8)   He gave His life blood for us.  John 19:30 says: “When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” 

Aged to perfection

   Most of us are well aware of the world’s refined, aged wine which is very costly as Mike and I saw in that wine cellar in Carmel, California.   Jesus paid the ultimate price for humanity on Calvary’s Cross.   All who accept His costly Redemption, will live forevermore with Him in unabashed ecstasy of heavenly delights!   The world’s refined aged wine has passed the test of time and deemed ‘aged to perfection’ and is extremely valuable.  But have we passed the test of time?  Have we truly learned our lessons well?   Or are we grumping and groaning our way through life because of every trial we go through? 

   Taste the Lord’s holy wine.  Partake of His sacrifice commemorated in Holy Communion.   Its perfection personified! 

   When we saw the most expensive wines locked behind iron gates, I thought of how the Lord’s precious blood breaks all bondages!  “And when He had taken a cup, and given thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”  (Mark 14:22)  We are set free from sin, sickness and all manner of harassment from the vile enemy.   Psalm 45 affirms it this way:  “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.  And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel who calls you by your name.”  Listen!  The Lord is calling your name!

Maturity

   We need to mature.   Let the new wineskins respect and honor the old because they paid a price making way for where we are now.   Let the old wineskins marry the new.   Is this not what Elijah did with Elisha, Paul with Timothy, Elizabeth and Zacharias with Mary and Joseph?  Let the old and the young, the men, women, and children, black and white, rich and poor… educated and uneducated – all believers in Jesus, from every tribe, tongue and nation, begin to merge and converge into one powerful stream of Living Water for ‘a time such as this!’  We’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses!  (Heb. 12:1)  What power and exhilaration!

   There is a door, a bright and brilliant, holy door being opened for this generation to walk through.  It’s the door of Ezekiel 47!  Epic tidal waves from the Threshold of God are coming!  Jesus is coming back for His beautiful Bride.   She will be the one  thirsting incessantly for His Presence each and every day, not just on Sundays, or Bible Studies or conferences.  She will be the soul filled with fresh, fiery passion for the lover of her soul.  She’ll be a new wineskin.  “And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged, wine.” (Isa. 25:6) 

   Our Lord paid the ultimate price for us that we would not languish in any kind of bondages or sorrows.  His desire is that we enter the new wineskin of the Banquet of His Eternal Love.  The following verse is laden with holy expectation: “May He kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. {His Word} For your love is better than wine.  He has brought me to His banquet hall and His banner over me is love.”  (Song of Songs 1:2; 2:4;Deut. 30:14) 

   Our Lord’s love is the best wine of all!  Rejoice and celebrate your upward call in Him!

   A MOUNT CARMEL MOMENT

   I love how the Lord uses everything in our lives, whether great, small, good, bad or ugly.  Nothing is wasted when we’re  surrendered to His will and to His ways.   

   Are you totally surrendered?  If not, perhaps this could be the reason you may be experiencing anxiety, strife and turmoil in your life.  This may be the cause for your lack of peace in the midst of your storms.   Allow the Prince of Peace to reign over you.  You’ve got to understand, Jesus makes all things new!  Every day is a new day brimming with fresh, vibrant potential for amazing things to occur in your life that will attest to the power of God within.  (Gen. 50:20; Rev. 21:5)  Every movement of our lives is significant in the Lord’s book.  It’s all being recorded you know!   (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20:12)

The prophetic word for our times!

   The trip to Carmel, California that Mike and I took last month became overwhelmingly full of prophetic revelations.  The first and foremost thing was the name of the town.  Here we were,  at a hotel called the ‘Highlands’ located at Carmel-by-the-Sea.  We were on our own mountain top enjoying all God was beginning to unfold before us.

   We realized the timing of this particular trip came on the heels of the ending of one year and the beginning of another.  One of the things we began to ponder was the message of Lou Engle (of The Call) at the One Thing Conference in Kansas City on 12-30-08.  He said, “We’re at a Mt. Carmel moment for each one of us!”  His whole text was on I Kings 18.

   This chapter of Kings gives the account of the prophet Elijah confronting God’s people as to why they continued to “hesitate {waver} between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’  But the people did not answer him a word.”  (Vs. 21)  This is it!  This is the prophetic word for our day, for this hour of humanity in which we now live.

   Sadly, in today’s society, far too many of God’s people do not answer a word.  They are afraid to speak up for their Savior who gave His life for them.  They’re too timid, lukewarm, weak minded, unwilling to confront the Baals of our day.  Rather than standing up for God’s righteousness and covenantal promise, they cower wanting to be politically correct rather than face the scorn of men.  These wishy, washy souls have a greater fear of man than of God who gave them the very breath of which they speak against Him.  They ride the fence of public opinion rather than stand firm on the divine, holy, eternal Word of God.  A day of judgment is coming!  

Don’t be the tail!

   One cannot ride the coattails of the world for long and not be held accountable.  God’s people are called to be the head, not the tail.  “And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail, and you only shall be above and you shall not be underneath if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully.”  (Duet. 28:13, my emphasis) 

   Our calling is to lead the way, not follow the ways of the world.   Our divine commission is to show people the way, the truth and the life in our Lord Jesus.       

   Let’s not forget the Lord of lords and King of kings sees all things.  He knows whose are His and those who are betrayers of His Word.

   The most significant of these ungodly, demonic, tainted compromises is the world’s attempt to redefine marriage and the agenda of abortion.  God Word is clear.   You must read and know it for yourself.  Indeed, His Word IS THE FINAL WORD on these matters.  There can be no compromising that fact.

Playing with fire

   Mankind is beginning to play with fire.  The old adage is true, “Play with fire and you’ll get burned.”  Those aligned with ungodly public opinion are not playing games.  They are serious.  But they will get burned and it will last forever unless there is repentance.  “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever… This is the second death, the lake of fire.”  (Rev. 14:11;20:14)

   Beware, O peoples, we truly are at a Mt. Carmel moment in human history.  “Elijahs are being raised up!  These are the days of Elijah!  They are the men, women and children of God, who will chime in with Lou Engle, “No more compromise!”  They will call down the true, holy fire from God’s Throne Room!

   Elijah thought he stood alone, but there were other committed prophets of the Lord hiding in caves.  Nevertheless, he was willing to ‘face down’ the contaminated, compromised lifestyles and beliefs of God’s people, not fearing for his own life.  We can do no less!

Separation and distinction

   Confrontation, separation and distinction is coming!   All the earth will begin to know either the mark of the beast or the mark of the Most High God!  (Ezek. 3:8-9; Rev. 7:3)  Which mark do we have?  Are we walking in purity and holiness in every area of our lives?  Are we living testimonies to the saving grace of Jesus?

Alone and brave

   If anyone of you has seen the movie, ‘Braveheart’ you know how one man, against all odds, confronted injustices of his day.  It’s a great movie but ends with his martyrdom.   This is not new.   Good people do die.   Martyrdom has happened throughout every generation.   But Hebrews 11:38 says these were “men of whom the world was not worthy.”   They did not count the cost.  There’s no greater treasure than living with Jesus forevermore! 

   How many of God’s servants have stood alone against all odds because righteousness and holiness had been abandoned in their day?  Are you and I willing to rise up as an Elijah?  We’re taught in scripture to not even hesitate in our commitment to the Lord.  Although God’s grace abounds to each one of us, we cannot afford to stretch that too far.  (Rom. 11:22)  Lot is a good example of this in Genesis 19.  He and his family had to be pulled away by the hand of an angel from the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah because he waivered too long and almost lost his life.  But his wife didn’t make it through because she ‘turned’ with hesitation to look back even though instructed not to do so, thereby turning instantly into salt.  Dead.  Gone.  No more chances.

We’re at a Mt. Carmel moment!

   Are you and I ‘turning,’ away from standing on the Word of God?  Are we turning away from our sure footings of the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ?  Are we turning away from total commitment to Jesus compromising far too many things in our life in order to be politically correct rather than Biblically correct?

   We’re at a Mt. Carmel moment!  Whom shall we serve?   We can’t afford to hesitate any longer between two opinions as Elijah declared to the people of his day.

   When we do the right thing, though many may be against us, rest assured God is with us.  (2 Kgs. 6:16-17)  Whom shall we fear?  When we act on godly principles even though we may stand alone as Elijah, the presence and power of God will come upon us as never before!   By the Holy Spirit’s power we can out run horses and chariots!  (Vs. 46)  We will be drenched with the heavenly dew from God’s Throne room! (Vs. 44)  Do you desire this?  Then stand up. Stand up for Jesus!

Extremes

   There were many things that transpired prophetically during this trip to Carmel, California.  I am not able to share them all within the context of this month’s IWG Journal.  However there are several more I feel are significant for you to take to consider.

   It was amazing to encounter unusually warm weather on the west coast during this winter season.   The ‘locals’ kept telling us how wonderful it was.   Well, we thought so too!  But what they were referring to were the record breaking high temperatures!  We hadn’t realized this until one meteorologist on TV said he’d never seen anything like in his 40 years of broadcasting.   At the same time, back home in Iowa, they were having record breaking lows!  Two extremes.    

   Prophetically we are about to experience dramatic changes in the earth, both physically and spiritually.   Change is definitely in the air!  Remember, Elijah called down fire!  His intercession for his people was answered in a dramatic way, searing through the very atmosphere both in the natural and spiritual realms.  (2 Cor. 15:46)

   Lou Engle had said on the night of that conference we must dictate to the atmosphere, saying, “We are living in the shadow of the prophecies of Revelation.”   Fulfillment of all God has spoken for humanity is now culminating!  It’s about to burst on the scene in ways we never imagined!  

   Distinction and separation of God’s people is coming with profound signs, wonders and miracles.  Fire is about to fall like rain!   Lou Engle emphasized we’ve entered a global hour of incense.  That incense is the prayer of the saints.  (Rev. 5:8)   He went on to say, “The End Time Messengers are being released.”  The question is,  are you and I one of them?   Are we ready for this?!

Finally…

   During our seven days in Carmel, we noted how the week began with a death and ended with a birth.   Our dear friend, Jill Austin, who was one who endorsed my book, Armageddon Bride, went home to be with the Lord.  Congruently, some dear friends of ours experienced the birth of their first grandchild.  We went through the extremes of grieving, then celebrating.   Even though a ‘home-going’ is a safe haven and wonderful for believers in the Lord, nonetheless it doesn’t diminish our sorrow at their loss here on earth.   “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.”  (John 12:24-25)   Jill Austin left a godly legacy to as many as will pick it up.   

   Ladies and gentlemen, some things are ending, others are just beginning.   It’s as I said at the start of this IWG Journal.   Old wine is  converging with the new for a ‘time such as this!’ Therefore, let us be alert for the hour in which we live.   We’re living history in more ways than one can imagine!