INTIMACY WITH GOD JOURNAL
JANUARY 2010
The Rabbinical year of 5770 - Profound blessings will flow.
What’s in your 2010? - Prepare to launch!
A New Era - Fear of the Lord verses the terror of the Lord.
January 23rd Conference re-named: Birthing Your Dreams and Visions. It’s for men and women! See Events for new exciting information!
Linda & Mike Schreurs
Happy New Year!
Tevet/Shvat 5770
Looking to our Father Abraham and our Jewish roots, notice the above New Year’s greeting. Jewish years are the rabbinical calculation of years since creation. How awesome is that?! You get the current year by adding 3761 years to the Gregorian calendar bearing in mind that the Jewish New Year falls in Tishri, usually around September/October (e.g. sundown on September 18th, 2009 3761 results in the Jewish year 5770). A day on the Jewish calendar always begins at sundown the day before.
What an incredible year of 5770 this is going to be! You have the number ‘5’, which means grace and favor. Seven means the perfection or completion of God, and we’ve got two of them this year. Watch out, saints! The heavens are opening wide for astounding revelations, insights, understanding, provision, healing, deliverances, and for many, delayed dreams coming true! (Gen. 17) Linda Schreurs
WHAT’S IN YOUR 5770/ 2010?
May I say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
Except for the improper English, it can’t be stated any clearer. I’ve sensed for awhile the Lord God Almighty is about to bring dramatic, calculating changes to our lives. I’ve felt the pupil of His eye is upon us in ways we’ve not experienced to date for the church worldwide. The verse on our IWG bookmarks for this year is from Deuteronomy 32:10: “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.”
Do you feel you’ve been in a desert, or that you’ve been in a howling waste of a wilderness experience longer than you anticipated? Even so, are you aware of the encircling of the Lord’s Presence around you? Do you know He’s guarding you as the pupil of His eye? He is certainly an ever present help in times of trouble. (Ps. 46:1) Wherever your footsteps take you, He’s there. He’s here. He’s now and He’s evermore! You are not alone. You are not without help!
Use it or lose it
Embrace the fact that our Holy Deliverer, Jesus, is an ever abiding Presence and He has an astounding promise to be with us to the very ends of the earth, to the very last day we breathe this earthly air. (Heb. 13:5-6; Joshua 1:5) I find that very exciting no matter what the circumstances!
What a magnificent blessing that He uses every pain, every sorrow, even our joys, for our good and deeper growth in Him. We must allow Him to do this. Whining, complaining, grumbling, being unforgiving, or worse yet, seeking revenge, delete the blessings. Who wants that?! As the saying goes, “Lose it or use it.” Why not use these things as stepping stones into glory? (2 Cor. 3:18) We follow Jesus to the cross, but we must not park there as so many seem to do.
Prepare for launch!
We are called to walk closely behind our Lord through the fellowship of His sufferings by going through that cross onward and upward into the authority and power of His Resurrection. Therefore, heavenly realms are open to us. (Philipp. 3:8-14) Prepare for launch! (Rev. 4:1)
Heartaches are allowed to transpire in our lives so we will not grow arrogant. We can’t fix much of anything, but God surely can as we submit to His will. Our Jehovah’s incorruptible, infallible Word says all things work together for our good. (Rom. 8:28) Allow it to be so in your own life. To think nothing is wasted in our lives, that all can be used to glorify our Maker, Savior, Comforter, is a constant, ever-flowing ‘hallelujah concert’ from the core of our very souls. It’s a lifelong song!
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed {God’s Word}, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Ps. 126:5-6) “The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. (Ex. 15:2) Sing this for 2010! Sing this for your new decade of signs, wonders, miracles and spectaculars of God that are on the horizon.
Fiery Passionate Love
Are you aware the color of your eyes is the color of His because He reflects His glory in and through you? What a thought! His eyes are lit with fiery, passionate love for you. “His eyes were like a flame of fire.” (Rev. 1:14) It’s a holy look. It’s a look of love. What catches your gaze? Is it heartache and sorrow, or is it the love of the Lord and all that encompasses? This year, we need to focus on resembling and reflecting our Father’s eyes, seeing everything by that range of divineness…seeing all things through His holy filter of love, forgiveness and purity. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)
Offer up yourself to the Lord in this manner: “I will live ferociously for You, O Lord! Because I’m in Your heart there is a divine flow in my life. There’s a flow of holy, powerful authority. Glory to God Most High! Nothing shall by any means hurt me. Any weapon formed against me shall not prosper. I am completely victorious – in my mind, my body, my spirit. Your touch magnifies my heart to love…to love You more and more, and to love the unlovely of this world. You’ve consumed my life and I love it to be so! It is good to be loved and to love. ‘Glory to God in the highest’ - just as the angels sing, so do I!”
(Is. 54:17; Jer. 29:11; Luke 2:13-14)
A NEW ERA
Ladies and gentleman, we’ve not only entered a new year, but a new decade. The number ‘ten’ is pivotal. Certainly it denotes the end of single digit numbers and the beginning of a new series of double digits. Therefore, begin to declare double blessings in Jesus Name over your life right now. Job 42:10 says that all Job had lost, God restored and increased twofold. Anyone want this? I know I do!
As we start this new era let’s look at the number 10 a little closer to see what things the Lord might have in store for us:
Man has 10 fingers and 10 toes which speaks of his capacity for action. Action implies responsibility, and responsibility brings judgment or reward. Which will you choose?
In Genesis 1 the words “God said” occurs 10 times revealing man’s responsibility in the presence of God’s Word. Will you listen and obey?
Ten times Pharaoh hardens his heart against God in Exodus 9 and succeeding chapters. Will we harden our hearts to the point of no return? Beware.
Let’s not forget the ever important, but fast losing its place in society, the Ten Commandments! (Ex. 20) It’s still a good foundation to our lives. God’s Word hasn’t changed but many of us have. How sad.
Tithes of 10% are due unto the Lord. This is not optional, it’s required. (Gen. 14:20) Give first to God and He will see to all your needs. If you’re finding lack, first check your own pocket. (See also Matt. 6:33)
Amazingly, there were ten curtains, ten pillars, and ten sockets that made up part of the Tabernacle. The silver sockets which formed the foundation of the Tabernacle were ten by ten, speaking of redemption. (Ex. 26) Have you accepted the Redemption of Christ that He purchased for you on Calvary? Have you honored this commitment of love to Him by keeping your own living tabernacle clean and pure before Him? “Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being…create in me a clean heart, O God. (Ps. 51:6,10; Lev. 11:44)
Also, take note of the Antichrist’s world power which is composed of 10 kingdoms symbolized by the ten toes of the feet of an image and by the 10 horns of the beast. (Dan. 2 and 7) Closely watch worldly systems this year.
Extremely important as well, is the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25. Two things are required here: 1) Purity, 2) Staying alert and being passionately on fire for the Lord as symbolized with the lamp oil. (See also Rev. 3:16) Five of these maidens missed the Bridegroom’s invitation to enter into the celebration. Are you and I ready at all times, or could we be compromising too much with a lukewarm attitude, thus missing all God has planned for us? Ponder carefully.
Finally, Romans 8:38-39 gives us the declaration of the ten-fold security for the children of God: “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s a shout of victorious hallelujahs!
Reverential fear of God or terror?
Precious saints, what the Lord God Almighty has planned for you and me are some of the most beautiful things on earth. Salvation of course, being the gateway. His Word declares that eye has not seen, nor ear heard what He has laid up for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9) He’s about to reveal those greater things! He’s soon to make another great and terrible spectacle of Himself to humanity. Many are on the verge of experiencing the holy, reverential fear of God ~ or the terror of His Presence! There is a difference.
It’s extreme terror for those who do not bend, bow, believe or behold Him in love and obedience. It’s judgment. But for those who do, the spectacular awe and wonder of His divineness and holiness of Presence will captivate and catapult them into His glory beyond human measure. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” (2 Cor. 4:17)
We’ve reached a new era. It’s the one of Haggai 2:9, “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I shall give peace declares the Lord of hosts.” The deepest and widest waters of the Spirit are about to flow. Ezekiel 47 is upon us. Those who love and serve the Lord of Hosts without regard for their lives, will know, see, and live these spectaculars from His Throne Room. I truly believe God the Father is preparing His people for His Son’s soon return. It’s not business as usual.
These pending awes of God, will not be by some digitally enhanced control of man as in a movie, but by the Word and Spirit of God as Zechariah 3:6 says, “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord.”
Can’t get there from here
Many can’t get there from where they are currently. It’s going to take a fresh, new, vibrant commitment to the Lord that goes beyond any norms or anything of the past. Hurts, pains, agonies of heart and soul of our yesterdays cannot be carried into today. It must be laid at the Cross of Christ. Leave it there once and for all. Proceed from that point to move faster, further, and deeper into His holy heart of love. Find and know full well the other side of the Lord’s Cross with its magnificent Resurrection power that’s in sight! Scope it out and go for it! What’s to stop you really?
Beloved friends, even as I write this, I am trembling. I sense the Lord’s Presence and power so keenly. I have to tell you, awhile ago the Lord had me begin a notebook of every profound, sovereign act He’s done that’s recorded in scripture beginning with Genesis. We read of these things and are still astounded to this day.
However, we must realize the Bible is the Living Word of God. It’s not dead, it didn’t pass away, it’s not just something of the past, but it’s a NOW WORD. It’s for today. It’s truly LIVING. Since all scripture is inspired by God or as the Greek states, “is God-breathed,” it’s the hot, holy, divine Breath of God. (2Tim. 3:16)
May I state it this way? Whenever you open the Bible, because it is God-breathed, you walk right into the very Breath of God! Deuteronomy 30:14 says, “But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.” This alone has changed my own life significantly. I now open its pages with a much deeper respect and reverential fear of the Lord than ever before. I find myself actually walking in its Breath of aliveness. It’s absolutely breath taking! I sometimes hold it close to my heart and cry because I love the Lord’s Book so much! Song of Songs 1:2 refers to the Lord’s divine breath saying, “May He kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.” I’d liken it to spiritual CPR!
It’s time we become fervent students of God’s Breath knowing Him intimately in our hearts. Our lives will reflect it. Opening the beautiful pages of God’s Word causes you to walk right into its life, authority, power, glory and victory after victory. That is, if you truly love, honor and obey it. Therefore, the profundity of signs, miracles, wonders and awes of our Jehovah God recorded there are yet for this hour in which we live. It cannot be otherwise for it is the on-going, life-giving, changeless Eternal Word of God. “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17; See also Ps. 119)
In my first book, Armageddon Bride, I wrote a chapter on how the Bible is going to become a very hot commodity in the Last Days. It will come about that as someone is walking within the perimeter of a Bible, they will know of its presence and power. It will immediately convict or condemn them because of their love or hatred of it. The Holy Bible is God’s revealed, written Word and it is alive! It’s His Breath! Not the pages it’s written on of course, but the Presence and Power that resides therein.
“For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.
Ponder from the book of Numbers:
- Moses heard God’s Voice speaking to him
- Cloud on the tabernacle by day, fire on it by night
- The Lord’s anger burns (literally) among some of the Israelites and consumes some on the outskirts of the camp
- Moses’ prayer is quickly answered as the ‘fire’ of God (His destroying fire) subsides
- God sends miraculous meat for a month
- God places the spirit of burden for the people that was on Moses on the 70 elders; they began to prophesy
- God sends a very severe plague to those who had been greedy
- God’s glory appears to all the sons of Israel
- God’s glory appears to all the congregation
- The Lord opens up the ground and it swallows up the rebellious men and their families
- Fire also consumes the 250 men offering unholy fire
- God’s glory is seen at the Tent of Meeting
- The Lord sends a plague in judgment
- The Lord causes Aaron’s rod to sprout, bud, produce blossoms and yield ripe almonds overnight
- God’s glory appears to Moses and Aaron
- Moses strikes the rock with a rod and water comes from it
- The Lord sends fiery serpents among the people to strike at them causing death because of speaking against Moses and the Lord
- The Lord’s angel stops Balaam and speaks to him through his donkey
Beloved people of God, this is just one book of the Bible, but each one gives graphic illustrations of God’s power and glory. Most are familiar with Exodus and all the incredible signs and wonders the Lord did in bringing His people out of bondage in Egypt. All these things recorded throughout the Bible are our launching pad into greater things!
God is not confined to a space, place or time. He’s Everlasting, He’s ‘I am that I am.’ (Ex. 3:14) The Bible causes us to tremble in reverential fear of God. (Deut. 28:58-62; 1 Kgs. 18:38-39) What He’s done in the past, He still can do, and does! Therefore I want to encourage you to enter into the wonders of God this year through faith in our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit’s fresh, hot breath, His wind of fiery power descend upon you as never before!
“‘Jesus therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:21-22)
HAPPY, HOLY, POWERFUL,
PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!