INTIMACY WITH GOD
JOURNAL
NOVEMBER 2008
In this issue:
- OPENING REMARKS. Colorless and Clueless.
- WARMED. Are you hot or not?!
- BEYOND THE MOST HOLY PLACE – Holiness
to new degrees!
Mike & Linda Schreurs – Happy 36th Anniversary!
ARMAGEDDON BRIDE CONFERENCE
November 1, 20008
Do not let a ‘time such as this’ pass you by! Time is of the essence in these precarious days of humanity, especially during this election year. How will it all conclude? In what manner is the Bride of Christ preparing to meet her Eternal Bridegroom? Can she truly be without spot or wrinkle or will she compromise God’s truth? What does intimacy have to do with it? * See Announcements!
COLORLESS AND CLUELESS
It doesn’t matter where you live, the question of the day is, “Are you oblivious to the vibrant life around you?” Are you drinking in the glory of the autumn colors in God’s glorious creation? Are you colorless and clueless to the revelatory, joy-filled air you breathe right where you are? Are you walking in the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit with abundant life surging through your mind, heart and being? If not, why not?
Color is one of the Lord’s most creative ways of speaking to His children. He began His promises through color in Genesis 9 with His astounding rainbow. Then came the colorful stones of priestly garments in Exodus 28, concluding in Revelation 21 with the precious gems within the walls, foundation and gates of the New Jerusalem.
Let’s not live colorless or clueless. Let us ask the Lord for fresh revelation as we look around us and see the magnitude of His glory in nature. Surely if He is concerned over one leaf or bird that falls to the ground, He is more so for us! (Luke 12:27) Let us enjoy the beautiful colors of autumn in the awe and admonition of the Lord. He is speaking! Linda Schreurs
WARMED
Let us not be warming ourselves by the fireplace this autumn and during these coming winter months only to be cold toward our Lord by denying Him in public places. The warmth and comfort of church settings are nice, but it’s not necessarily the real testing place is it? Persecution can and does unfortunately happen there, but perhaps the greater testimony lies within the public sector. It’s then that we are more often than not tested and tried by what we say and do. The question is, “Do we live the life of a soul deep in love with Jesus no matter where we are?” Or do we live more out of fear of man than the fear of the Lord? Do we live a compromised lifestyle?
The apostle Peter warmed himself beside a fire while Jesus was being put on trial. “Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.” (John 18:12-27) When this great man of God was asked publicly if He knew the Master, he denied Him. Fear of man crept in.
As we know, awhile later Peter wonderfully repents. Even more than that, Jesus restores him to be a significant leader in His kingdom asking him three times if he loved Him. (John 21:15-22) Those three affirmations deleted the three denials. How gracious is our God to give us more chances and more opportunities to live the life we’re called to live. Such is the warmth of grace. Ah, divine destiny fulfilled!
It’s exciting to see Peter zapped so powerfully when the fire of Pentecost fell. (Acts 2) He could no longer hold back his passionate fire and desire for the Lord Jesus. It didn’t matter anymore if it cost him his life savings, his stocks and bonds on Wall Street, his job, or even his friends or family.
Lifeless actions
If you and I are just going through lifeless actions of warming ourselves in church settings or prescribed prayer meetings without true fire and passion for God, we could be more like Judas rather than Peter. Life can take its toll to be sure, but let us not waver from our escalating passion and desire for the Lamb of God. Cruel and unjust things are happening to many Christians, especially in countries intolerant to the Gospel. So far we’ve been spared such horrid things. But we must have our fire lit and burning brightly in order to survive what’s on the horizon at the End of the Age, if not even now.
Our Lord declares in Revelation 3:16, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Yuck! Spit is not good. This was one of the torments of disgrace Jesus Himself suffered just before His crucifixion. (Matt. 27:30) We do not need this in our lives. Being lukewarm is not an option!
Fiery passion for God must be kept alive and fanned into greater and greater flame by His divine Breath. It will cause us to rise to new heights of glory with the Lord’s Presence and power bringing overcoming victory in every area of our lives.
Let us examine ourselves. Are we only warming up, or are we ablaze with Pentecost fire and passion that changes our lives like Peter? Are we whining or winning? Ladies and gentleman of God, now is the time for the fire of God residing within us to affect our family, workplace, community and world. Jesus is on His way to earth to make a second appearance like none other! Are you watching, waiting, preparing?
Jesus is most definitely coming to take His Bride away. Will she be wildly and madly in love with Him breathing in His every Word in scripture? Will she be passionately driven to seek spiritual intimacy with Him beyond measure? Will she be uncompromising, but most willing to die for her Beloved? Will she be hot with desire for the Presence of His glorious Face and His divine kisses? (Duet. 30:14; Song of Songs 1:2)
The Lord recently spoke to me saying that He’s looking for alive oil and alive fire! (Rev. 1:12) Matthew 25:1-13 will soon be upon us. It’s a sobering thought.
Word from the Lord
A few days before starting this month’s IWG Journal, I was overcome by the Lord about 4 PM one afternoon. I began to shake and found this quite unusual since it was in the middle of the day. But He’s most welcome to interrupt anytime He wants!
While shaking under His power and Presence, I knew I was to record what He was about to say. Quickly I grabbed pen and paper and wrote the following:
The Lord says, “I – 0 – W – A. I am the WAY. ‘I – O – WAY.’ I am the way. I will shake and bake your land! Go ahead and try to fire me!” (As when you let someone go from a job.) “I will set you on fire for Me and you will know the heat of My passionate love for you that will be upon you.
Your holy consummation is now! Love Me now with all your heart, soul, mind and body. I am coming to shake your land. No longer shall any portion of it remain dormant. It will all produce, 30,60,90 and 100 fold as the fire of My Spirit falls upon you!” Glory!
Feast of Tabernacles
Precious people of God let us listen to all the Lord is saying to us during this season. The ‘word’ above was given at the start of the Feast of Tabernacles. I believe it’s not just for Iowa, but all the states of America and beyond. The greatest harvest of souls is now upon us! Astounding things are about to unfold and we must have our wits about us in order to walk out the divine destiny God has for each one of us. Stay awake. Stay alert. Do what He tells you to do.
Interestingly, the last 24 hours of the Feast of Tabernacles for 2008, the Lord brought another revelatory word. He drew my attention to the fact that some neighborhood boys built a ‘survivor shelter’ on the beach in front of our home. We live along the Des Moines River and recently the Bald Eagles reappeared returning from their summer exploits. All this combined to make for a heart throb of insights. As stated at the start of this month’s IWG Journal, the Lord definitely uses His creation to speak. The eagles are a sign of the prophetic. The ‘shelter’ on our beach was innocently constructed by fun-loving, adventuresome boys whom God used to convey a message.
The Feast of Tabernacles in Biblical times was to be celebrated after the ingathering of the fall harvest and is the happiest of Jewish feasts. It celebrates God’s bounty in nature, His provision and His protection as symbolized by the fragile ‘booths’ or ‘Sukkot’ in which the Israelites dwelled in the wilderness. I had to take a picture of this shelter!
For seven days the Hebrew children made an offering of fire before the Lord. On the eighth (remember we’re in 2008!) or last day of the Feast, there was a holy convocation with a final offering of fire unto God. This feast is also called the Feast of Lights to commemorate the pillar of fire that led the children of Israel by night. May our hearts be aflame with unabashed passion for our Lord!
Also, the Floods of “08 are significantly prophetic as well. What the enemy meant for evil, God can turn to good. (Gen. 50:20)
During the Feast of Tabernacles in Jesus’ day, there was a water ritual called Simcha Bet Ha-sho-evah, or - the Rejoicing of the House of Drawing Water. (Pg. 154, His Glory Revealed by John Hagee) Jesus is the Living Water! (John 4) Congruently, it is also believed that if it rains during this joyous feast it is an added blessing representing provision. Rain HAS fallen during the feast this year. Not only that, those young boys constructed this ‘shelter’ on the bank of the Des Moines River!
I believe nothing is coincidental but divinely orchestrated by the Lord. I Corinthians 15:46 says the natural proceeds the spiritual. I thus propose to you that something of great significance is being released! These things ought to make us tremble with holy, reverent fear before our awesome and most powerful, Jehovah God.
Let us not be slumbering in these precarious days in which we now find ourselves. All of the Word of God is culminating into the reality of the book of Revelation being lived out by a not too distant generation. Awake! Let us trim our lamps with alive oil and alive fire!
BEYOND THE MOST HOLY PLACE
I can’t tell you exactly what’s beyond the Most Holy Place, but this one thing I do know, it encompasses the fear of the Lord! I do know it causes your entire being, into its very core, to tremble before our mighty, everlasting Jehovah God. This is the most somber of all places. It is most likely a wordless realm because it takes your breath away.
The night before leaving on our Fall Women’s hermitage, I fell beside our bed weeping before the Lord. I was simply overtaken by His Presence and could do nothing but prostrate myself before Him. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming sense of awe, wonder and fear of the Lord as my heart began to ponder… “What could possibly be more than the Most Holy Place? What exactly is the Holy of Holies?!”
Most of us know the structure of the Old Tabernacle which consisted of the Outer Court, the Most Holy Place and then the Holy of Holies. (Ex. 2626:33) Suddenly my heart cried out from it’s depths to God saying, “What could be more than MOST HOLY?! Isn’t most, MOST?! What’s beyond MOST?” I thought most, was as far as you could go. I felt like a little child asking the Lord such silly questions. But He loves our child-like simplicity. Remember, unless we become as children, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. (Matt. 18:3) Do not be afraid to ask the Lord the simplistic, inquisitive things. He loves it!
Suddenly I began to know there are even greater depths of God’s holiness than we could ever humanly comprehend. Eternity in heaven can never entirely reveal the degrees of holiness in the Eternal Godhead. Humans have only been grafted in a short while ago in the perspective of God’s eternal existence. There is an incomprehensible depth that goes beyond the MOST HOLY PLACE. If it’s ‘most’ you’d think it was ‘maximum’ but with God, there is always MORE! He is infinite in His glory. Pursue Him with that in mind.
Be like Him
But we must begin to understand there are infinite degrees of holiness of our magnificent God than we could ever imagine. And we’re called to be like Him. Understand this, His Word beckons us “to be holy because I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44-45; 20:17) The Lord is seeking for those who will reflect His glory in this manner, “so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean.” (Lev. 10:10) We can no longer afford to even resemble the world in the manner in which we dress, think, speak and act. If we are not walking in purity and holiness, today is a good day to repent and get on with it. We must get this!
Let us understand the Living Creatures of Revelation 4 dwell in that realm as they circle the Throne of God day and night. They declare only one word, over and over again: “Holy! Holy! Holy!” How amazing is that?! I believe they keep seeing a new depth of the holiness of God that causes them to break out again and again with that same declaration. It’s astounding!
I can’t wait to get there! I sense the Lord saying that we can certainly begin to access that realm of glory as we enter by way of the holy veil that Jesus rent with His blood. Amen! (Luke 23:45)
Without spot or wrinkle?
It has become far too redundant that the church speaks so often and perhaps too lightly of the Lord’s return for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. It’s time we not only clean up, but grow up, and ascend higher reaching into the Third Heavens where holiness is astounding!
This holiness goes beyond a washing and cleansing of the Blood of the Lamb of God. It’s an acute holiness of huge proportions beyond measure. In the last days of Armageddon it will consist of those who have gone past the Outer Court, past the Most Holy Place of praise and worship having proceeded in adoration behind the most intimate veil into the Holy of Holies. To be sure, they will be the ones without spot or wrinkle.
This intimate dwelling place may partially consist of a ‘wordless realm’ where all one can do is lie prostrate in holy fear in trembling before the Lord’s Presence. (Rev. 8:1) An utter humility of awe and wonder of the Eternal Godhead is overwhelming. Worship is not done so much by the tongue, but by the spirit within. (Matt. 15:8-9) Jesus proclaimed to the Woman at the Well there is a time coming when His followers will worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) Have we reached that realm of revelation and glory? Let’s go for it!
Hebrews chapters 7 – 10 speaks of the New Covenant that Jesus’ Blood brought to God’s people. Isn’t it amazing how His precious Blood broke that veil/membrane into the greatest intimacy mankind could ever have with God? (Luke 23:45) Glory!
Friends, we’ve entered a somber time. Purity and holiness must be paramount. We are required to purge our eyes, ears, hearts actions, our entire lives - into the flow of the purity of the Lamb of God. We must BE His pure Bride entirely without stains, spots, soiled garments, compromised lifestyles and worldly pursuits that are fleeting. It’s time to get our houses in order!
Highway of Holiness
The Lord confirmed this ‘word or revelation’ to me through Isaiah 35, especially verse eight. (Remember? This is still 2008!) “And a highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it., but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.” {For those along the interstate corridor of I 35, take note, as Chuck Pierce and Cindy Jacobs recently had a focus of prayer along that route!}
The Lord also took me back to another ‘word’ He’d given me on June 20th of this year. I remember a holy fear gripping my soul as He told me there was a train speeding toward righteousness. He said, “All aboard!” The revelation continued:
“Many ignore Him. He’s the conductor and He’s the engine. He’s the beginning (Alpha) and the end (Omega). (Rev. 1:8) But many don’t care to get aboard the Righteous Train that fills His Temple. (Isa. 6:1) Many are oblivious to the train of glory that’s traveling at heavenly, holy, lightening speed! The angles are crying out day and night, ‘Holy! Holy! Holy!’
The whistle is blowing! The trumpet is sounding! The Day of the Lord nears! Let him who has an ear hear! (Rev. 2:7,11,29; 3:6, 13,22) ‘All aboard now!’ The Train of His Robe fills the Temple. (Isa. 6:1) Get on His train of righteousness and be saved, healed and delivered. (Isa. 61:10; Ps. 103)
Disease, famine, earthquakes and disasters await humanity. But His Robe of Righteousness will cover and protect His own. Get aboard now! The holy, eternal conductor is calling! Jesus is about to appear. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Life everlasting! The Spirit and the Bride, say, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’!” (Rev. 22:17)
Another cloak
The Lord never ceases to amaze me on how He orchestrates things for His divine purposes. He spoke to me in June about the Train of Righteousness. He spoke to me about holiness before leaving for the ladies hermitage. And while on the hermitage, He brought another correlating word. Dear hearts, are we listening? I pray that we are.
The last full day of our hermitage, I was sitting beside the lake soaking in the Lord’s Presence when He gave me a direct command. He told me that the first person I met from our group as I walked the trails back to my cabin, I was to kneel before them, ask them to pray for me, and ask their blessing. It was so direct, so precise, that I decided to quickly journal it before packing up and leaving that heavenly spot.
I have to say that in my flesh, I really wondered what the Lord was up to on this one! Would I really run into anyone from our group? How was this command supposed to happen? ‘O ye of little faith!’
It did happen. And just as the Lord had shown me. I was so overtaken that it wasn’t enough to kneel, I had to prostrate myself entirely in the dirt, dust and leaves on the ground before the feet of this wonderful woman of God. I sobbed uncontrollably knowing the Lord was up to something so huge, I couldn’t drink it all in. Much of it is personal, but I know I’m to share the ‘why’ of what He had me do in that moment of time.
Symbol
As I reached my cabin later ‘shaking like a leaf,’ I sat stunned before the Lord. I wanted Him to tell me what was going on! A few breathless moments later this is what came:
I felt part of the reason was the Lord wanted me to go lower still. He said that I’m as a child before Him and He loves that! And that the world may not value me very much, but He does!
He told me, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” (Matt. 19:30) The Lord says, “Linda, I remember what you said when you arrived here {at the hermitage}, that you wanted to be the last one to your cabin. But lo’, it was another,” {she’s my armor bearer}. “Certainly the two of you have been ordained, appointed and anointed ‘for a time such as this’ – and ‘this time’ is that time where those who humble themselves before Me completely, not wanting any other thing – they shall know Me further and higher than many others who do not put on My cloak of humility.
Watch for the tares! Many claim to wear this simple cloak but you will know them by their fruits and the greatest of these is love. For I am Love and I require it of My children. Without love, many are a clanging cymbal – those who call themselves by My Name and yet do not do the works that I do. It is to their shame that they lightly speak My Name. (I Cor. 13)
The hour is coming when the tares will be separated from the wheat. (Matt. 13:30)
Eat of Me and abide in Me.
Many, like Judas, come to My table to eat, but they do not love Me. They eat with Me and raise up their heel against Me. But soon, they shall be ripped away from My table and thrown into the outer darkness where there shall be the gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 22:11-14)
No longer shall I tolerate those who say they love Me, but do not put on My cloak of humility. Pride goes before the fall and many are about to fall. (Matt. 23:12)
Linda, My love, you obeyed Me today like a little child…you gladly, joyfully, and quickly humbled yourself to My command. Therefore your reward shall be great. And ‘great’ for your beloved armor bearer as well.
You are My lovely Brides.
You adore, therefore you are adorned.
I adorn you with My robe of righteousness. Wear it well and you shall see the wonders of My love become as a magnificent sonnet of glories beyond measure.
Your child-likeness is beautiful to Me. You are my beautiful Bride.”
Precious saints, if these things do not grip our souls, I don’t know what will! It’s time to put on the robe of righteousness. It’s time to wrap ourselves in holiness and humility through the fiery passion of the Holy Spirit. We’re destined to be clothed with zeal as a mantle according to Isaiah 59:17!