Thursday, February 1, 2007

God directive

What happens when four soldier sit in a car, hand the steering wheel over to the Holy Spirit, and ask Him "What would you like to do tonight?"

We drove to Macca’s so we wouldn’t have the distraction of hunger. On a fast, Kym didn’t buy anything, but had packed some food that afternoon for himself- even though he had no good reason to do so (it ended up being needed).
The Lord brought to our attention a number of young guys who were loitering and sitting about in their cars. It seemed pretty suss (drugs), yet we interceded for them a bit and the Lord led us to wind our car windows down and blast out praise and worship music. Pretty quickly, at least 3 cars of young people (not necessarily together) sped off. With God’s presence, people either embrace Him or flee, I guess in this instance it was the aroma of death - yet it still seemed to be a spiritual victory. The Holy Spirit rested on Paul, and he received a manifestation of heavenly oil. Two guys (aged 18-19) were hanging around outside of the shops, and so Paul and Kym decided to approach them for prayer; we were cussed at and threatened to be shot and robbed, yet they suddenly seemed afraid, and sped off as fast as they could on their bikes.
The four of us persisted, and again sought the Lord. Colin received the word of knowledge ‘Thomson St’; Looking up the street directory, there was sure enough a Thomson St nearby. Driving up the street, the number 36 came to Kym, mentioning it at the exact moment the car was passing number 36! We were led to intercede over the house, and had an inner assurance about the fruit of this.
Driving on, Kym kept receiving images of ripe figs being turned inside out to reveal all the little seeds inside. He didn’t have a clue what this meant, yet Paul received the interpretation: the figs represented our hearts, and the sharing of our hearts (figs inside-out) resulting in eternal seeds being planted.
Phoebe then felt that we needed to offer prayers for pure hearts, which we did. After this, revelation came easier and we felt the presence of the Lord even more tangibly. Paul then received a word of knowledge that we were to go to a Foodland and, as it turned out, there was one nearby. On the way there, the Lord showed Kym an image of two fresh baked loaves of bread, and the term ‘Kingdom leaven’ came to him. Arriving at the shops, the Lord told Kym to look for some large dumpster bins and he walked around the shop corner to find them. While gone, Paul was led to write a prophetic note with scripture (proverbs 3:6) and put it with some mail in front of a shop door. Kym found the dumpsters, and in some cardboard (clean) were two fresh baked loaves of bread! They were unwrapped and weren’t sliced – traditional looking. In the same shop car park, Colin and Phobe were led to tear down a poster inciting hatred and violence against Muslims.
We drove away again in faith, and the Lord led Colin to pull in front of a psychic ‘healing shop’. A Salvation Army thrift shop was next door, and Kym immediately noticed someone had left some items in front. Looking at them all, the Lord led him to a pair of men’s shoes (in really good condition). To test Colin and Phobe, he asked them which item did they think the Lord wanted us to have, and they said ‘definitely the shoes’. We put them with the loaves, and the Lord led us to intercede for the owner of the occult shop (revealed as a woman) and to pray against the evil inside. Phobe also wrote a prophetic note for the owner of the occult store. At the same car park, the Lord told Kym to check a nearby phone box for spare change, yet Colin bet him to it! He found 25 cents in silver coins. There was something ‘right’ about 25 cents, and we added it to the inventory.
As we pulled away, a broken streetlight flickered on, and the Lord gave Kym the name ‘Cranbrook St’, with the numbers 16 or 18. Turning to the street directory, Cranbrook St not only existed, but was in the same suburb. Sixteen and eighteen Cranbrook turned out to be two vacant lots next to each other that were for sale. Kym and Paul were led to cleanse the land and pray over it. The song ‘We’re standing on Holy Ground’ came to Phobe.
With the loaves of bread, coins, and shoes, Colin drove on through faith before Phobe and Kym then 'noticed' some items on the side of the road, and we backed up and inspected them. By now, we knew we were gathering a gift for a homeless person, yet didn’t know what the Lord wanted us to get from the roadside. Paul and Kym got out the car, and God told Paul “grab the suitcase my son”, and we were again on our way. The suitcase ended up being the perfect size to hold everything, and was ideal for a homeless person (good condition, had wheels, etc).
Phobe needed to go to the toilet, so we went to a nearby petrol station. Kym wanted a bottle of water as we got out the car, and, as we got inside, Paul noticed a special for two bottles of water and knew we were to get one for the homeless person. Colin bought them, and it came to Kym and Paul to ask the attendant for a bag for the loaves of bread. He handed us a white plastic bag; on it was written ‘baked fresh’ with a picture of a loaf of bread on it – God has a sense of humour! As we were walking back to the car, Kym thought the bag was far too small for both loaves, yet it turned out to be the perfect size for them.
Sitting back in the car, we interceded for the attendant and then noticed a woman nearby whose car wouldn’t start. We interceded for her, and the Lord led Kym to subversively walk by her car and touch it with my hand. We didn’t doubt it would start again, yet the Lord again led us to be off.
As we pulled away, Phobe's inside car light miraculously flickered on. It hadn’t been working (broken for months), and Kym had complained just earlier that it was too dark to read the street directory, and couldn’t get the light to work.
We knew we were to head for the city. We drove along the road beside botanic park, and we realised it was no coincidence we were driving near the place where the Army started in the southern hemisphere. We felt like primitive Salvos. We knew that out of the items for the homeless person (the loaves in the ‘fresh baked’ bag, coins, pair of shoes, bottle of water, and suit-case), we still needed a coat and witness for Christ. Suddenly it ‘clicked’ – the coat Kym was wearing was in good condition, yet it was getting older and he was intending to buy a new one. Colin knew before he made the decision to give up the coat that it was what he was to do. Kym also 'thought' of a small bible that the Lord led him to put in his backpack a while ago for such an occasion. In all, the Lord gave us 7 items - a significant number.
We were led to the car park outside of the weir and we packed everything in the suitcase and blessed it. Colin was led to look at a nearby plaque, on it was the name ‘Cawthorne’ – this name had come to him in a dream quite a while earlier. It was just another ‘Godincidence’ that we were on the right track – as if God was saying ‘follow the clues’. We also noted a small statue of a possum that was also nearby.
We crossed the weir looking out for our homeless person. We found an old blanket which someone had tried to light a fire on – another sign. We were led to sing a few times ‘Amazing Grace’ – not a song we usually sing.
We were led to follow the Torrens towards the city. A number of times, possums appeared and showed themselves on nearby branches. This was a prophetic sign which the Lord revealed to Paul: As we had just seen the statue of a possum and were now seeing them for real, so we had just passed the original Salvation Army statue in botanic park - the Lord is bringing the Army back to life.
The night was freezing cold, and we began to get impatient at finding the homeless person. We walked all the way along the Torrens to the bridge on King William Road. It came to us how it was under a very similar bridge where founder William Booth first told Bramwell to ‘do something’ about the homeless in need. We rested at the bridge wondering what to do next. The walk was trying, and it was freezing. It then dawned on us what God was doing – showing us that ministry isn’t always fun and games, and granting us compassion towards those who some-how sleep in such bitter cold. After realising this, Paul received the word that we were to go to the parklands along South Terrace. We walked back to the car, and eventually knew we had to stop at Veale gardens. No one was in sight. We crossed the small creek there and went into the darkness. The Lord showed us exactly where to put the suitcase and coat. We prayed over it, and knew without a doubt the Lord would lead the right person to it. Suddenly, things began to feel really uneasy. Out of nowhere, many men seemed to have come out of the shadows. They were dressed in black. The Lord told Paul to get out of there, and we headed back towards the car. Paul hadn’t said anything, but the Lord said to Kym ‘move quickly’.
We headed for home, finding it ironic that we found ourselves heading towards ACH (where Council of War was held) the place where our 'treasure hunt' had started. Laying out the front of ACH, was a homeless man. We had a deep inner assurance the suitcase wasn’t meant for him, yet the Lord moved us to buy him some food. At a nearby servo, Paul brought $5, and that was the perfect amount for a breakfast pack, which we got for the homeless man. Kym wrote him a note with scripture and Paul put it and the food on the man’s mat. At 2am, our mission was accomplished and we headed home, yet we don’t doubt we could be used of the Lord in such ways 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As the Nike god says: ‘Just Do It’.
“To God be the glory for great things he has done




In future we will be praying for more divine appointments and face-to-face interaction.

Fan the flame, Paul.

9 comments:

Pete Brookshaw said...

Awesome stuff. How good is it when you're in tune with the Holy Spirit and he leads you where you need to go.

james said...

WOW! God is AWESSOME! Good on you guys for doing all that stuff, for your obedience and witness. Because of that story (you told me at ACC) me and a few mates did that a few times aswell which led to some Spiritual warfare etc!

Keep fanning the flame!

Simon Mapleback said...

It's awesome when God leads like that - the times we went out with James, Pete and the other guys and just leave it up to the Holy Spirit, they are the most amazing experiences - we should post some of our experiences too!! James, u still got the first one we documented?! lol
Keep it up guys - hopefully we make it a much regular occurance!
Simon.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

OK, I know that posting here my beliefs on this occurance is probably a waste of time and I am gonna be shot down... I will anyway.


This seems like a fanciful tale about 3 bored young people trying to find something to do late at night.
Perhaps trying to find their way in life and a purpose. A spiritual purpose.
I commend you for that and I understand what that means as young adults.

I also know that maybe you will look back on these times with confusion about what was real and what was not when it comes to your relationship with the true creator.

Man, I don't want to be harsh here but I believe it is my way of putting balance into some of these Sallyblogs.

OK, I find it unlikely that God would lead you on a goose chase like this.

Just as I think that it is unlikely that God dropped Gold dust from heaven on people in a Salvo meeting.

(I really doubt God would tell A.Bale that the a large part of the salvos were worse than Soddom and Gamorrah and then drop gold on the same people because of their obedience........It doesn't make sense does it?)

I think that you are desperate to show people that you are living in a close relationship with God.
There is an easier and, in my opinion, more effective way to do this.
Just love people.
I am not saying you are not a loving person but I just think that there are much more effective ways to love people than to scare them with worship music and give them prophetic notes about how they are in cohorts with Satan. (I am jjust guessing what your note said)
It's great to give a guy some food but surely it would be more effective to just give it to him striaght up?
I would be more likely to believe that God revealed to you that it is good to look after the poor around you then this.

I have already commented on your blog about the Jargon you speak and how non christians would find it difficult to relate to your words.
I see that this is another example of christians alienating themselves from the world they are trying to save.
I find it hard to believe that God wants us to experience the world like this.

I think you were finding signs purely because that is what you were looking for.
It only takes watching 2 or 3 " Mrs Officer chilrens stories" to realise that you can draw analogies from anything and make it about God.
It is difficult to discern what is you and what is God isn't it?


I guees I struggle to see the purpose in it.
Why would God lead you like this and then tell you to broadcast it around the world....Advertising your obedience and good deeds?


Look, if God was really involved in this then I hope he shows me my error but if this is just the writings of a young soul trying to fit in and be a accepted and admired in their peer group then I am worried about other young people who are reading this sort of stuff and getting confused.

It is this sort of story that left me confused as a younger man.


Teackles,

MERCYPEACEGRACE said...

Teackles, thanks for your courage in expressing your beliefs; I certainly think it is only healthy to question things (as long as we're also open to learning).

God actually led us on this mission after a 'Council of War' meeting, we certainly were not bored but were defiantly hungry for more!

As far as searching for spiritual purpose, it begins and ends in intimate relationship with Him, that’s it...Dad alone.

As what is real in this relationship, He is our living, breathing, Reality.

What you term a 'goose chase' :) we call a series of divine appointments and a test of obedience, and also God likes to play with His children!

Concerning the gold dust, I guess that is a personal thing if you believe or not, physical evidence aside, I really suggest you simply ask Him and keep seeking Him about it! For what its worth colored sparkles and oil is common aswell.

I believe Andrew Bales prophesy was accurate of the Army body, and a word to humbly be received by all, myself included. However, I am the remnant, and I'm sure many others feel the same way.

We are desperate to show that God desires to live in close relationship with His children, the veil is torn, and I really pray that this is reflected in our ministry and reflects on Him and not upon us in anyway!

I receive what you say about loving people and direct interaction.....very true! As far as the music, that was spiritual warfare, and the notes were written by us as vessels from Him in complete love, their is no condemnation in Christ!

As Kym explained previously, this site is primarily for the edification of believers rather then as an evangelical tool, but I also receive what you’re trying to say as I was unaware that it was so complex for some readers.

About the revelation, I fail to see how what happened that night can possibly - in anyway - be seen as simply drawing analogies? Receiving divine insight then having it confirmed after the fact time and again suggests something much deeper and much more significant, please read the account again?

You stated 'It is difficult to discern what is you and what is God isn't it?'; and I am very surprised, because the answer is an emphatic NO! We are by no-means faultless or immune to deception, but through many years of careful lessons and refinement have learnt to hear His voice. He actually says (paraphrase) ‘My sheep know Me, and they know my voice’. Further you can test all revelation (be it Devil, self, or God) by tone, biblical alignment, discernment, fruit, testing by other prophets, and practicing intimacy with Him. In fact, any supernatural revelation (as clearly occurred in out written account) can not be of self.

The reason we displayed the account is to encourage others in prophetic evangelism, read James comment (above) on the positive fruit (including salvations) that is occurring through this method.

Teackles, I am truly sorry to hear about your confusion and hurt when you were younger please, (and sincerely) feel free to email us -mercypeacegrace@hotmail.com your experiences...
Yours in Christ,
Paul

Anonymous said...

Paul, I wouldn't say that it was hurt but it was a time when I what I thought was real was I now think may have been no more than youthful exuberance and mob mentality.

I find it incredibly dangerous to hear someone say that they emphatically KNOW what God is saying to them.
I defy that and tell you that I think it is impossible and perhaps even arrogant to say that.

I know that you can back up your words with scripture but anyone can back up almost any side of a discussion with scripture.

What do you think Faith is?
To me it is not having all the answers it is having faith in something that you cannot prove.

To say that you know what God is saying and "any spiritual revelation cannot be of self" is dangerous.

Do you know much about psycology?
Our minds are infinitely complex.
To say that you have control of your mind and you know when it is or isn't involved in a revelation is quite amazing.

This sort of black and white thinking is what people out in the world cannot deal with.......It's christians who profess to have all the answers and know what God is saying all the time.
When christians start admitting that they don't have all the answers and their faith is just that "faith" (in something that cannot possibly fully understand) then I think all churches will start to grow.

How can we seriously say that we know what God is saying unequivocally? Emphatically?
Can we really understand exactly who God is?
No, I don't think so!

Should we stop trying?
Definitely not!
Should we tell others that we do know what God is saying all the time.
I don't think so.

It's this absolute truth that you think you have that worries me.

If you only said that you think that this night was from God instead of telling us that it was fact......
Then I would not have a problem with it.

Teackles,

MERCYPEACEGRACE said...

Teackles, please do not twist words around or put words that are not there. I think in stating 'We are by no-means faultless or immune to deception' that I have quite clearly stated that I am by no means faultless. However, I stand by what I said: Gods voice is intended to be heard, and He wants to be clearly heard, and it is right to be able to clearly hear from Him without doubting it is Him speaking.

Your faith in the Devils ability to take ownership of ones faith is astounding, true faith is not limiting God, trusting more in His ability to reveal truth then the devils ability to decieve, and being open to Him and always learning. Faith defies human logic, wisdom, and understanding.
One of the greatest weapons the devil will use to prevent Gods coming move is fear, and it is this fear, Teackles, in the guise of 'logic' or 'balance' that is actually an immence lack of faith, agreement with the Devil, and quite frankly, evil.

Also, I clearly did not say 'spiritual revelation cannnot be of self', I actually said 'supernatural revelation cannot be of self'. No supernatural revelation can be recieved from self. Now if your implying its from the Devil we shall discuss the fruit....

We shall never truly discover who God is, Praise Him, but we can emphatically, with appropriate testing, hear Him, this is a differential that must be made and is the privlege of all believers :)

Anonymous said...

I don't believe I was putting words in your mouth.

You said:
" We are by no-means faultless or immune to deception, but through many years of careful lessons and refinement have learnt to hear His voice."
Although you admit that "we" are immune you go on to tell us that "we" (or inthis case you)have learnt to hear his voice.
Right?

"Your faith in the Devils ability to take ownership of ones faith is astounding"
Who was talking about the Devil?
I never mentioned it.
Are you implying that I am decieved by the devil because I can admit to not knowing the truths about who God really is?
If God wanted us to know the whole truth he would come down and prove to everyone that he is real!

It's great that you think that you know what God is saying....but please don't tell me that I am putting faith in Satan because I have doubts.

I think that all christians have doubts and questions and are often too scared to voice or discuss them.

Even Jesus himself 2nd guessed God didn't he.
"Why have you forsaken me?"


"One of the greatest weapons the devil will use to prevent Gods coming move is fear, and it is this fear, Teackles, in the guise of 'logic' or 'balance' that is actually an immence lack of faith, "

Logic and balance = an immense lack of faith?
Logic and balance a weapon of the devil?
Since when did Satan own logic?

Sorry for the misquote.
Spiritual or supernatural.....Does it really matter anyway?

" I actually said 'supernatural revelation cannot be of self'. No supernatural revelation can be recieved from self."

How do you know that it is supernatural then?

Teackles,

MERCYPEACEGRACE said...

Yes, I have learnt to hear his voice, though the moment I think Im immune to deception I am infact decieved! But I affirm that yes, I know His voice.

I'm sorry if the mention of the Devil seemed harsh, I guess I assumed that you were implying we/I were being decieved in some way? I did not mean your putting your faith in the Devil, but that it is my experience that many people to do operate in there giftings and completly shun His Spirit or what He is doing out of fear of the devil, and it is limiting God in this way and in essence putting more faith in the devils deceptive workings then in God.
It's good to have doubts and questions, but do these doubts and questions come from a place of faith or fear? Teackles please tell me what it is you are actually fearful or concerned of?If it is not the devils deception, then what is it?
Logic, I believe, is a gift of God, but it must be in balance. If we try and discern or evaluate God or His workings based on our logic alone we have realy missed the boat! And I affirm what I said: I belive it is through human 'logic' and 'reasoning' aswell as fears that will hinder His next move.

Supernatural revelation is obviously beyond the natural, and somthing no person can do without the assistance of a powersource. Examples of it may be a word of knowledge (knoiwing somthign about another that you otherwise could not have known) or knowing other hidden things such as the future: these things have an origin beyond the natural and cannot originate within the human psyche.