During the early summer of last year (2011) the Lord showed me some things about Butte that I have been reluctant to share. However, I believe the time has come, so here goes:
First, that big, nasty, prideful, feed-on-misery strongman that has ruled over Butte from the get-go (check out the two posts previous to this one) has been removed. How this happened, I don't know, but it looks to me like the Lord simply and sovereignly reached down and pulled it out. God's people have been praying for deliverance from this thing for decades -- probably over most of the 150 years Butte has existed as a city -- and I believe God has moved in answer to those prayers. The thing is gone! What I know is that last spring on Tuesday, May 31st ( the day after Memorial Day), during my morning quiet time, I realized that it simply wasn't there any more. Oppressive spirits like that are easy to sense, and it was simply gone. I haven't been able to reach out and touch it since that day.
That may seem strange to you, but before I step even further out on that prophetic limb, I need to talk about how God usually operates in this kind of thing. The best example we have is when God moved the Israeli nation into the promised land under Joshua. There are two things to notice here: 1) The first five years were full of victories that were based almost entirely on the miraculous power of God. He did things like chase the enemy soldiers with hornets and pour giant hailstones on them. He made the sun stand still so they'd have extra daylight to finish slaughtering enemy soldiers. Not only that, but rarely did the Israelis experience any casualties to speak of. This was God sovereignly moving to help His people and accomplish His purposes. Notice that "accomplish His purposes" phrase. God does exactly what He wants, His way and in His timing. Sometimes we get to be a part of that (Joshua and the Israeli army were given that privilege) and sometimes we don't. Sometimes He just moves unilaterally.
That brings me to point number two: When God gives us tasks to accomplish as part of His bigger plan, we had best stay focused and get the job done. This was true about the Israelis. God told them to completely destroy the people who were occupying The Promised Land, no exceptions, no mercy. They didn't do it. They had new farms, houses and businesses to see to and really preferred taking care of those things to the carnage of war. (Who wouldn't?) They decided they'd done enough, started settling in and went to sleep. War is no fun, but God had given them orders. As a result, the nations they didn't clean out later became oppressors, causing them no end of grief.
This is true in Butte. While the big guy has been pulled out and disposed of (like the big, powerful kings of Canaan were defeated under Joshua), there are still Canaanites in Butte-land. I'm talking about dark, spiritual powers (that served and worked in concert with the big guy that's now gone) that are still in place and still working their nastiness here where we live. I believe that even as God expected the Israelis to finish driving the nations out of Palestine, so He expects the Christians of Butte to do the warfare necessary to finish the job here. Are we going to say, "Yay! The bad guy is gone!" and then sit on our hands and go to sleep? Or, are we going to locate, root out and destroy every remaining stronghold of the enemy in our town? I hope it's the latter choice.
Are you up to it?
I know that it is my heart's desire to see the evil of the enemy undone, the misery healed, the twisted lives made whole in Christ. We still have a job to do, Christians. I also know that there are already groups of God's people around Butte doing this. Every once in awhile God gives me a glimpse of what He is doing through His people. May it continue and grow.
I'm writing this in February of 2012 and the newspaper has recently been full of the news that two corrupt judges here in Butte have been found out and are facing legal action. I believe that this is just the beginning and that God is beginning to take down one of those powers I mentioned -- in this case the corruption that is so rampant in our city/county government. May it continue until every corrupt official is exposed and righteous people have taken their places. I am also convinced that this "cleansing" is happening as a result of God's people banding together in prayer. The challenge? Let's not stop! We must keep on praying and seeking God for the cleansing of our government. We have to keep after it until every Canaanite is dead. (Keep in mind that the corruption mentioned above is only one of the local powers we face. There are others we have to deal with.)
God has some really big plans for Butte! I'll tell you about them next post.
That limb is getting longer and longer......:>)
First, that big, nasty, prideful, feed-on-misery strongman that has ruled over Butte from the get-go (check out the two posts previous to this one) has been removed. How this happened, I don't know, but it looks to me like the Lord simply and sovereignly reached down and pulled it out. God's people have been praying for deliverance from this thing for decades -- probably over most of the 150 years Butte has existed as a city -- and I believe God has moved in answer to those prayers. The thing is gone! What I know is that last spring on Tuesday, May 31st ( the day after Memorial Day), during my morning quiet time, I realized that it simply wasn't there any more. Oppressive spirits like that are easy to sense, and it was simply gone. I haven't been able to reach out and touch it since that day.
That may seem strange to you, but before I step even further out on that prophetic limb, I need to talk about how God usually operates in this kind of thing. The best example we have is when God moved the Israeli nation into the promised land under Joshua. There are two things to notice here: 1) The first five years were full of victories that were based almost entirely on the miraculous power of God. He did things like chase the enemy soldiers with hornets and pour giant hailstones on them. He made the sun stand still so they'd have extra daylight to finish slaughtering enemy soldiers. Not only that, but rarely did the Israelis experience any casualties to speak of. This was God sovereignly moving to help His people and accomplish His purposes. Notice that "accomplish His purposes" phrase. God does exactly what He wants, His way and in His timing. Sometimes we get to be a part of that (Joshua and the Israeli army were given that privilege) and sometimes we don't. Sometimes He just moves unilaterally.
That brings me to point number two: When God gives us tasks to accomplish as part of His bigger plan, we had best stay focused and get the job done. This was true about the Israelis. God told them to completely destroy the people who were occupying The Promised Land, no exceptions, no mercy. They didn't do it. They had new farms, houses and businesses to see to and really preferred taking care of those things to the carnage of war. (Who wouldn't?) They decided they'd done enough, started settling in and went to sleep. War is no fun, but God had given them orders. As a result, the nations they didn't clean out later became oppressors, causing them no end of grief.
This is true in Butte. While the big guy has been pulled out and disposed of (like the big, powerful kings of Canaan were defeated under Joshua), there are still Canaanites in Butte-land. I'm talking about dark, spiritual powers (that served and worked in concert with the big guy that's now gone) that are still in place and still working their nastiness here where we live. I believe that even as God expected the Israelis to finish driving the nations out of Palestine, so He expects the Christians of Butte to do the warfare necessary to finish the job here. Are we going to say, "Yay! The bad guy is gone!" and then sit on our hands and go to sleep? Or, are we going to locate, root out and destroy every remaining stronghold of the enemy in our town? I hope it's the latter choice.
Are you up to it?
I know that it is my heart's desire to see the evil of the enemy undone, the misery healed, the twisted lives made whole in Christ. We still have a job to do, Christians. I also know that there are already groups of God's people around Butte doing this. Every once in awhile God gives me a glimpse of what He is doing through His people. May it continue and grow.
I'm writing this in February of 2012 and the newspaper has recently been full of the news that two corrupt judges here in Butte have been found out and are facing legal action. I believe that this is just the beginning and that God is beginning to take down one of those powers I mentioned -- in this case the corruption that is so rampant in our city/county government. May it continue until every corrupt official is exposed and righteous people have taken their places. I am also convinced that this "cleansing" is happening as a result of God's people banding together in prayer. The challenge? Let's not stop! We must keep on praying and seeking God for the cleansing of our government. We have to keep after it until every Canaanite is dead. (Keep in mind that the corruption mentioned above is only one of the local powers we face. There are others we have to deal with.)
God has some really big plans for Butte! I'll tell you about them next post.
That limb is getting longer and longer......:>)
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