WATCHMEN

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth."(Isaiah 62: 6-7)

Listen to this sermon:  The Divine Setting of Intercessors by Mike Bickle if you can. Below are the notes I took from it. I took notes coz it was timely confirmation God was giving me last year for the things He had put on my heart. In this post:

• Who are watchmen? Intercessors. Worshippers. Messengers.
• The Weapons of spiritual warfare: The Word, Worship through music and the arts, Prayer and fasting.
• What is the cry of the watchmen? What's the "New Song" being released?
• Application: A Call to Watch! - Time to seek. A call to pray. A call to fast.

Who are Watchmen?

In the Old Testament, like in the Scripture above, they are described as intercessors. They will never be silent day or night => they'll ever be praying. They remind the Lord of His promises (Isaiah 60-63). Their job requires persistence and perseverance.

• Luke 18- The Parable of the persistent widow. vs. 1"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. " Luke 17 is about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Through these parable God's saying: Though it seems like I'm not listening, I will answer speedily. So keep praying until the second coming. He also poses the questions "When I return will there be faith?"- will there be people agreeing with Him? Praying for justice.  "I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?"(Luke 18:8)
• Isaiah 62:6 -> I have posted/set-> Sovereign commission to individuals. He marks them. He convinces them. 24/7 prayer ministries rising up- a sign of the times. 2012- The year of prayer for the body of Christ. Church planting movement- New prayer meetings. This is the generation of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies- So many houses of prayer are being birthed.
• Ezekiel 22 - God is looking for intercessors to build a wall -A spiritual wall. To stand in the gap between God's grace and holiness. Grace and judgement.  A wall of intercession- To remind God of His promises. *Ezekiel 22: 30- “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one." 
• Ezekiel 13- False Prophets called out. vs. 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord...10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
• Worship- we declare who God is and/or Intercession- we declare what He said He will do. Both =>Agreeing with God. "Hephzibah"(Isaiah 61: 4) = my delight is in her. The watchmen must be anchored in the fact that God delights in us. Have to have a revelation of God's delight in us.

Ok. That's it with the notes. Watch this short clip for summary plus a bridge from the last post, Jesus is our mighty Intercessor. "Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us."(Romans 8:34b)

♫ Let the Watchers become Warriors let the men of God Arise! ♫

WaKiE! wAkIe! WATCHpeople!!! Are you standing at your post on the wall or are you sitting on the fence? It's time to RISE and SHINE!!! =)

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me." (Ezekiel 33:7)

So watchmen have the gift of prophecy. God tells them stuff/ shows them stuff not just for the purpose of intercession but also to warn people. If you read the rest of Ezekiel 33 they are held accountable to people's lives kinda. Well their job is to share the Word God gives them to share. You've heard the saying, with great power comes great responsibility. Well it's true. God gives the watchmen the ability to not just see the future but the power to change it's course -or deliverance of some people- by speaking life (intercession and giving warning to people). This takes total abandonment to God (laying our whole lives before Him and following Him all the way) and courage.

Watchmen are called to be warriors coz lives are at stake and they are fighting for Truth, Love and Freedom. But:"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)  What are the weapons of spiritual warfare then?

• The Word of God- Speaking the Truth.
• Intercession- Praying, fasting, praying in the spirit (tongues).
• Worship- Praising God for who He is through music: song, playing instruments and dance.
• "New Song"- Songs inspired by the Holy Spirit about God's attributes and/or what He is going to do based on His attributes (prophetic songs). This is a super-powerful weapon coz it's a combination of all of the above.

So what's the cry of the watchpeople? What's the "New Song" being released?
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God" (Isaiah 61: 2a)

1. The Day God acts is at Hand- The God of justice is about to shake things up and turn things around. Redemption!

"Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter. Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the Lord drives. “A Redeemer will come to Zion,And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord." (Isaiah 59: 14-20)

A great earthquake is coming to the West coast of America. There will be a great shaking and great awakening. When I first shared this people thought I was crazy and it wasn't even my vision, God gave Paul Benthin a vision of an earthquake in IV then revival happening after that (post: Listen with your heart). God gave me lots of confirmation in Scripture (prophecy) like the one above and in Revelation. And after that I got tons of confirmation from various sources. Like the visions the team from YWAM shared at IV Church. God gave them numbers: 80 million people in America coming into the Kingdom and 200,000 being sent out into the nations (revival happening and spreading throughout the world) post: The Harvest. And God told them to share this at college campuses on the West coast coz that's where revival will start, an earthquake will hit and it will spread across America and throughout the world. God gave me lots of prophetic words for "2012" and He later told me that they refer to the Hebrew year that started in September 2012 and overlaps into 2013. Times are changing!! Exciting!! 

♫ God take back the years that the enemy's stolen, Lord You are coming with a holy visitation. Sound the alarm. Awaken the watchmen. Open their ears. Let their voices be loud. We prophesied, You'll come to this nation. Touch this generation with a holy visitation. ♫

♫ We sing. We dance. We lift up our voices: Let Your Kingdom come down! ♫

2. Jesus, the bridegroom, is coming soon for His bride (rapture)
"Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations. The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’” They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted." (Isaiah 62: 10-12)

Winter break of '12 God gave me this song: Sound the alarm: The King is coming back. He's coming for bride - All dressed in white. He's coming for His bride -Pure and refined. Sound the alarm! I recorded it in the video below. (God gave me more revelation about what the rapture is coz it's not what most people think, in the post: To be human again and I have more confirmation links there too.)

APPLICATION: A CALL TO WATCH

So in the old testament the post for watchmen was for some people that God set apart for that work. They enjoyed intimacy with God, like Moses spoke to God like a friend. And it is out of this friendship, this intimacy (close relationship) that God shares His heart with them. But when Jesus came, the mighty intercessor, the veil that separated the commoners from the holy of holies was torn so we now have access to intimacy with God!!! We are just about to enter into a whole new world. God is about to pour our His Spirit like He never has before "No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." (Hebrews 8:11) So it's time to seek God like never before. It's time to wait on Him for the gift of His Spirit. His Spirit will help us get to know God better (intimacy and Wisdom), fill us with God's love (which will enable us to love God with our all and love others like Jesus did). God wants us. He loves us. Out of intimacy He will share His heart with us and give us the spirit of prophecy and spirit of intercession. So let's ask God to prepare us! Related posts: Time to seek, A Call to prayer, A Call to fast. 

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25: 1-13)

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

This video I made is my prayer. Lord prepare us to be a sanctuary for You! Dear friends lets fast and pray and seek God with all our hearts. His love is all we need. And His Spirit will guide us into all truth. A 40 day fast has been called starting April 8th, 2013. Here's the video if you wanna see it {the messages are in a series so you might want to watch the previous videos if you don't get that one. If you want. It may not be your style so you can take it from me. And please seek God for yourself about everything you hear from others). I know it sounds scary but there's various fasts you can do, like the Daniel fast. And God really does sustain you - His Word becomes like food. You can read this post for more info- Daniel Fast that's the first time I fasted for that long. Let's be set apart. God is singing over us: Come away with Me!

(Hosea 10:12)

"Sow righteousness for yourselves,

reap the fruit of unfailing love,

and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD,

until He comes

and showers his righteousness on you."

Feel free to share comments or questions.

Peace and love, Charlene :)