7 Powerful Benefits of the Blood of Jesus
n the Scriptures, we find many benefits concerning what the blood of Jesus has done for us.
We overcome the devil and his works when we testify to what Jesus’ blood has accomplished.
We become like those believers who are already in heaven, having followed Him faithfully all the way: “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev. 12:11, NIV).
Jesus’ triumph over the powers of darkness is reinforced whenever we agree with and declare the benefits of His precious shed blood.
In Christ’s blood, we receive life that death cannot conquer.
Jesus has established a new covenant through His blood, and He intercedes on our behalf to enable us to enter more fully into His blood covenant with us. (See Romans 8:34.)
7 Benefits of the Blood of Jesus
Warning Dream: Do Not Be Ignorant of the Devil’s Scheme
Recently, I was given a stark dream in which I was given instruction in the wisdom ways of God for the purposes of prayer and to forewarn us so we do not get caught up in the enemy’s schemes.
Paul, the apostle, stated that we are not to be ignorant of the devil’s schemes. In my dream filled with dark clouds and shifty rolling atmospheres, I heard the penetrating voice of the Holy Spirit say, “Be careful in the coming months. There is a War of Words being waged!”
I woke up out of this encounter, knowing that this was a personal word for my own life and that I was to put a “watch over my own speech.” Yet, I also knew this word had ramifications for the body of Christ, and also that this battle would be fought on a national and international scene. We have entered into “A War of Words.”
Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit
Prophet: Allow the Holy Spirit to Do a House Inspection in Your Soul
The way of the Cross leads home and through Jesus, we each have a personal place of belonging. Our identity is not found in our giftedness but by being rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus. We need to keep the main and plain truths of the gospel central in each of our lives.
As sensitive, oriented believers, each of us needs to be a bit more like a rhinoceros—thick-skinned but with a big heart. For too long, the prophetic and prayer community has tended to be a bit too thin-skinned while carrying our big, compassionate hearts. I have learned through the peaks and the valleys of life and ministry that prophetic people just might overreact and go into isolationism, elitism or some other “ism” out of the sense of being rejected, due to the packaging of the gifting they carry. I have also found that my flow of revelation will slow to a trickle if I do not get back up when I have been knocked down.
By His Stripes We Are Healed
The truth is that Jesus was punished for our sin that we might be forgiven (see Isa. 53:9-12). He was wounded for our sicknesses that we might be healed. Isaiah 53:5 declares, “By his wounds we are healed.” He became poor for our sakes that we might have His wealth. Our Lord died that we might have His life. In fact, read all of Isaiah 53, as it is the ringing declaration of the divine exchange made on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
James Goll: 10 Tips to Remember Your Dreams
You can remember your dreams and receive the revelation God is giving you!
Some people tell me that they do not hear from God in their lives—period. Others say they simply can’t remember their revelatory dream experiences. Still others seem to remember only a fragment or portions of scattered images, which at the time do not seem to make much sense to them.
Let’s set the record straight with five points of truth:
— You were born for an interactive relationship with your heavenly Father.
— Your heart was created with a capacity to hear from God.
— You were designed to be a dreamer of dreams.
— You can receive and retain revelation.
— You are made to be a carrier and a dispenser of the revelation of God.
Courageous and Prophetic Women of Faith, Part 2 (New Testament & Beyond)
n the New Testament, we find many women who display aspects of every gift of the Spirit, whether or not they were aware of it.
For example, take the Samaritan woman at the well, whose name is lost to history (see John 4:7–29). Jesus singled her out and she is considered by many to be the first true evangelist in the Bible.
When she told the townspeople the Good News about the Christ, many of them believed.
Consider Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and cousin of Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus.
Both of these devout women were active in prayer, worship and faithful waiting on the Lord for the fulfillment of His prophetic promises. The interchange between these God-fearing women resulted in exuberant praises and prophesying concerning the destiny of Mary’s child, the Messiah Jesus. The magnificent prophetic exchange that unfolded is recorded in Luke 1:39–55.
In addition to these prophetic songs of Elizabeth and Mary in the first chapter of Luke, we also see mention of “a prophetess Anna” in the second chapter:
How the Holy Spirit Moves: Bringing Order Out of Chaos
In order to understand how the Holy Spirit moves, you must first learn what He loves and how he operates. The Holy Spirit loves messes.
Bringing order into chaos is His nature.
It doesn’t matter if the chaos is in your nation, your personal life, politics or your family. God brings order to chaos.
How do I know?
At creation, as the Holy Spirit was lingering over the formless nothingness, God spoke into being the world as we know it.
“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2, ESV).
The Spirit of God “loved” the chaos to life, transforming it from mess to magnificence.
The Moving, Renewing Spirit of God
Prophetic Word for 2022: The Era of the Holy Spirit and the Year of Upgrade
Since 1999, the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders has gathered some of the most respected prophetic voices from around the nation (United States) to pray and seek the Lord for a word for the next year. The following article represents our collective prophetic word of the Lord for 2022.
It was 22 years ago that this group started meeting together. Though the composition of this group has changed much over the years, as many of the founders have graduated on to their heavenly reward, there yet remains a faithful core of the original group. There has been an addition of many new strong prophetic voices. Cindy Jacobs remains as the convener and senior leader with other generals at her side. I, James W. Goll, remain, as one of the founders alongside Bishop Bill Hamon and others.
It is our conviction that we are to function as an Acts 13:1-3 group. This passage notes that it was the Holy Spirit releasing a prophetic word to the group, as opposed to the exclusive word of any one prophet. So, it is the consensus of our ACPE members that the Holy Spirit is speaking the following prophetic words to us.
It’s important to understand that all prophetic words need to be bathed in intercession. Our response, through prayer, helps words of blessing to come to pass, and can diminish or even avert words of judgment.
It is also important to note that God often speaks in seasons as opposed to calendar years. Many of the words given in the past are still being fulfilled even now around the world. So, the following is an overview of the ACPE word of the Lord for the calendar year of 2022, which is 5782 in the Hebraic calendar, and beyond.
For the Lord says, “This is a season where the Holy Spirit is particularly active with many powerful manifestations of His glory.”
This word came out over and over in our ACPE prophetic council. The operative word is that God is releasing new waves of His power throughout the world.
The Glory Shakings
Receiving Pure Revelation: Seven Points that Matter
God wants to reveal His heart to you.
He wants to speak to you specifically about your life. As you create space and time for Him to speak to you, He will also reveal things regarding your church, city, nation and other things that are on His heart.
Sometimes you are just to be an intercessor and sometimes more action is required.
But first you must position yourself to hear from Him.
“I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run'” (Hab. 2:1-2, NASB1995).
7 Points that Matter: Receiving Revelation
When God Draws Near, Everything Changes
When God draws near, everything changes!
Your agenda changes. Your program changes. Your opinion changes.
And most importantly, your heart changes.
When God draws near, your hunger and quest for greater intimacy with God is forever changed!
You desperately need God’s manifest presence.
Do you desire His presence more than anything else in this life?
It is often stated that His presence with you is His greatest present to you! In this season of giving and receiving of gifts, I can shout a loud “Amen” to that statement!
“Here’s the one thing I crave from Yahweh, the one thing I seek above all else: I want to live with him every moment in his house, beholding the marvelous beauty of Yahweh, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace. I want to contemplate in his temple” (Ps. 27:4, TPT).
The Quest for Greater Intimacy!
Courageous and Prophetic Women of Faith, Part 1 (Old Testament)
Women have been faithful and courageous champions over the centuries for the whole history of the people of God.
We do not know about as many of them as we could, because the (largely male) history writers have ignored or minimized their accomplishments.
Naturally, another reason we don’t know about all the great women of the past is that many of them were restricted from taking leadership. To some extent, this is still the case, which makes women’s accomplishments all the more notable.
We are all supposed to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God (see 1 Peter 5:6). By building a culture within the church of honor and relational authority, we can esteem one another across traditional dividing lines because, in Christ, there is no male or female (see Galatians 3:28). The simple fact of the matter is that in giving His gifts, God does not discriminate because of gender.
“In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants— men and women alike—and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:17-18, NLT).
Hope Restores in Every Situation
Every one of us goes through dark valleys and troubled times. But in Christ Jesus we have hope. And hope restores in every situation—no matter how dark it may seem.
To say that the last year has been challenging would be an understatement for most of the world.
On a national level, almost everyone has experienced a COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty. Added to that, you may have walked through political volatility or personal struggles like a job crisis, health challenges or relational struggles.
After you have walked with the Lord long enough, you begin to see the truth that the place of trouble always, always leads to a door of hope. Always.
God takes your deepest valley, your Valley of Achor, and He transforms it into a door of hope.
After the door of hope, Hosea says, comes joyful celebration: “She will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt” (Hos. 2:15, NASB1995).
You will sing and celebrate as Miriam did when God had worked a miracle and delivered the Israelites from Egypt, right through the midst of the Red Sea (Exod. 15:20).
Don’t Stop in the Middle
But too many people stop in the middle.
The Significance of Changing Garments
One of the most powerful themes I have observed in Scripture is “changing garments.” This principle is spiritual but manifests itself clearly in the natural. As you move from glory to glory and exchange the “old” for the “new,” there is a period of testing and vulnerability once the old is cast off and then finally the new is brought forth in due time, both sparkling and radiant—a testimony to transformation.
Let’s observe this principle at work in some of our most loved biblical heroes.
Changing Garments: Joseph, Ruth and Lazarus
We can start with the example of Joseph, who initially received a multicolored tunic that was supposed to be a symbol of favor and promise. The problem is that his brothers interpreted that garment as something else. In jealousy, they barely avoided murdering him and instead sold him into foreign slavery.
Then from slavery, he descended further when his Egyptian master unjustly cast him into prison. So, from being given a multicolored tunic to wearing prison garments, Joseph was tested. These circumstances also prepared him for the best change of garments so that when he was lifted from the prison to the palace, he could then wear royal garments in wisdom and humility.
We can continue with the example of Ruth, who, at the beginning of her story in Scripture, was married. I believe she was wonderfully married but her husband died, she became a widow and she dressed accordingly in widow’s garments.
Get Ready for Your Personal God Encounter
By the grace of God, my life has been filled with “God encounters”—God taking me to mountain tops, leading me through the valleys and walking with me in the small moments, every step of every day.
Really?
Yes, and you can live a life filled with personal God encounters too.
Just think about the experience of the disciples. Their lives had been transformed during three years of walking with Jesus.
They were fresh from the rollercoaster of losing their Master, then getting Him back. Now He was telling them it was better for them if He left because then they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Of all the rather incredible things Jesus had said to them, this may have been one of the most difficult to believe.
How could it possibly improve their lives to have Jesus’ substitute teacher instead of Jesus Himself?
Who Is the Apple of God’s Eye?
It seems as if God has been conducting a monumental chess game throughout the ages, waiting for the strategic moment in history to make His move. Yes, the playing board has been set and the pieces have been chosen. The call for watchmen is the strategic positioning of His intercessory knights and prophetic bishops being brought together for a sweeping move—one that all the world will observe closely. No eye will miss this mysterious and fascinating time. We must pray, therefore, for our eyes to be opened with spiritual understanding.
Seeing through God’s Eyes
After our move from Kansas City to “Music City,” the first conference that my wife, Michal Ann, and I hosted in Nashville was on “The Mystery of the Church and Israel.” Our friends Avner and Rachel Boskey of Final Frontier Ministries in the Beersheva region of Israel led the worship. During one of the worship times, I saw an open vision of an eye staring right at me. In the middle of this eye, I saw the Star of David. As I gazed more intently upon the vision, I saw a Scripture reference written in the middle of the Star of David. The Scripture I saw was Zechariah 2:8.
A Prophetic Word: It’s Harvest Time for Your Life!
I have a word of exhortation for you—God is about to exhale a blessing upon your life. Your harvest is right upon you. Yes, you heard me. It’s harvest time for your life!
Have you ever felt like giving up? Just don’t quit and don’t give up. God wants to give you a “finishing anointing” to complete your assignment or task and finish it well!
I have a word of exhortation for you—It’s Harvest Time for Your Life!
Conviction: The Key to Revival
Revival depends on repentance. Repentance requires conviction of sin. Bringing conviction of sin to individual men and women is a vital aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry.
Many believers have written and preached and taught about the multifaceted ministry of the Holy Spirit but I believe that His ministry of bringing the conviction of sin has often been neglected.
Revival Results from Conviction
Watch out when the Spirit comes into your world with conviction “concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8, ESV)!
His conviction is irresistible, both positive and negative senses. He will put His mighty thumb down hard on your self-important sin and He will cause you to see it as you have never seen it before — as utterly offensive in the light of the perfection of your Creator.
He will also supply you with supernatural grace so that you can respond properly, even to a crushing revelation. For your sake, and far beyond what you deserve, He brings the overwhelming love of God to bear against your sin, forgiving you and pulling you up out of it.
He doesn’t come to destroy you; He comes to save you.
Flowing in the River of God
A river is a source of life. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. Jesus told His disciples that if we believe in Him, “rivers of living water” will flow out from within us, from our hearts.
“Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart'” (John 7:38, NLT).
As followers of Christ, we are blessed with this supernatural flow in our lives. Let’s come step into the river of God. Let’s wade in further. Let’s swim deep in the river of God!
River of Living Water
Jesus was led by the Spirit to do what the Father was doing. He was grounded in the Word of God and He was sensitive to the flow of the anointing coming upon Him and through Him.
What is the anointing? It is God’s power released to accomplish His supernatural purposes. It can manifest like a feeling, a surge of authority or a presence of calm and peace that comes upon you.
15 Keys for Interpreting Your Dreams
Walking in the prophetic language of dreams is a form of tapping into the mind and heart of God, and can be an exciting and exhilarating journey. But understanding and interpreting your dreams, and other revelatory spiritual encounters, can often be a complex and even confusing process.
I encourage you above all else to keep interpretation simple! Keep the big picture of the dream and overarching theme in mind.
With too much detail, you could miss the interpretation. This is a lot like not seeing the forest for the trees.
Here are some basic principles of dream interpretation, presented in concise statements that will help bring clarity to the revelation you receive.
15 Keys for Interpreting Your Dreams
The Importance of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles
The following article is adapted from author and prayer leader, Sandra Teplinsky of Light of Zion. The original article is titled 10 Fascinating Facts about Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). You may visit their website at ligthofzion.org to view the full article or to sign up for their mail list.
The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, the Feast of Ingathering, is the feast that the Jewish people celebrate every year in the fall, marking the end of the harvest time and representing the shadow of something yet to come. What could it be? Of the three great feasts, this feast has yet to find its greater fulfillment under or in the New Covenant but it is coming. It is the final harvest of souls, the great ingathering.
Yes, we are right at the door, at the beginning of the greatest global harvest the world has ever seen.
Five Major Points Concerning Sukkot
Can a Nation Be Born in a Day? (Hint: Yes!)
Can a nation be born in a day? When God asks an outrageous question, He already knows the answer; and usually it is to make a strong point.
In this case, certainly one point is — “Is anything impossible for God?” And the obvious answer to any student of God’s Word is an obvious, “No!”
However, another more important point in the case of this question posed by God is — “Do I keep My promises?”
“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be given birth all at once? As soon as Zion was in labor, she also delivered her sons” (Isa. 66:8, NASB).
A Nation Born in a Day
I was born in 1952, only four years after the rebirth of the “land,” the nation of Israel, which occurred in 1948 so I can almost say this happened in my lifetime.
People worldwide have asked me, “In the past fifty years or so, what is God’s greatest prophetic event?”