The Lord Speaks Through Whomsoever He Chooses

Today is moving day for me, which will mean time away organizing and doing what needs to be done. Just two days ago, the pain from my leg subsided. Praise be to God; it was a long three weeks, but I am grateful for His healing. His timing is impeccable.

In between packing and taking care of business that comes with moving, I have also been organizing articles to put on the new website (categorizing). Going through old files has been amazing.  I would like to share a couple of articles that where filed away, which I hope will bless the reader.

I have tried to find links, but some I could not find or else the domain was up for sale. With that being said, may the following cause you to draw nearer to our Lord. It is being posted exactly as it was written by the person who wrote it. The only thing that I have done differently is section up long paragraphs, making them shorter for easier reading and add pictures.

May the shalom of Christ Jesus/Yeshua be upon you.

Matt Sorger – September 2009

I feel strongly to share some things with the body of Christ as well as revisit a prophetic word the Lord gave me earlier in 2008. I feel it applies to some of the things we have seen take place within this past year as well as to where the church is at in this present moment.

A word was given to me from the Lord early in 2008 concerning the shakings that would occur in the body of Christ and what God was preparing the church for. This message was called There's a Shaking.

I have found that each year our ministry goes through a season of transition, shifting and divine alignment around the August/September time frame. Spiritually this has always been an important time for us. It is again this year. As I wait upon the Lord I sense a new shifting taking place. 

I believe God will solidify some things that He has been doing. I also feel people's hearts will go through another wave of sifting as motives, attitudes and ambitions are revealed by the Spirit of God. God can not bless selfish ambition. 

He can only bless the ambition to lift up the name of Jesus and make His name known. Self needs to be taken to the cross so that our spiritual foundations can be rock solid.

TESTED AND REFINED VESSELS

We must exalt and lift up the name of Jesus and Him alone. As we do, God will come in power and might and release His glorious manifest presence in our midst. Jesus longs to be glorified in the earth and He is looking for pure vessels that have been tested by fire. 

Pure-hearted people who will truly worship and exalt Jesus in everything they say and do, a people whose hearts are completely surrendered and given to God. God is sifting through all division within the heart and is allowing weak areas to be tested so that we will turn to Him with ALL our hearts and allow Him to fully rule upon the seat of authority within us -- our free will! 

As He takes rulership over every area of our heart and free will, our lives will become filled with His righteousness, peace and joy.

Here's a prophetic word the Lord gave me early in 2008. (Matt Sorger)

It's called There's a Shaking.

Recently, I had a dream in which I was preaching. In this dream, I'm shouting at the top of my lungs, "Everything that can be shaken will be shaken!" And I'm saying it over and over again. "Everything that can be shaken will be shaken! Everything that can be shaken will be shaken!" I'm booming this out in my sleep and I wake up hearing myself say, "Everything that can be shaken will be shaken!"

Another word God spoke to me at the beginning of this year was that there is "A Greater Sifting" still to come in the Body of Christ. This came to me in a vision in one of our meetings. 

A woman was standing in the back of the sanctuary and I suddenly saw her in a vision dressed as a bride. I saw a dove coming and landing upon her. Then I saw the dove driving the bride into the wilderness.

The Lord spoke to me and said, "Tell My people not to be shaken by the shaking that's coming." If there is a faulty foundation, it will be shaken, corporately and individually. If there is something not built by the Spirit of God, it will be shaken down to its foundations. 

Another time, the Lord spoke to me during a meeting in Texas and said, "It's time to re-strengthen the foundations."

The Lord is going to allow everything that needs to be uncovered and stripped away to be stripped. God is shaking local houses. God is shaking the corporate church. God is shaking individual lives. He's shaking everything that has not been built by Him. 

We can rejoice in this because the shaking produces a deeper level of purity. When that deeper level of purity is produced, like the olives being squeezed and pressed, it produces a pure oil. And as this purity is released, we become ready for the greater glory.

     1. God is about to invade His church. Jesus is inspecting His Father's temple. Some tables are going to be overturned this year. Don't be dismayed when you see this happen. It is the hand of the Lord. God is refining the inward motives of the heart. Any work done with a selfish, self-seeking motive will not survive the refining fire. Key Scriptures: Mt 21:12; 1 Cor 3:13, 4:5
 

     2. God is calling the church to return to and re-strengthen the foundations of our faith and personal walk with Him and our ministries. A refining fire is coming and anything not built on a foundation of love will not stand the testing. God is inspecting our works. He wants work motivated by first love, not empty activity. Some lampstands will be removed this year. Anything not built on love will be shaken. Key Scripture: Rev 2:4-5

God truly is allowing a deep sifting to take place in many of our hearts. I have been finding myself crying out to Him during times of prayer for the light of His Spirit to shine in every area of my heart. God allows this to happen to test our quality. God cannot build with materials that have not been tested and tried. 

His house cannot be built with wood, hay and stubble. It must be built with solid gold and precious jewels. We become that gold as we allow the refining fires of His Spirit to purge every area of our hearts and lives. 

This can be a painful process, especially when God reveals to us what has been deep inside of our hearts. This process brings a purging and a cleansing. But this must happen so that we can continue to move higher in God and carry the weight of His glory upon our lives.

If we are to truly carry the substance of heaven and move in His authority and power, our hearts must be tested and true. Our hearts must come forth as pure gold. There is no quick, easy way to do this. 

The process is the same for all of us. We must go through the fire and let God purge out everything that offends Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to raise up the standards and set the plumb line in our personal lives and ministries.

Do not be disillusioned by what you see happening in the body of Christ. Don't be shaken by the shaking. Don't let it rob you of your confidence in God and your faith and trust in Him. Man may fail you, but God never will. Just as the Lord allowed us to learn from the mistakes of Israel, so too can we learn from the mistakes, weaknesses and even sins of others. We can learn many things

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS?

We learn to take heed lest we also fall. We learn to humble ourselves before God and allow Him to search our own hearts, rather than pointing an accusing finger. We learn that anointing does not always equal character and that God chooses and uses imperfect vessels. 

We learn the importance of developing character and personal integrity in order to run the race for the long haul. We learn that gifting cannot take precedence over character. We learn that the enemy is truly looking for people to seize upon and devour. We learn that we must take every precaution and shut every open door to the enemy in our lives. 

We learn that we must deal even with the small cracks in our foundation. If we don't, the enemy will eventually find his way in to steal, kill and destroy. The only thing that will keep us for the long haul is a life of daily surrender, hiding His word in our hearts, staying filled with the Spirit, having a sense of both love and awe for God as well as keeping our lives open for godly counsel and input.

We learn that the church must be baptized in such a deep Christ-like love, that we can be transparent with one another and truly reach out for help when help is needed, rather than placing people on untouchable pedestals that set them up for a fall. We learn the importance of having sound, solid doctrine and theology. 

Not only is it enough to have personal integrity, but we must also have our lives deeply rooted in God's word so that we can rightly discern and divide the word of God. We learn the power of the simplicity of the gospel and keeping first things first: that Jesus died on a cross, was buried and was then raised from the dead for our salvation and has given us the wonderful Holy Spirit to empower us to live the life He has called us to live. 

We learn to keep the gospel centered on Jesus and keep the word as our solid foundation. We learn that we must never get puffed up with pride and think more of ourselves than we are.

As I said, we can learn a lot!

MAKE A CHOICE TO REMOVE UNNECESSARY DISTRACTIONS

As we draw near to God, allowing Him to search our hearts, I encourage you to remove every unnecessary distraction from your life. Technology can be great and used for many useful things. However, it also has a way of making our lives busier than ever before. 

With cell phones, text messaging, emails and more, it's easy for our minds to become so cluttered that we are no longer hearing the still small voice of God speaking to our hearts. 

I recently made a decision not to get emails through my cell phone. When I first set my phone up to monitor my emails it seemed like a helpful thing, until I became addicted to looking at my cell phone 24/7. When I woke up in the morning the first thing I would do is check my emails. 

At night before bed, checking emails. During prayer time, checking emails. One day I realized that my relationship with God was being affected. So I decided to simplify and limit my email viewing to my office computer. About a week after not receiving emails through my cell phone I realized my mind was clearer, my prayer time much less disturbed and my spirit more sensitive to God's Spirit. 

Whatever your clutter may be, clear it out of the way so you can build a strong relationship with God.

A WORD ON BIBLICAL RESTORATION AND HEALING

With the rise and fall of many public figures and Christian ministers, we need to embrace the biblical perspective of accountability and restoration. In a day where it seems biblical standards and morals are being tossed out the window and we are finding our Christian "heroes" aren't as heroic as we thought, we must ask ourselves the question, "What should our response be?" 

While working through feelings of disappointment, confusion, betrayal, sadness and even anger, we must rise to the occasion and respond in true godliness. I have spoken with several major leaders in the body of Christ, each with different personalities, temperaments and responses. Some say, "Off with their head! It's about time that heretic was exposed!" 

While others say, "We need to love and embrace and let them know we care." But what does the Bible say? It is clear that a standard of holiness, integrity and accountability needs to be upheld at all costs. But at the same time, our hearts must be for personal restoration in life of the fallen believer. 

While we uphold truth, we never stop loving, praying and bringing godly correction where needed. Scripture gives us a very clear guideline for our response. Galatians 6:1-5: You should read it. It instructs that those who are spiritual should restore the one in sin without a sense of superiority, lest you also be tempted. 

It's easy to point a finger. But you always have three pointing back at yourself. We are to help carry one another's troublesome, moral faults and scrutinize our own conduct. Another person's failure should cause you to search your own heart. If it doesn't, that's a good indication that you are operating in spiritual pride.

While we hold a person to a standard of righteousness, we also believe for God to bring restoration through true heartfelt repentance. We need to hold each other accountable in love, not a condemning spirit. 

Remember, the measure of judgment you give out to others is what will come back to you (Matt. 7:2). That being said, ministers who open doors to the enemy and influence the body of Christ in sinful ways need to sit down and allow God to sort through the issues of their heart. 

Something needs to be said when a major public figure goes through a time of personal devastation in an area of morality and simply continues on with their public ministry. Something is wrong here folks. Wrong examples are being set and Christians are starting to believe, "well if my spouse doesn't suit me anymore, I will just turn them in for a new one and carry on." 

Is anybody else shaking their heads in disbelief like I am? I am all for restoration, but there needs to be acknowledgment of wrong first and a sense of heartfelt repentance. Not, "My best days are yet ahead." God help us. We really do need a revival of the fear of the Lord.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Allow the Holy Spirit in this time to search your heart in a new, fresh way. Allow Him to expose any areas of weakness and any open doors or cracks in your foundation. Allow Him to truly deal with the root issues within your heart so the enemy can have no legal access way. 

As you spend time in His word and presence, I believe many will find healing from past offenses as bitterness and anger are repented of and turned away from. Many of you will find freedom from besetting sins as you take the measures you need to take to cut sin out of your life. 

Many will find freedom from the devil's lies as your mind is soaked in God's word. Many will find areas of your soul being restored as pains from the past are released and new life enters into you. Total healing and freedom require deep surrender of the heart to God to allow Him into every area. 

But as God causes your foundation to be solid and your heart to be as pure gold, you will be empowered to carry a new weight of His glory on your lives. Prepare yourself for His coming. Expect Him to draw near in your private prayer time. With a strong foundation of integrity, character and a deep relationship with God, there will be no limits to where God can take you!

(Matt Sorger - 2008)

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GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON'S ANGELIC VISITATION AT VALLEY FORGE
AND THE VISION OF THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES

This article is a reprint of a newspaper article first published in the NATIONAL TRIBUNE in 1859 and reprinted in 1880 (vol. 4, no. 12, Dec. 1880). Later reprinted in THE STARS AND STRIPES newspaper owned by the NATIONAL TRIBUNE, in 1931 and the latest printing on December 21, 1950. 

This article is printed in its entirety by permission of the NATIONAL TRIBUNE. The vision was related to a reporter named Wesley Bradshaw by an officer who served under General Washington at Valley Forge, named Anthony Sherman. In the vision, Washington sees three great trials to overtake the Union. 

These were the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the greatest threat, a war fought on the soil of the United States near the time of Jesus' return to reign on the earth. It is this third battle, that hold's our interest as the day draws near.

Washington Had Vision of Trials Facing Nation

For many years copies of Washington's vision at Valley Forge as related by one Wesley Bradshaw, told to him by Anthony Sherman, have been in existence. The earliest publication was in 1859, 1880, in 1931 and is being printed once more. THE STARS AND STRIPES, December 21, 1950.

The last time I ever saw Anthony Sherman was on the Fourth of July, 1859, in Independence Square. He was then ninety-nine years old, and becoming very feeble. But though so old, his dimming eyes rekindled as he gazed upon Independence Hall, which he came to visit once more. 

"Let us go into the hall," he said. "I want to tell you of an incident of Washington's life -- one which no one alive knows of except myself; and if you live, you will before long see it verified.

"From the opening of the Revolution we experienced all phases of fortune, now good and now ill, one time victorious and another conquered. The darkest period we had, I think, was when Washington, after several reverses, retreated to Valley Forge, where he resolved to spend the winter of 1777. 

Ah! I have often seen the tears coursing down our dear commander's care-worn cheeks, as he would be conversing with a confidential officer about the condition of his poor soldiers. You have doubtless heard the story of Washington's going into the thicket to pray. 

Well, it was not only true, but he used often to pray in secret for aid and comfort from God, the interposition of whose Divine Providence brought us safely through the darkest days of tribulation.

"One day, I remember it well, the chilly winds whistled through the leafless trees, though the sky was cloudless and the sun shone brightly, he remained in his quarters nearly all the afternoon alone. When he came out, I noticed that his face was a shade paler than usual, and there seemed to be something on his mind of more than ordinary importance. 

Returning just after dusk, he dispatched an orderly to the quarters of the officer I mention, who was presently in attendance. After a preliminary conversation of about half an hour, Washington, gazing upon his companion with that strange look of dignity which he alone could command, said to the latter:

The Vision

"I do not know whether it is owing to the anxiety of my mind, or what, but this afternoon, as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch, something seemed to disturb me. Looking up, I beheld standing opposite me a singularly beautiful female. 

So astonished was I, for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed, that it was some moments before I found language to inquire into the cause of her presence. A second, a third, and even a fourth time did I repeat my question, but received no answer from my mysterious visitor except a slight raising of her eyes. By this time I felt strange sentiments spreading through me. I would have risen, but the riveted gaze of the being before me rendered volition impossible.

 I assayed once more to address her, but my tongue had become useless, even thought itself had become paralyzed. A new influence, mysterious, potent, irresistible, took possession of me. All I could do was to gaze steadily, vacantly at my unknown visitor. Gradually, the surrounding atmosphere seemed as though becoming filled with sensations and luminous. 

Everything about me seemed to rarify, the mysterious visitor herself becoming more airy, and yet more distinct to my sight than before. I now began to feel as one dying, or rather to experience the sensations which I have sometimes imagined accompany dissolution. I did not think, I did not reason, I did not move; all were alike impossible. I was only conscious of gazing fixedly, vacantly at my companion.

"Presently I heard a voice saying, 'Son of the Republic, look and learn,' while at the same time my visitor extended her arm eastwardly. I now beheld a heavy white vapor at some distance rising fold upon fold. This gradually dissipated, and I looked upon a strange scene. 

Before me lay spread out in one vast plain all the countries of the world -- Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I saw rolling and tossing between Europe and America the billows of the Atlantic, and between Asia and America lay the Pacific. 'Son of the Republic,' said the same mysterious voice as before, 'look and learn.'

"At that moment I beheld a dark, shadowy being, like an angel floating in mid-air, between Europe and America, dipping water out of the ocean in the hollow of each hand. He sprinkled some upon America with his right hand, while with his left hand he cast some on Europe. 

Immediately a dark cloud raised from these countries and joined in mid-ocean. For a while it remained stationary, and then moved slowly westward, until it enveloped America in its murky folds. Sharp flashes of lightning passed through it at intervals, and I heard the smothered groans and cries of the American people.

"A second time the angel dipped water from the ocean, and sprinkled it out as before. The dark cloud was then drawn back to the ocean, in whose heaving billows it sank from view. A third time I heard the mysterious voice saying, 'Son of the Republic, look and learn.' 

I cast my eyes upon America and beheld villages and towns and cities springing up one after another until the whole land from the Atlantic to the Pacific was dotted with them. Again I heard the mysterious voice say, 'Son of the Republic, the end of the century cometh, look and learn.'

"At this the dark, shadowy angel turned his face southward, and from Africa I saw an ill-omened spectre approach our land. It flitted slowly over every town and city. The inhabitants presently set themselves in battle array against each other. 

As I continued looking, I saw a bright angel, on whose brow rested a crown of light, on which was traced the word "Union," bearing the American flag, which he placed between the divided nation, and said, 'Remember ye are brethren.' Instantly the inhabitants, casting from them their weapons, became friends once more and united around the National Standard.

"And again I heard the mysterious voice saying, 'Son of the Republic, look and learn.' At this the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean, he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia, and Africa. Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene: from each of these countries arose thick, black clouds that were joined into one. 

And throughout this mass there gleamed a dark red light by which I saw hordes of armed men, who, moving with the cloud, marched by land and sailed by sea to America, which country was enveloped in the volume of the cloud. And I dimly saw these vast armies devastate the whole country and burn the villages, towns, and cities that I beheld were springing up. 

As my ears listened to the thundering of the cannon, clashing of swords, and the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat, I heard again the mysterious voice saying, 'Son of the Republic, look and learn.' When the voice had ceased, the dark, shadowy angel placed his trumpet once more to his mouth and blew a long and fearful blast.

"Instantly a light as of a thousand suns shone down from above me, and pierced and broke into fragments the dark cloud which enveloped America. At the same moment the angel, upon whose head still shone the word "Union," and who bore our national flag in one hand and a sword in the other, descended from the heavens, attended by legions of white spirits. 

These immediately joined the inhabitants of America, who I perceived were well-nigh overcome, but who immediately taking courage again, closed up their broken ranks and renewed the battle. Again, amid the fearful noise of the conflict, I heard the mysterious voice saying, 'Son of the Republic, look and learn.' 

As the voice ceased, the shadowy angel for the last time dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it upon America. Instantly the dark cloud rolled back, together with the armies it had brought, leaving the inhabitants of the land victorious.

"Then once more I beheld the villages, towns, and cities springing up where I had seen them before, while the bright angel, planting the azure standard he had brought in the midst of them, cried with a loud voice, 'While the stars remain, and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last.' And taking from his brow the crown on which was blazoned the word "Union," he placed it upon the Standard, while the people, kneeling down, said, 'Amen.'

"The scene instantly began to fade and dissolve, and I at last saw nothing but the rising, curling vapor I at first beheld. This also disappearing, I found myself once more gazing upon the mysterious visitor, who, in the same voice I had heard before, said, 'Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus interpreted: Three great perils will come upon the Republic. 

The most fearful is the third, passing which the whole world united shall not prevail against her. Let every child of the Republic learn to live for his God, his land, and the Union.' With these words the vision vanished, and I started from my seat, and felt that I had seen a vision wherein had been shown me the birth, progress, and destiny of the United States."

"Such, my friends," concluded the venerable narrator, "were the words I heard from General Washington's own lips, and America will do well to profit by them."

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for His glory

Bonita                                  dovesofthevalleys4@gmail.com