The Heat is On (7-28-11)
I got this word initially seeing a picture in the Spirit of a person who is writing a story for a newspaper, and it’s in the evening. The deadline to have the story finished so it can be published is at midnight, so he’s under a lot of pressure. I see him working at a desk, and there are a lot of distractions and things happening around him to try and keep him from reaching the deadline. He’s having to press in and keep the pressure on himself to not let those things stop him, so that he can finish the story by midnight and then publish it. This also has come as a result of the fulfillment of the prophetic words that have been given over the last few months about all the things in nature that are happening, and that God is using those things to speak to us. Back on 3/9/11, I gave a prophetic word concerning the imminent beginning of a season of natural disasters that would begin on 3/11/11, which is when the earthquake and tsunami in Japan happened. From that time forward, there’s almost not been a day, particularly in this country, when there hasn’t been some kind of record phenomenon in terms of nature. There were the tornadoes, there was the flooding of the Mississippi River and other flooding, there was the drought and the wildfires in Arizona, New Mexico, and different states, late snowfall, and then there’s been this remarkable heat wave that’s gone on the last few weeks. Back in late May, I reiterated that word, that as we were getting through the whole season of tornadoes, we were going to see record heat waves, record droughts, and those kind of things. When I got this word on the 11th or 12th of July, the excessive heat warnings that were happening across the country were amazing. There were 36 states under excessive heat warnings – places like Wilmington, Delaware had a 124 degree heat index, in Newark, New Jersey there was 108 degrees actual heat, it was 105 or 106 in New York City, in Minnesota it was over 100 – just a remarkable phenomenon of a record heat wave, especially in light of all the states it has affected. In light of that, God really began to speak to me on the 11th and 12th, that the heat is on, and that God was trying to speak through these heat waves, something very prophetic and strong to His church. The word is that we are in a pressure cooker. The heat is on and the clock is about to strike twelve. Don’t suffer heat exhaustion, and don’t have a stroke. You’re about to reach the deadline, so don’t be surprised at the fiery trial that you are encountering. You are at an opportune time and the deadline is right in front of you. Don’t allow the longing for relief from the heat and pressure from the enemy to cause you to shrink back. The storyline whenever there is excessive heat is usually “But it Feels Like…” This is referencing the heat index. You’ll always hear meteorologists or reporters say, “it’s so and so degrees, but it feels like…something different.” The word is, don’t let what it feels like cause you to wither underneath the heat. Stay hydrated in the Holy Spirit so that you don’t get heat exhaustion, which is to get discouraged, or heat stroke, which causes you to go into a spiritual coma, where you’re dead in the water. The heat is on, because your faith and the promises of God, and your passion to see the purposes of God fulfilled have put the heat on the enemy. He must try to derail you, for he too can see the deadline approaching. Once the deadline hits, and the God story is written and published, it will be too late for him. The heat is on because the devil wants his story written, and his story published about your life, not God’s. Don’t be surprised or discouraged because the heat is on. Keep the heat on Him. Don’t slow down. Don’t give in to heat exhaustion or discouragement. Don’t have a stroke, that is go into some kind of spiritual coma, where you just stop. Don’t give in to the “but it feels like.” We are at an opportune time. We are in an eleventh hour season. The enemy knows it. He is desperate, and will throw acts of desperation at you. That’s what the heat is. We must out-desperate him and keep the heat on until we see the purposes of God fulfilled in your life. Your heart and your desperation for the presence of God and the purposes of God must exceed his desperation to stop you from getting there. It’s time to fight fire with fire, heat with heat – the building up of heat of a burning heart on fire for God’s presence and God’s purposes. It’s time for backfires in your heart and in your life to be built that are so consuming that there is no wood, hay and stubble left for the enemy’s fire to consume. In Shakespeare’s King John, he wrote this: “Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire; threaten the threatener; and outface the brow of bragging horror.” It’s very important that you fight fire with fire, and that instead of slowing down through heat exhaustion, or giving up by having a heat stroke, now is the time when the heat is on you to put the heat on the enemy. Now is the time to fight the fire with fire. Now is the time to build this backfire in your own life so that when the enemy approaches you, the wood, hay and stubble in your flesh has already been consumed by your fire for God, so there’s nothing left for the fire of the enemy to consume. It’s time to get fired up. Don’t hesitate, throw yourself on the altar and be a whole burnt offering that turns the heat up on our enemy until he flees. There are a couple of key scriptures to help you walk through this time of experiencing the heat of the enemy. One is from 1 Peter 4:12. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing.” The enemy certainly put the heat on Jesus to try to keep him from reaching the cross in all the things that He went through, especially the week of Passion. “But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing.” Keep the heat on the enemy. “So that at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” This is all about the glory of God in your life. This is all about the presence and the promises of God in your life. Don’t stop. Put the heat on the enemy. Keep on rejoicing. Keep on moving. Keep on pressing in until you see the revelation of the glory that Jesus has promised you. The other scripture is Hebrews 10:35: “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.” This is all about you receiving what was promised and the enemy trying to keep it from happening here at the eleventh hour. “For in yet a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if He shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Make sure in this season you don’t shrink back. The enemy’s throwing everything at you because he knows that you’re about to reach the deadline. The clock’s about to strike twelve, and you’re about to see the fulfillment of the prophetic promises God’s given in your life, and the glory of God in your life. The God story about you is about to be published, and the enemy sees it and he wants to stop it. Verse 39: “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the possessing of the soul.” Dear brothers and sisters, the heat is on. Now is not the time for you to slow down, to want relief. Now is the time for you to put the heat on until you reach that deadline and God’s story about you is published.