THE GOLD AND THE GLORY [GOD'S LITERAL PRESENCE AMONG WORSHIPPERS]

I am passing along to you the following account from Chuck Pierce. It details a supernatural manifestation of God's presence among worshipping, penitent people. I say "penitent," because only when we get low and humble ourselves, does God disclose his glory.

I was in a similar supernatural setting among intercessors seeking God's intervention in our nation's election in Waco, Texas, in November 2004. We prostrated ourselves before God to acknowledge his holy presence.

A very strong fragrance of incense suddenly manifested in the front of the church for about ten minutes.

The Lord gave me Rev. 8:3-5 to explain the phenomenon. We had the assurance the election would go the way God desired.

I was speaking at a prophetic meeting in Arkansas just recently when the presence of God became so thick it felt like a river's current running around my legs.

People were obviously responding to God's manifest presence with simultaneous laughter and tears.

I began to see that the river of God's glory, His awesome signs and wonders witnessed in bygone eras, a river that has been running underground unseen, is about to erupt again to the surface!

The golden rain which appeared in the Chicago church was a sign. What does it mean? For one thing, it means that Jesus is worthy of glory, and in an earthly way, of riches (Rev. 5: 12). God wants money to be laid at Jesus' feet. Why? Does God need it? No, he can make more… but we need to give it as an act of worship and we need to be free of covetousness or greed.

Gold is precious to men but God has so much of it that heaven's streets are paved with it. Gold represents the honor due King Jesus, the majesty and excellence of his holy and joyous realm. The gold also symbolizes the end-time transfer of wealth which is being stored up for the righteous in these last days. This prophetic plunder from the enemy's camp is the provision for the righteous to inherit the earth and to partner with God's holy prophets and strategic apostles, in order for the Great Commission to be fulfilled in our day.

I believe the gold is also a sign of a fresh release of heaven's greatest treasure, the knowledge of the Lord as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, with his gifts of power, revelation, and wisdom.

Gold symbolizes glory. 1 Peter 1:7 says gold is purified by fire and as such is a symbol of true faith that has stood the test. There are "degrees of glory" awaiting God's saints who persevere, according to 1 Peter 4:13.

Suffering precedes glory, if we keep the faith of God in a pure heart. Suffering while abiding in settings of mutual respect for others is a prerequisite to greater glory being revealed among us (1 Peter 5:1). What degree of glory are you expecting?

> Supernatural signs are manifestations of divine grace. They are tokens of an invisible kingdom becoming momentarily visible. They reveal God at work as he invades our time-space world to confirm that heaven is drawing near and his kingdom is at hand.

Signs, although spectacular, do not replace the need for pursuing righteousness, or faithfully witnessing, or obeying the word of God. They do testify to God's kingdom, power, and glory being near and they do help generate faith and expectancy in God's people. We need signs and wonders to startle people from their slumber and to alert us to pay attention to His Word.

Signs, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit are like credentials (Hebrews 2:4) that attest to the authenticity of the person being sent by God. The credentials being carried by prophets today have been earned keeping the faith while enduring suffering. They are shields of gold worn on weathered coats. More than titles that impress mere people, these badges of authority are recognized by angels (both holy and unholy) and these agents of heaven's court are being backed up by heaven's resources.

The Church is in an incredible season of change. I believe we are all sensing those changes in us and around us. In one of our prayer meetings at Glory of Zion, at the beginning of December, I saw "great atmospheric changes in the heavens that would affect the earth realm." We are hearing about those changes in the natural as well as the spiritual.

Actually, the tsunami that swept through Southeast Asia occurred during the first month of this four month time frame. Many people do not relate what happened on the earth to what was going on in heaven. The heavens are changing.

I thought an article by Robert Roy Britt on February 18, 2005, "Brightest Galactic Flash Ever Detected Hits Earth," was very interesting:

"A huge explosion halfway across the galaxy packed so much power it briefly altered Earth's upper atmosphere in December, astronomers said . . .

"The commotion was caused by a special variety of neutron star known as a magnetar. These fast-spinning, compact stellar corpses -- no larger than a big city -- create intense magnetic fields that trigger explosions . . .The blast was 100 times more powerful than any other similar eruption witnessed . . . No known eruption beyond our solar system has ever appeared as bright upon arrival. The blast originated about 50,000 light-years away and was detected Dec. 27 . . .

"Gamma rays are the highest form of radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes X-rays, visible light and radio waves too . . . The Sun is a middle-aged star about 8 light-minutes from us. It's tantrums, though cosmically pitiful compared to the magnetar explosion, routinely squish Earth's protective magnetic field and alter our atmosphere, lighting up the night sky with colorful lights called aurora . . .

"A similar [magnetar] blast within 10 light-years of Earth 'would destroy the ozone layer,' according to a CFA statement, 'causing abrupt climate change and mass extinctions due to increased radiation.'"

Scientifically, there is no clear correlation between the tsunami and galactic flash hitting the earth. However, it's important to understand that the heavens and earth are changing, and the atmosphere of earth is changing rapidly in the natural. As we intensify our seeking of the Lord, not only will passion increase, but we will also understand that the heavenlies are coming closer and invading the earth. We are entering a supernatural dimension.

A very interesting supernatural phenomenon happened while I was ministering with Robert Stearns this past weekend in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Robert is a well-known worship leader and prophetic minister in the Body of Christ. (Many of you know Robert was one of the leaders who called the Body of Christ to pray for the peace of Jerusalem last October. This connected over 70,000 churches.) He, JoAnn McFatter, and I were ministering in a conference near Chicago called "Open the Gates." Last year I knew God was saying that Chicago was one of the cities He was focused on in our nation.

I ministered last Thursday night on the changes that are coming into the earth. I spoke from John 2 on the changing of the water to wine at Cana and how this began the Lord's ministry of miracles, the disciples believing in a new way, and glory manifesting in the earth realm for individuals to see.

"Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He made the water into wine. A certain nobleman approached Him there asking Him to heal his son, who was in Capernaum."

I began to declare that God was coming AGAIN to places and people He had visited before to fulfill purposes that had never been fully fulfilled. This was Jesus' second sign in the earth realm. I actually believe that once the heavens have penetrated our lives and the atmosphere of the territories of the earth, that they are more easily penetrated AGAIN.

The next morning I spoke on the times and seasons and how sound was invading the earth. That afternoon the conference concentrated on the watchman anointing in relationship to Israel.

On Friday night Robert and the team from Eagles Wings began to lead worship. If you have never been in a meeting with this group, then you have missed an incredible dimension of corporate worship. I would encourage you to be a part of their future gatherings. Robert Stearns can guide a group into the heavenlies in a very peculiar way. His incredible ability to produce songs on the piano and lead a team in corporate ascension is amazing. JoAnn McFatter can sing and express what heaven looks like and the activity that is occurring.

While we were worshiping, there was an awesome presence of God, and Robert invited people to come to the altar to repent (or change their minds). As people began to come forward, the atmosphere electrified in the venue, Living Water Community Church, pastored by Ken Hansen.

JoAnn began to sing from Psalm 133 about the dew of heaven coming down in the midst of unity. I believe unity occurs when we are in an environment where we are one with the Lord. Unity is not all of us simply getting together. Nor is unity all leaders thinking the same way. Unity occurs when God ordains a time frame to meet with Him and we are all in one accord.

I do not say this lightly: THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN OPENED AND GOLD BEGAN TO SNOW DOWN UPON US. The person behind me began to yell, "There is gold falling from heaven!" I have been in places where gold was manifested -- it was in teeth or on people's hands and clothes. This was different! This was as if we were in a gold snowstorm. The gold had a wet type of feeling but did not seem to rest on the people. Rather, it flooded and filled the atmosphere. The gold was penetrable instead of just physical. This went on for 20 minutes. Then the atmosphere became fully clear.

> The presence of God was so strong that you were either expressing yourself in weeping or in awe -- on your face, on your knees, or some posture of reverence. However you were expressing yourself, the awe of God was being heard in the people, the instruments, and the worship leading. The Glory of God had entered in from the heavenly window and was pouring like the dew of Hermon down upon us. The people truly entered into the joy of God coming again.

This is a year of the open window of heaven. As I have written, this is a year of the HEI of God. The Hebrew letter HEI looks like a window. When studying this word, both wind and sound blow from heaven through the window into the earth realm to bring change.

Declare that you are willing to change and watch your atmosphere begin to be filled with God's presence. God does not produce signs and wonders from heaven as ends in themselves. They are released to bring faith to His people and those around them -- whether believers or unbelievers.

This is the year of the SAMEKH of God, or things coming full circle. This is the year to break old cycles. Ask the Lord to come again and break you out of old cycles. Ask Him to allow you to experience His Glory so your faith will explode. Come, Lord Jesus! May you enter into the fullness of this year of Samekh Hei!

dear precious bro,

hOW i WISH--99%, THAT i COULD bear hug the pain and distress and all the conditions contributing thereto away.

I wish, a bit that more than 1% were wholesale siding with God on your tuition but I can't well handle watching other's pain. I'm better--I don't want to quite 100% bleed out in their behalf on the spot. But It still gets to me easily from all my pain tuitions.

I certainly have had endless and intense feelings of the same sort on the same issues.

Several different times in my life, every area of my life seemed to go to blazes in a shattering hand basket. And to stay that way for years. I've been catatonic for hours at a time. . . . numb with the waves of devastation. And all God would say was: Praying 5 hours a day; fasting weeks at a time. All seemingly for nothing detectable in terms of result month after month, year after year.

Not an easy tuition.

And telling God He could snap His fingers and achieve the same result, couldn't he--why did we have to do it the long hard way--houw about the condensed, JUST ADD WATER way.
He knows best. I had to get more fully to the place where I could at least choose to say and confess that. Not sure that speeded up things at all but it did seem to help.But even that had to be His work. I couldn't even drag myself there.

The interminable waiting was certainly a very pointed part of the sharp stabs of the fiery furnaces.

However, I could not have Loved the Chinese people in the Mainland as He enabled me to do, had I not been through it. And most people said I was the most loving person they knew BEFORE that flong fiery furnace just before going over.

But I knew it was many orders of magnitude more like Christ because of that long hideous fiery furnace.

BTW, I don't think it bothers him super enormously if we have hhonest, fits of wailing and screaming at Him as long as somewhere we still have a heart to Know Him and submit to Him ultimately. He knows our hearts anyway.

[Sorry for typing glitches--in a hurry and computer does so many somethings in the morning that the text appears on the screen sometimes a minute or so after typing it.]

There's just evidently NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CROSS,

Chuck Pierce is probably a functional schizophrenic.

Says Chuck," I say "penitent," because only when we get low and humble ourselves, does God disclose his glory."

Kinda like with ol' Paul, the grumbling Israelites and the prophets of Bael?

"I was in a similar supernatural setting among intercessors seeking God's intervention in our nation's election in Waco, Texas, in November 2004."

Chuck, you weren't in a supernatural setting.

A very strong fragrance of incense suddenly manifested in the front of the church for about ten minutes.

The Lord gave me Rev. 8:3-5 to explain the phenomenon.

Chuck, you put on too much Aramis.

We had the assurance the election would go the way God desired.

Was that in held in doubt by you?

I was speaking at a prophetic meeting in Arkansas just recently when the presence of God became so thick it felt like a river's current running around my legs.

A thickening of God's presence? Now that is an unusual sensation for sure.

I began to see that the river of God's glory, His awesome signs and wonders witnessed in bygone eras, a river that has been running underground unseen, is about to erupt again to the surface!

Uh uh.

Now I see. Chuck you're either schizoid or a shyster.

The gold also symbolizes the end-time transfer of wealth which is being stored up for the righteous in these last days.

The Bible has no such teaching as an end-time transfer of wealth. Your 'patient endurance' might run a little thin there Chuck.

This prophetic plunder from the enemy's camp is the provision for the righteous to inherit the earth and to partner with God's holy prophets and strategic apostles, in order for the Great Commission to be fulfilled in our day.

"Prophetic plunder?" Chuck, your gonna get yo' head chopped off.

The credentials being carried by prophets today have been earned keeping the faith while enduring suffering. They are shields of gold worn on weathered coats. More than titles that impress mere people, these badges of authority are recognized by angels (both holy and unholy) and these agents of heaven's court are being backed up by heaven's resources.

You are not a prophet Chuck, and you are not backed up by heaven's resources.

In one of our prayer meetings at Glory of Zion, at the beginning of December, I saw "great atmospheric changes in the heavens that would affect the earth realm."

Chuck you didn't see squat.

I actually prophesied that over the next four months

You are not a prophet Chuck.

Scientifically, there is no clear correlation between the tsunami and galactic flash hitting the earth.

No clear correlation? Chuck, you make me laugh.

As we intensify our seeking of the Lord, not only will passion increase, but we will also understand that the heavenlies are coming closer and invading the earth. We are entering a supernatural dimension.

Poor Chuck, he thinks the heavenlies are coming closer and invading the earth. I bet that keeps him up at night.

Chuck, I don't know who I believe less, you or Joseph Smith.

THIS IS THE YEAR OF "SAMEKH"....this is a year of the HEI of God.....This is the year of the SAMEKH of God,....the fullness of this year of Samekh Hei!

Now I thought this was the year of 'overflow'!

On the subject of the miraculous, and direct heavenly intervention into our physical world...

I will readily acknowledge first, that it does happen in the "here and now" and that although there are hucksters charlatans, phonies, and deceivers who basically care only to fleece the gullible and vulnerable at the expense of how others perceive us as future residets of God's kingdom, the reality is that Miracles occur far more often than many of the Methodists, Baptists, Wesleyans, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, E. Orthodox, and other "conservative" sects and denominations among us might wish to believe.

Such events are also subject to sleight of hand and evilly supernatural counterfeit periodically, and therefore extra stringent scrutiny is not unwarranted, lest we go seeking after signs and wonders like an "adulterous generation".

They probably happen less often than Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, Evangelical, Foursquare Gospel, Nazarene, and other so-called "Charismatic" denominaations would like to believe.

Even that which is utterly genuine can be "hijacked" or co-opted, compromised, leavened, inhabited by misdirection, and end up becoming that which does not serve the most High.

Becoming bitterly divisive, or critical of reported events - whether they are corporate or individual is counterproductive to the life and health of the body of Christ and our ministry as His hands extended here in a lost and dying world. I believe it is better to reserve judgment, immerse ourselves in Scripture (without an agenda), and send up earnest prayers and petitions before the throne of our King.

If we are faithful to do those things, He will bring justice and His will in our midst. Those things which are sourced in Him, in His Spirit...no weapon will prosper raised against them, or against His people who do what they do in His Holy name.

Twenty years ago, I was living in the country of Denmark, boarding at a Christian school with about 60 other students in my general age range. One was from Canada, one from Germany by way of Norway and Lapland, four (including me) were from the USA, and the rest were from all across Denmark.

The men had their dorm areas and the ladies theirs, we attended worship/prayer in the morning, had meals together in a dining hall, and were split amongst a variety of two to four classes together throughout the day. Away from classes we became well and closely acquainted, often went into the small village nearby, and recreated as friends in general. Sometimes groups of students would go to various churches or cafes in towns anywhere between 20 minutes and 90 minutes' drive distance, sing, speak and testify as an informal, loosely knit group of young evangelists.

I knew all my fellow students - some better than others. One girl - Lena - a sweet, kind-hearted, always smiling or laughing sort with a head covered in a mass of medium brown curly ringlets - was always a fun person to be around, a real blessing. Lena had a kind of funny walk - a "hitch" to her getalong, so to speak. I seldom laid any mark to it, but one day we were seated in the community "living room" of the school talking, and she asked me why I never had asked her about it. Almost everybody else had, it seemed - at least those who did not already know.

It was a birth/growth "defect". She had been born with one leg noticeably shorter than the other, and her legs did not grow at an equal rate as she matured, compounding the challenges. On top of that, she suffered from what I think would translate Danish-to-English, as a slight form of hip dysplasia (one leg - the shorter one - not being entirely well secured in the hip socket). Altogether, kind of a troublesome scenario for her.

She had always worn shoes of unequal thickness, ever since she began to first walk. As she grew older, the thickness gradually increased, even as the growth of her already short leg failed to keep pace with its mate. She took off both shoes quite unabashedly, and handed them to me for examination, quite composed and matter-of-fact all the while. I was impressed by her good nature (I felt sure that I could not have dealt as well with such thing) but she remained casual about it, for she had known nothing else.

She was happy in fact that she could effect a more or less normal walk; after all, many people had it much worse. Their feet were twisted or drawn, many could not walk at all - so how bad was it for her? But there was still some pain behind her maturity and serene demeanor. I knew som cruel-tongued children had had their go at her in her elementary school days; I was not so mean myself, but I well knew the type. They inhabit every playground of every school in every land...

Less than one week later, an "evangelie's gruppen" went to a small town 45 minutes away to sing and play for, evangelise and pray with the people of the village and surrounding farmlands. There was even supposed to be a guest speaker of some repute. I took a pass for some reason I have long since forgotten, but Lena went along.

I saw her again not two minutes after she walked in the front doors of the main building of our little school. You couldn't miss her, really. Her whole face was supernaturally aglow; her entire countenance. It was almost difficult to look at - except it wasn't. She had such a pretty face. Oh, not like a model or some such- just wholesomely pretty with a bit of an angelic or cherubic quality. She was glowing like a backlit Botticelli, or Rafaello painting right out of the Uffizi gallery.

"I'm healed! I'm healed! I'm whole!" she exclaimed chattering warmly and joyfully. "Jesus healed me! I'm not sick anymore!"

I greeted her with a hug, and very nearly got the stuffing squeezed out of me for it as she continued to explain.

They had been at the meeting singing and praying, some people had been lead to Christ and prayed to receive Him into their hearts, the worship had continued on, and been (to use a current phrase) "off the hook" or very deep and quenching to the sould, I would guess. At a point someone laid hands upon her, simply praying in a more general manner and the Holy Spirit had fallen in force. She was not "slain" in the Spirit as some articulate such a phenomenon but the hand of the Lord moved perceptibly and tangibly.

"My legs! My legs! They're both the same, they're both the same! God made my legs even!"

Her excitement was too much to contain. Besides that, she was telling the truth. She had ambled up to me with an uneven gait - if slightly different than her usual, but I did not notice that. Then bracing herself with one hand against a windowsill, or doorjamb, she reached down and pulled off both her shoes - the regular one and the thick-soled, built-up one carefully measured and designed to compensate for the deficiency of one leg being over an inch shorter than the other.

Throwing them both tumbling aside onto the floor, she exclaimed "Look! Watch this; see how I walk!" I watched - along with 2 or 3 other people nearby - as in her stockinged feet, she took more than a half dozen paces, exaggeratedly slow for effect - and altogether even.

No rise and fall of one hip, no swinging-out, sideways roll of the pelvis to maintain balance, no tentativeness borne of the pain of dysplasia.

Just a walk like any other girl her age. A walk which took her from "here to there', point 'A' to point 'B'. A walk punctuated by her regular head turns to look at us with a smile so radiant, we could have turned off the lights and still have seen it!

I knew Lena, I knew her one shoe was extra-thick (I had held her shoes in my hands) and she still had a hitch in her gait, I knew it was not something surgically correctible.

And there she stood in her stocking feet on the carpet, legs equal in length, hip joint tight and pain free in one evening. Even her muscles - which should have been unevenly developed and distributed, which should have been differently fatigued owing to the spontaneous alteration of their use - even her leg muscles were normal and of equal strength.

People can doubt miracles ever occurred, question whether they happen in this modern age, criticise those who talk about them, speculate as to their existence, or deride those that claim to have experienced or witnessed them. It is all the same to me.

But I know Lena, I know what her shoes looked like and how they wer made. I know how she walked in her bare feet, because I saw for myself. Before, and after. Before God worked a physical miracle, and after - when Lena had to go sock-footed for a few days, until she could go to a store and buy some "normal" shoes for the first time in 20 years of her young life. I know what I can testify to. Great is the Lord for He hath done great things.

Pax

A.A.C.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.