CHECK POINT

A Leadership and Intercessory Letter written to those who desire Integrity in the Inward Parts  (Psalm 51:6)

"Back To The Future"

(Part II of “Can America Be Saved” will follow soon)

Written by Esther Dummer -  December 31, 2001

Seventh Edition - December 31, 2001

“Back to the Future”

An interesting thought, isn’t it?  How can one “go back” to “go forward?”

For the Christian it is not only possible to do this, but it is a must that we do this.  We are a people who, in looking back, can actually see forward at the same time.  I woke up with this thought this morning, reached for my notebook and began to write the things that I felt the Holy Spirit speak into my spirit.  I trust that the following “Checkpoint” will challenge and encourage you as it has me.

Here is a good place to start:

“Go back and revisit your Call to the Move of God”

God has distinctly called each and every one of us to a place, for a reason, to work in the particular area.  We all have a “Where.”  This is the place that God has called you to.  This may include a church, a town, a neighborhood, a business, with the list of places being many that God is placing His Church inside of for His greater purposes. Then we all have a “What.”  This is what He has called us to do, specifically. Some are placed by God to support an existing ministry with others being called to break new ground.  Some are called to pastor and lead a church into revival.  Some are called to a region to pray and declare the things that God places in their hearts.  Some are called to a people group, in their own nation or on foreign soil.  Some are called to a deeper level of intercession, with that being the main call that they have answered.  But it is God that has called and placed us all.  We each need to go back and revisit the particulars of our call and be encouraged that God is not fickle.  If He has called you, He will equip you and never leave you hanging, without His ever-present help.  Encourage yourself in this today.  Make it a fresh thing each day, rejoicing in the fact that you did not choose Him, He chose you.   

Another thing that God spoke,

“Go back and revisit the Vision that I have given you.”

You see, vision is what we see ahead and yet it remains, for the most part, unrevealed in its entirety.  So, in order to go forward, this is one thing that we must look back upon, to recapture the heart of the vision that God has given us.  What has He called you forward to?  What has He birthed in your spirit that challenged you long ago to believe for?

He also said,

“Go back and revisit the Promises that I have given you.”

The promises of God are “Yes and Amen.”  If He said it, believe Him, for He always keeps His Word to you.  Even if the promises seemed delayed in their fulfillment, “God is not slack concerning His promises.”  Press in and declare into your spirit that these are worth believing in and waiting for.  God is always right on time.  When they come to pass, they will be perfected to fit perfectly into His plan for you.

Another thing He said is,

“Go back and revisit the Pattern that I gave you.”

God has always included in any vision (with promises attached), a blueprint or pattern that we are to follow to see everything accomplished that He has called us to.  We can get so busy trying to figure things out, that we forget the fact that God already has it figured out.  He is well able to draw up the plans, place them in our hands and then oversee the continued structure of what He is building in us, for us and through us. 

Then the Spirit seemed to change direction and yet still held true to the pattern He was speaking in.  He drew my mind to some other things that we need to go back to.

He said,

“Go back to Morality, Holiness, Righteousness and The Standard that I have given you.”

I believe that the Word is the explicit pattern for all of the above.  We should never have a question concerning our life-styles, our conduct, relationships, speech and choices that we make, that are not held to a standard by the Word of God.  If we have questions concerning something in a “gray area,” we quickly find that God has no gray areas.  He is very clear in what He speaks to us.  If we doubt His Word in any matter it is because of human rationale that tends to excuse ourselves from The Standard of the Word of God.

As I meditated further upon the principle of “Going Back,” I began to revisit the revival that we have been seeing develop over the last several years.  I know that many are on a similar journey and have faced some of the same things. 

A lot of things that lay in our past indicate the quality of our future.

God continued to churn into my spirit to look further. Here is what I discovered God speaking to me:

“Go back to the former intensity, decisiveness and determination to push hard into the Future of this revival.”

Here is a look at the past and our future.  Take time to look back and then forward with me.

Remember when your zeal out-powered your wisdom, and you were so excited about the move of God in your own life?

Remember when you became so “wise” that it destroyed your zeal? (Think about this one)

It’s time to be zealous, with wisdom, so that all we do, are and have in Christ is Spirit-led, bringing glory and honor to the Holy Name of Jesus.

 

Remember when it didn’t matter to you what “going for God” was going to cost you?

Remember when the “cost of revival” got in the way of “going for God?”

It’s time that we paid the price to go after God, realizing that He is worth everything that is required of us in time, effort and money to honor and worship Him.

Remember when you could hardly wait to get to the house of God for the next encounter with Him?

Remember when your feet started dragging slower than before as you began to arrive later, feeling less excited?

It’s time that we shook ourselves from the old mind set of “this is enough,” or “this will do for now,” and stirred ourselves up in the Holy Ghost.

 

Remember when your hunger for “More of God” literally ate you up, that the desire was so intense?

Remember when you started “feeling satisfied?”

It’s time that we make the continual cry of our heart, “More of You, God,” never becoming satisfied with where we are at in our desire for God.

 

Remember when the desire for the truth and revelation of God’s Word became a part of your daily quest to know Him?

Remember when the business of life overtook your devotional life and you thought, “I’ll do it later?”

It’s time that we crave God’s Word and Its supply to our life as if it was “the food we eat” and “the air we breath” (as the song says) and we desired It more than TV., other books, (including revival books) and our “other stuff that fills our days and hours.

 

Remember when repentance was so much a part your life that the thought of anything grieving God’s Holy Spirit brought grief to your spirit?

Remember when rational thinking and reasoning caused you to begin to overlook the “smaller things” and that “maybe you had gone a little overboard.” (Not a bad place to be if you’re Jonah)

It’s time that we realize that “Daily Sanctification” means “daily” and it means “clean,” leaving no known sinful conduct, attitude or words not dealt with.

 

Remember when you could hardly wait to find the “quiet place”, “The closet” with Jesus and talk to Him, worship Him and inquire of Him?

Remember when schedules and demands sealed the closet door with the piles of our life’s clutter blocking the way in?

It’s time that we remove every obstacle to the door to our secret place where we formerly spent so much time with Him.

 

Remember when any call to prayer stirred your spirit to heart-felt intercession?

Remember when the “cutting edge” you were on began to dull, just a little bit?

It’s time that we once again rise up, asking God for His heart in intercession and pray with all that is within us to see change, salvations, healings and deliverances.

 

Remember when the “burn piles of revival” saw your “old treasures” go up in smoke?

Remember when the door to your life cracked open a little and the things you had disposed of began to re-enter you life?

It’s time that we understand that we didn’t “get carried away” in the beginning by cleaning up our lives and homes and that the Holy Spirit of Truth who brought conviction was right in the first place.

 

Remember when the call to worship found you with hands raised as if you could “touch Jesus” as you reached higher and higher up God’s Holy Mountain?

Remember when you “just didn’t feel like it today” and simply sat through a few services, “sort of out of it” only to wonder why others around you seemed to be reaching Him and you were not?

It’s time that we remember that our worship of God is not based upon our feelings, but upon our love and commitment to “touching Jesus.”

 

Remember when one of the greatest thrills you got was from messing up the devil’s camp?

Remember when you just got tired of the battle and slacked off, wondering if it was making any difference anyway?

It’s time we remember our armor and our call to the battle to daily damage the enemies’ advancement into our families, churches, cities and nation.

 

Remember when the altars were filled with the Hot Fire and Glory of God’s presence, so much so that you could barely stand up?

Remember when you “felt” that you had moved “beyond that level” and didn’t need to have hands laid on you so much anymore?

It’s time that we realize that the Fire and the Glory were in the altars because we went into them expecting and desiring a God Encounter, knowing that He does not disappoint hungry people.

 

Remember when your faith soared as high as the heavens as you just knew in your heart that God was upon the Throne and moving mightily now and going to move even more powerfully in the days ahead?

Remember when you began to second-guess your faith and wonder if the city would ever break open and the harvest spill into the house of God?

It’s time that we believe that the wait has been worth it, because God has certainly been preparing us to receive the harvest and yes, we can and should continue believing for a transformed city.

And

Remember when you said that you wanted an “Acts Church” with all the signs, wonders and miracles, full of Power and Authority to cast out devils, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, heal the sick and preach that the Kingdom of God is at hand?

Remember when Persecutions, (if we even know what that means) caused you to rethink the “Acts Church” thing, after all those people died…?

It’s time that we are ready and willing to pay the price as the Church, full of the Holy Ghost and Power, with an anointing to do the things that the early disciples did.

Just a thoughtful question: 

Did we really “Overdo it” in the beginning of the Revival” or are we “Under-doing it now?”

I have heard it said,

“Well, people were just carried away in the beginning and now things are beginning to level out.”

I have also heard it said,

“God is moving “differently” now than He was at the first.”

Our definition of “differently” may mean that we feel that we no longer have need of prayer teams, laying on of hands, soaking in His presence, warfare, exuberant worship, and so much of what marked the beginning of the revival.  But I don’t think this is God’s definition of His move.  He never gets tired of touching His people and meeting with them every time they come hungry before Him.   

Yes, God does bring us to a time that we might call “leveling off.”  He does what He does sovereignly, and in the working in our lives does allow us to absorb the deep things He’s doing in us, giving time to think about what He’s doing.  We have seen this in the past, but I wonder about the future.

I have to wonder if the early church had time to level off and think about what God was doing when 3,000 and then 5,000 were added to the Church?  I have to wonder about it as I read of Jesus being caught in the masses of humanity with needs that would overwhelm any man or woman, but still they pressed in, once they found the answers to their life problems. 

I have to wonder what the demon possessed, the infirmed and broken lives will meet with if they catch us in one of our “leveling off” times. What will it be like for us once people see that we really do have some answers to their bondages, fears and sickness?  Will we have time to “level off” then?  Folks, we really are going somewhere with this revival.  We are preparing to meet with a lost and dying world, but do we really have time to take a vacation from the move of God? 

I believe that the term, “leveling off” is used by us some of the time to excuse the “down times” that we feel justified in taking because of our own pressures that we have not really given to Jesus.  Sometimes we just don’t want to deal with the stressful points in revival.  The pressing seems so great on us at times and we have yet to really feel the true press of the crowd.  But all that we have faced has been for our own molding and good as we have journeyed into the “future of the revival.” 

So, where do we go from here? 

Forward!

Out of the Old

Into the New

In 2002

Where else do we have to go?  This is the time now, when going backwards would be disastrous. 

We would forfeit so much and for what?

A little comfort?

A little ease?

But then, would we or could we really be at ease anymore, knowing that we had gone back to the past and stayed there?  We were poor, wretched, miserable, naked and blind in the past.  We were without understanding.  We were deaf to even hear what the Spirit was saying to the Church. 

But now, we have heard His call,

Thank God,

And

Started out to win,

Not lose!

We can crawl or we can march into the New Year.  How we do it is up to each of us.

If we are down, then we need to stand up and march.

It we are up, we need to strengthen ourselves for what lies ahead of us.

The road may not be smooth, (probably won’t), but, with the awesome Grace of God, we will certainly be “History Makers” this year! 

Have a Blessed and Fruitful New Year!

And

God Bless the Faithful Watchman on the Walls of the Church!

This newsletter is dedicated and written as an instruction and encouragement to a powerful and focused group of people who have devoted their life to a life of prayer for the Church.  It is written to incite them to move forward with decisiveness and purity.  It is written to stabilize and align the errant things that are occurring in intercessory and church circles.  It is written to break new ground in understanding our own hearts.

I would also like to take this time to say thank you to those who have subscribed, those who have forwarded these messages or photo copied and passed them on to others. Also, thank you to those who have written encouraging words to me.  They are greatly appreciated. 

NOTE: This material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed an interest in receiving this information for non-profit use only.

"Check Point" is an online newsletter published by: "Esther Dummer." Permission is hereby granted to copy and distribute for non-commercial purposes. Consider duplicating, in its entirety, as published, and distributing to friends, relatives, pastors or your church congregation, or forward via email.  It is my delight to have those who desire to use these messages to further God’s move to do so. 

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