The times are a-changing—and we must understand the times!
One of my awesome privileges is to travel from nation to nation and meet with God’s gathered people, the body of Christ. So many nations are in the Valley of Decision. My call from the Lord is a call to see the nations of the earth healed. On Jan. 1, 1984, God began to alert me to shifts in world events. This came by a peculiar visitation of His Spirit while my wife, Pam, and I were executive directors of a children’s home outside Houston. God visited me and outlined strange happenings to come concerning the Soviet Bloc countries. This changed our lives.
After the Lord saw that He could trust me to pursue His purposes on a greater scale, He visited me Jan. 1, 1986, and revealed in detail changes that would come in 10-year cycles for the next 40 years, ending in 2026. His army is being prepared for the battle ahead through these and other revelations that build the faith of His people. My latest book, A Time to Triumph, covers the next 10 years, which I sense are summarized as the “time of triumph.”
You might ask, “Why would He visit you?” My answer to this day is because He does nothing on the earth without first revealing to His prophets what His will is in heaven (Amos 3:6-7). This means He strips away secret plans of the enemy and opens up His overall plan, which eventually leads to the triumph of His people and the return of His Son to reign in the earth. His eyes run to and fro to see whom He may communicate with regarding His ultimate purposes of victory. I love Him, seek Him, walk with Him daily and am available for Him to communicate with. You can do all those things too.
To help the body shift into a mindset for war, I wrote The Future War of the Church, God’s Unfolding Battle Plan and a number of other books. They are still helpful because much of what was written to prepare us is now a daily reality. A Time to Triumph will show you how to process the war ahead. One of the most misunderstood concepts in Christendom is the call of Christians to war.
In this new book, I explain the war Christians face and why they must fight.
Learning war comes easier to some than others. To those who grew up in relative peace and comfort, it may come hardest of all. Why war? Why is war necessary? Why can people not live in harmony? These are the questions we ask our parents when we are first exposed to conflict through the media. We ask our history teachers when we are learning the events that brought us to the present. Most importantly, we ask God. “If you are a loving God,” we question, “why do war and destruction occur?”
The short answer is that we are called to serve in God’s army of warriors. If we do not heed His call, then the enemy will step in, and he will rule in our stead. We are called to possess, secure and protect our inheritance.
A Vision of a New Movement
In September 2007, the Lord alerted me to a change in my life and its direction. He said, “Lay down your involvement in the prayer movement. I am going to reposition you and show you what is to come in days ahead. The prayer movement needs to be the wine for the wineskin that is forming. Look ahead to see a new wineskin.”
I did not know where the Lord intended to reposition me, so through the fall and winter and into spring, I continued to minister as the Lord led me. Then, May 31, 2008, I joined John and Sheryl Price, Peter and Trisha Roselle, and leaders of the prophetic intercession in their spheres at Liberty State Park, across the Hudson River from Manhattan and in view of the Statue of Liberty. Millions of immigrants who arrived on the East Coast stopped first at Ellis Island to document their desire to be part of this nation. Many of them headed to the historic train station at Liberty State Park to catch a train that would take them to Newark or New York City. We gathered at this train station to “open the gates in 2008” for the glory of God to flood across America.
Even before the meeting started, I could feel the Spirit of God moving, but when worship began, the Spirit of God fell on me. I was caught up into a heavenly place, and I received a vision that stretched from the past into the future. God is not in time; therefore He can communicate to us outside of the time period we are in. He can open the eyes of the spirit man to be able to see in a time that has not yet manifested, like He did for Daniel, Jeremiah and many of the biblical prophets. Apostles like John saw the time you and I are now living in and warned us of things to come. The Spirit of God lifts us into other realms so we can have hope and strategy for the future.
In the vision, which lasted four hours, I saw both demonic and divine strategies, historical and future paths, and small groups and nations. In the next sections, I will explain what the Lord showed me and what I believe it means for us.
The Vision Progresses
The first thing the Lord showed me was my own bloodline. I already knew some of the history of my bloodline—the history of four generations on both sides of my family tree, and further back on my mother’s side. The Lord showed me where the paths of my families intersected. He showed me where His Glory invaded our bloodline and also where demons had invaded and iniquitous structures had developed. I saw the progress Pam and I had made in overturning generational iniquities. The vision progressed to me seeing a fiery people river, castles in America filled with glory power (apostolic centers), thrones of iniquity, and the war ahead.
The Next Move Revealed
As worship continued, my spirit began to rise, as often happens during worship: We ascend high enough to have clear vision. Eventually, I could see the entire United States. The view was amazing, perplexing and confounding! I was caught between old and new paradigms and seasons of rule.
First, He revealed His remnant, showing me where they were positioned. Next, He showed me their strength from state to state. He then invaded time and showed me the future, seven years ahead. Troops began to assemble from every place in each state, as though they were drawn by a powerful magnet, and gathered to form what looked like a river of glory fire.
“Who are these people, Lord?” I asked. He said, “This is My triumphant reserve for the future!” On that day, I was looking into the future to see what would become a new movement. His triumphant reserve would be called up for future kingdom purposes. This was the new wineskin to move in a new movement ahead. I saw this wineskin moving across America. I said, “Lord, how can America change?” He immediately responded, “My people must learn to play the Trump card. If they do not, they will be ruled by a Jezebel spirit, as in the days of Athaliah, in the seasons ahead!” (You must remember that this was May 31, 2008, well before Donald Trump had entered the political scene).
The Triumphant People Arising
The movement of God’s people—the river of glory fire—looked like liquid gold flowing in the land. It resembled fiery lava moving from state to state (every state had a movement). This group would destroy the works of the enemy in days ahead. Over the next seven years, they would mature to be ready to go to war against the darkness attempting to bring destruction.
Triumphant people are ones who know how to triumph. To triumph is to obtain victory, or a state of being victorious in conquest. Triumph carries a distinct emotion for God’s children; in triumph, one expresses joy or exultation because he or she has prospered, succeeded and flourished.
An easy way to understand triumph is to think of a card played that takes all others (“trumping,” or winning a hand or suit). The triumphant people I saw had the following characteristics:
They were infused with a victorious attitude. Attitudes—which signal the underlying emotions we have toward the tasks the Lord has given us—have a tremendous impact on how we see the world. Wrong attitudes can skew our perceptions and cloud our understanding of the fruits our labors are producing. Positioning your heart and mind on the Lord, however, will preserve you in times of trouble and lead to a victorious attitude. The Lord’s triumphant people had strong hearts! Ask the Lord to adjust your attitude to triumph.
They were aligned for victory. Attitude is linked with posture. Posture is linked with alignment. Posture and attitude, therefore, are linked with your positioning. An army must be aligned and ordered for victory. Alignment can be thought of as “snapping into place,” the way a doctor must position a broken bone in its proper place in order for it to heal properly and the appendage to work again. God has an order, and it will not manifest until we are properly aligned. The triumphant people were snapped into alignment for victory. To create the prototype of triumph for the future, we must be aligned in God’s order: first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then healers, miracle workers, administrators and so forth. Review your present alignments.
They occupied a high-level aptitude to adjust quickly. Adapting to the needs of battle and adjusting to overcome the strategies of the enemy require aptitude. A quick ability to apprehend something is not actually dependent on your intelligence but on your attitude. Those of lesser intelligence can have the highest aptitude, and those who should have high aptitude can be sabotaged by their shoddy attitudes or lack of commitment to being aligned. We have to have an attitude that enables us to adjust quickly against our enemy and toward God’s order. That attitude and resulting alignment allows you to see as God sees, both the parts and how they fit together as a whole. Then, like a machine, all components are fit together exactly, allowing it to function.
They were creative, cunning (more shrewd than the enemy) and confrontational. Creativity and cunning are like weapons the Lord has given us to elude and overpower our enemy. But to use them effectively, we have to be willing to confront the enemy, whether we want to or not. Consider how Jesus, led by the Spirit, confronted Satan in the wilderness: It was the bringing together of two opposing forces in which truth could be revealed through God’s Word and prevail.
In such confrontations, our creativity and cunning will give us the advantage. We will create the new from nothing. We will transform things into more prosperous forms or combine old forms into something with new qualities. Though many Christians do not understand they are shrewder than the powers of darkness, we will outwit the enemy by our cunning, because our covenant relationship with God allows us to do so. We will make strategic moves at the right time to stay ahead of the enemy, as David did when King Saul pursued him (1 Sam. 18:11).
Learn to Play the Trump Card!
I am not a political force in the earth. I vote my conscience and do my duty. However, the Lord showed me eight years ago that change was coming and had to happen. The rise to political action by Donald Trump is a phenomenon. He can be brash and exasperating, but is constantly finding a way to “one-up” or “trump” the way of the old system. America stands at precarious place, but Mr. Trump keeps stirring up a fire to fight controlling forces that have led us down wrong paths. The structure of America must change. Whether we like the man, his message or his methods, we must face that America has deviated from her course and is now captured in political correctness. We must learn to play the trump card, and God’s kingdom people hold this card in their hand.
The world will be contended for by nations whose roots are still aligned with Babel. The earth is the Lord’s, however, and the fullness thereof! The one determining force that is not listed among these nations is the triumphant reserve of the apostolic church that is rising. God has a kingdom of people, a nation above all nations. These people hold the trump card of influence over the world, the flesh and the devil—oh my! Built within God’s children is His covenant authority to be used in a timely manner. When we exercise God’s authority within us, we will overtake every plan of the enemy and release a strategy of fullness in the earth.
Attempting to plant doubt in Jesus’ mind, Satan incited Him to dissatisfaction, impatience and self-will. Why should He deny Himself? Jesus’ weapon in resisting this seduction was the Torah: He humbled Himself and quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” When Jesus used the Torah as a sword, the sword became life against the enemy and overcame his plan. This was the first trump card Jesus played.
Again, the enemy played his own card, tempting Jesus based on His call. Satan will do the same to you. Since Jesus came to redeem the kingdoms of this world, the enemy offered the world to Jesus. But the offered gift came out of its proper time. Jesus used Deuteronomy 6:13 (ampc) to counter him: “You shall [reverently] fear the Lord your God and serve Him and swear by His name [and presence].” Jesus did not compromise to gain dominion! As we learn to play the trump card of the Word at the right time, we triumph.
High Places and Ruling Demonic Centers Must Fall!
When He lifted me up in 2008, the Lord showed me the high places erected by the enemy in the United States. These are the result of the worship war going on in each territory of the earth. As stated previously, worship occurs around the one whose throne has been established. We are made to worship; therefore, if we pay homage to the enemy, he will control the atmosphere. The entire territory then falls under the darkness of his presence. Demonic hosts redirect those in that territory away from God’s plan of fullness, peace, joy and abundance.
I saw 23 states in America with covenant roots. Many states had freedom outposts, but He showed me where others were needed. Where the spiritual atmosphere was not yet conducive to freedom, He showed me how outposts could begin to form, changing the atmosphere and the land. Inside them I could hear sounds and see new types of warfare that will have to be developed by the triumphant people to regain new portions of the lands where they are located. I saw that prayer strategies from the last season will not be effective in the next. Nazareth and Capernaum are examples of this in Jesus’ day. I thought of how the Lord told the disciples, “These will not come out except through prayer and fasting.”
The truth is that, for the believer in Christ, the best is always ahead. We have a wonderful promise for our future—the promise of eternal communion with God. The Bible clearly tells us that we should not live on Earth with our sights set only on what is temporal; we should have a view of eternity and operate from heaven’s perspective. God will give us grace to endure what is going on in our temporal world until we come into the fullness of our eternal destiny, which is with Him. This really is the bottom line. The war will intensify, but the best for God’s children lies on the road ahead!
There is so much to understand in the war ahead! A Time to Triumph will help you to understand the times, walk circumspectly, become victorious and know when to play the trump card in days ahead.