Glimmer of Faith

April 2020 In the last few years the Lord has spoken to me from a place of Isaiah 60. In my younger years I would look at the first line,“Arise, shine; For your light has come!” But I would quickly read over verse two that states; “For behold, deep darkness shall cover the earth.”

As He was speaking to me about Isaiah 60 I heard, “Will I find faith on the face of the earth?” I saw in a vision a people so gripped with fear they couldn’t take their eyes off the darkness as if staring at it would somehow keep the darkness from harming them. I heard,"What you behold will fill you.” I then saw a people straining, believing that there WAS a light somewhere in that deep darkness. When they saw a glimmer, they began to declare that which they were seeing. As they came into agreement with the Fathers heart and purpose the Glory of the Lord rested on them placing His presence and the Favor of God upon them.

I heard, “I have come to restore ALL things.” In a vision I saw the garden and heard the serpent saying “Did God REALLY say?” I realized the battle at the end will be the same as it was in the beginning. Did God really say, and will there be any believing for the light of Gods promise in the midst of deep darkness? John1:5, “And the light (which is Jesus) shines in the darkness and the darkness CANNOT overcome it.”

The Lord showed me Isaiah 60 was beginning to manifest. He is teaching His bride to look for the glimmer of light in the midst of the darkness and to give language and expression to the redemptive purposes that lives in the Father’s heart. The Lord showed me one of the reasons Jesus is called “the word of God in the flesh” was He gave language and expression to the redemptive purposes that have dwelt in the Fathers heart since the beginning of time. I believe in the end, the Church will manifest the ministry of Jesus declaring the light of the Lord and the darkness will not overcome Her. She will become His bride walking side by side with Him. Maybe even leaning on Her beloved as she emerges from the wilderness.

In the end as it was in the beginning, “did God really say” will be the battle. It will be a battle of identity, promise, and purpose. Which tree will feed you in your daily life and sustain you in the battle? The tree of knowledge or the Tree of Life?

Jesus declared John 6, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” Matthew 5, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for they shall be filled.” Jesus was saying those that are aware of their inability to manufacture their own righteousness have realized they need someone, something outside of themselves to sustain them. They hunger for something beyond themselves. Those that hunger and thirst realize that not eating spiritually will cause them to weaken. They will become aware of their own weakness and brokenness and their inability to fix themselves but thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Christ Jesus!

In our lives we make measurements and assessments as to our strength and our weaknesses. I am strong in this area, just ok in this area, but I broken in this area. Joel 3 says “Let the weak say I am strong. A fountain will flow out of the Lords house and will water the valley of acacias.” The valley is the low place of brokenness and weakness. In Exodus 25, he made an ark of acacia wood. A fountain watering those who will be a tabernacle of His presence and an ark to carry His glory. Oh my, THANKS BE TO GOD!

For those that are broken, weak and filled with fear, Gods presence will feed them and sustain them, causing the broke and weak to display His glory.

In a vision I once saw two men, both broken and cracked. One man was putting duct tape over his wounds in shame, covering them up, the other stood there hopeless, declaring his despair over his brokenness. I saw the Lord come and stand inside both of them, healing them both. I heard, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” The one declaring his brokenness was being filled with the light of the Lord. The light began shining out for all to see Gods glory through his healing and grace to live his life for God. The Lord spoke to me, “Ministry is NOT what you do for God, ministry is testifying about what God has done for us.” We overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our TESTIMONY. Remember you are the clay and He is the potter. You can’t transform yourself but you can trust Him to reshape you for His purposes. Trust in Him, rest in Him. In a time of uncertainty there is no safer place to be than in the hands of the Master potter who is shaping you to fulfill that which he created you for. Trust Him to reshape you, to rename you with new identity. A purpose that is of yourself is impossible, but with Him will become your new reality.

Having a construction background, when trying to “bond” two surfaces, in masonry you want the surface to be uneven, or roughed up, grooves are best. The bonding agent can FILL THE LOW PLACES causing the two to come together and the low places making it difficult to separate the two. He comes as a Good Shepherd to seek us out and to rescue us. He comes not to judge us but to heal us of our wounds. He does not measure us as some of our earthly fathers might have. Psalms 34, “He delivered me from ALL my fears.” He draws near to the broken hearted, a powerful word in these times.

When Joel said let the weak say I am strong, he is saying the Lord will inhabit and dwell in your low places, your valleys, your place of fear. Let His spirit of Truth manifest and reveal the truth of His loving kindness and His ability to deliver us from ALL things we fear. It’s His strength that manifests through His grace allowing us to become and do things of ourselves that is impossible. He will overtake our valleys, places of weakness and fear.

In 2 Samuel 5:20, the valley of Rephaim was renamed to Baal Perazim which means, the God of the breakthrough. It is renamed because God met David in a valley, a low place of uncertainty and established His meaning. He established Gods throne and thereby His authority in a geographical region. In renaming it, it was declaring ownership over it, giving it a NEW NAME.

He will inhabit our low places, rename it and manifest His truth and purpose for a person or a geographical region. Sound familiar? In Isaiah 62 and Revelation 2, the Lord speaks of giving us a new name, a new identity, an overcoming spirit. Let the weak say I am strong, let the fearful say I am filled with courage. The Lord said to Joshua, “be strong and be of courage.” God had transitioned Israel from slaves and wonderers to overcomers who possessed the geographical region God had promised. What is your geographical region of promise to possess?

This transition began with a Passover in the midst of plagues. Many of you are on the verge of coming into promise and purpose. This is not a season of defeat this is a season of birthing. Even as I write this I can hear a baby crying as if in birth. But it is not a single baby, it is twins being birthed. A double portion coming forth for many! Again the battle is “did God really say?” Feast on the Tree of Life in this season and ALL seasons. I guarantee He is able to sustain you. Ask Him for a deeper hunger. You are eating for many, and let Him feed you. He is the bread that comes down from heaven!

As a young boy of about ten I was brought to hear Billy Graham at Easter time. Hearing the story of Jesus in His thirties dying on a cross with two thieves I whispered, "Remember me when you come back as king." Reasoning from ten to thirty is centuries, I reasoned Jesus will surely be coming back by then. All I had given the Lord was, I want to believe, help me believe. That was all He needed, a tiny whisper. Unchurched, unsaved, He pursued me causing a mustard seed to sprout. Surprise, at 30 the Lord began to show me visions of Himself. One vision I had, I was in a room with two thrones. Jesus sat on the judgement seat. He jumped up holding what looked like an aspergillum used for sprinkling Holy Water, only this held His blood. I felt His blood splatter me, my face, and then everywhere almost knocking me backwards. He then went and sat on the other throne. He declared “The judgement seat has become the mercy seat for you. I am changing the course of your life so I can remember you when I come back as King.”

I sat there stunned realizing He had heard the whisper of a ten year old and pursued me to cause that whisper to manifest and bear fruit. The breathe of God was breathing on me causing me to live and not to die. Causing the God dream, my true identity in Him to manifest. That is the faithfulness of a loving Father that in Exodus 6:6 was already declaring the cross when he said, “With an outstretched arm I will redeem you.”

He pursued us all from the garden where broken identity and broken relationship began until on a cross a crushed broken lamb declared to His Father it is finished, our family has been healed.

Three of the gospels speak of Moses and Elijah meeting with Jesus and TALKING with Jesus. Imagine THAT conversation. At times I have had visions of the cloud of witnesses. To me it has looked like a cloud, seeing people inside that cloud but I will see them step out of the cloud to declare Gods promise for their specific generation that they carried. There is absolutely NO sense of loss from their perspective. The sense of loss does not exist in heaven. Their expressions and emotions are void of loss. Instead there is a thankfulness of what has been gained and an expectancy of the manifestation of Gods promise that lies ahead. Our sense of loss is replaced by their sense of expectancy.

In one such encounter I heard, “You look at our generation and wish you could have lived in our generation, but we look at your generation and rejoice in what God is about to do in your generation.” I pray the “dread” of death would be broken off our nation and a rejoicing of life would manifest in its place in our minds. I pray this will give us the grace to not be paralyzed by the darkness but to see the beam of light in the deep darkness. This light is the revealing of Gods faithfulness and goodness in the midst of uncertainty and fear. I believe some are just as the disciples, hoping but unsure, on Good Friday as an innocent man suffered on a cross for ALL humanity. I am sure some of them wondered, “did God really say?” I believe He is God but I see His dead body. After the hoping, but uncertainty of Good Friday came the exuberant celebration of life and GOD REALLY DID SAY! This settled the conversation that began in the garden. Easter is a celebration of life, a love that is stronger than death and a declaration that God really did say.

I pray you all be filled by an expectancy of His glory to rest upon you in the season.

Blessings, Bill & Judy Weinkauff