Joseph Herrin (03-19-09)

Acts 13:2-3
And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Yesterday (March 18, 2009) the Spirit revealed to me that it is time for me to embark on a trip for which He has been preparing me for a long time. I have no more idea of the things that lie ahead than Paul and Barnabas had on that day nearly 2,000 years ago when the Spirit revealed it was time for them to set forth. All I know for sure is where the first stop will be, and that I am to set out this week.

I believe there is something God has placed in the heart of a man that arises to the unknown. Adventure stories sell millions of copies as the hearts of men and women thrill to them, yet there is something that prevents the majority of people from ever stepping out to pursue such things. Fear is perhaps the greatest hindrance. I have since the time of my youth contemplated the words of Thoreau, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” In the autobiographical book Evidence of Things Unseen, I shared the following thoughts.

I believe I was only in the seventh or eighth grade when I heard this quotation, but I understood the heart of it immediately. Many men have a dream in their heart. Perhaps one man dreams of being an artist, another man a writer. Another man may dream of being a great architect, or an explorer. Yet these same men look at the risks, and the chance of failing to attain to their dream, so they choose another course that seems less risky, but which is also lacking the fulfillment they could have known. A man may take a factory job, or a bank position, or something similar, yet day by day there is inside of them a quiet desperation caused by their dream lying dormant and unfulfilled.

It is true that many men’s dreams are selfish, but God also places dreams in the hearts of His children. We see David being anointed by the prophet Samuel when he was still a youth, and being told that he would be king one day. We see Joseph being given dreams of ruling and reigning when he was also a youth. Both of these men were to know many long years of trials, rejection, and suffering before they were to see the dreams realized. Yet after a very long journey that began with a single step, they both saw their dreams come true.

In 1999 the Lord spoke to me while I was employed at the Houston Healthcare Complex as a computer professional and told me He was going to prepare me for a forthcoming ministry. Over the course of some months the call He had upon my life began to come into focus. My heavenly Father revealed that He had appointed to me a ministry of flesh cutting, of preparing a people for the return of His Son. He told me that in order for me to be qualified for such a ministry I would first have to submit to His flesh cutting in my life.

Around this time the Spirit indicated I was to give notice to me employer of the past 14 years, and follow Him wherever He led, looking to Him to supply all the needs of my family. To say the following years were an adventure would not be exaggeration. Was I courageous? Hardly. I followed God trembling all the way, not wanting to shrink back and be disqualified for those things for which I was being prepared.

I was beset with many fears in my flesh and soul. I wanted to follow God, and I deplored my weakness. I hoped that if I continued to follow Him that eventually fear would be laid beneath my feet and I could follow God wherever He should lead me with a perfect peace.

God has done a flesh cutting work in my life in the intervening years. Physically, I am about 100 pounds lighter than I was at my peak. In terms of the world’s goods, I have surrendered house and furnishings, closets full of goods, a myriad array of entertainment devices, and much that is a part of life in the world’s greatest consumer nation. Whereas I used to have a mortgage and consumer debt, I have been completely debt free since the year 2000. I don’t have much of the world’s goods, but I do have a sense of freedom that I did not know in previous days. I am able at a moment’s notice to go where God would send me, and do what He desires.

There are many things God stripped from me that have come at great cost, including wife and son. He has made manifest in my life the cost of discipleship, proving that the cost has not changed in the past 2,000 years.

Luke 14:25-34
Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying,’This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all he possesses.”

I can truly say that everything mentioned in this list has been required of me. Mother and father, sisters and brothers, wife and children, all earthly possessions, and my very life have had to be placed upon the altar. I have experienced homelessness, hunger and exposure to the elements. I have known loneliness, and the rejection of both natural and spiritual family. I was led to lay down all ministry for a period of years after God had called me to write and teach. In requiring this of me He was testing my heart to reveal if the fulfillment of being a minister held a greater place in my heart than obeying Him and doing His pleasure.

I do not boast in having passed through such experiences. It was God who held me to the course with abundant grace and ceaseless encouragement every step of the way. I was often downcast, perplexed, and full of fear. Yet He has proven the statement to be true that absolutely nothing can separate the sons and daughters of God from His love.

Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present , nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Yahshua our Lord.

People of God, it is Satan, working through great deception, that has convinced the church today that the cost of being a disciple of Christ has changed. He has convinced multitudes that they are promised prosperity, ease and endless pleasure when Christ said that those who would be His disciples must take up their cross daily and follow Him. The Scriptures declare that ALL who live righteously will suffer persecution. Christ said that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Yahshua said a man’s enemies would be the members of his own household. He advised EVERYONE who aspired to be a disciple to carefully consider the cost first.

It has been over ten years since the Lord spoke to me and revealed that He had called me to be a cutter of grass, “for all flesh is as grass.” It has been ten years in which He has subjected me to the work of the cross. It has been ten years of trials and loss in which there were many tears and fears. Yet He has brought me through it all, and I stand today knowing that I have truly gained by the experience. The Spirit is now indicating that it is time to be sent forth to exhort the saints to embrace the same path He has led me down.

A few days ago, a sister in Christ named Debbi Rennier wrote to me the following.

Hello Brother Joseph,

The Lord gave me a word for you last week, but I just now got back on the computer. We were flooded out for a week. The Lord kept us safe – no damage to the house or anything. He kept His refuge house safe… A lot of people are out of their homes around us, please pray. Well, here is the word for you from the Lord.

“Joseph, MY servant, know this is a word now you will see happening so very soon, Acts 14:22.”

Blessings and Shalom,

debbi

Upon receiving this, I looked up the Scripture that was referenced.

Acts 14:22
Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

This prophetic word arrived with a profound witness from the Father. The witness was so present that I set this scripture as the background wallpaper on my computer that I might keep it before my eyes. I had no idea how quickly God would fulfill the word. I received Debbi’s message on the 17th, and the very next day the Lord told me it is time to go.

People of God, I would feel very ill prepared to proclaim the message of Acts 14:22 had I not experienced the reality of this message in my own life, submitting to it, and being strengthened by the Lord to follow Him through many tribulations. My message is not “Look what I have done.” Rather it is “God’s grace is sufficient. If He could take one of the weakest, most fearful and fleshly sons in His household, and lead me through the fire and the flood, then He can certainly do the same with you.”

A day of tribulation is at hand, and the Spirit is indicating that NOW is the hour that the saints need to be strengthened and exhorted to embrace the things to come, holding fast to Him, and leaning with all their weight upon Him. He will lead them through the howling wilderness. He will bring them all up, and none who trust in Him will be disappointed.

In 1999 the Lord spoke to me that it was time to leave my job of 14 years. He spoke to me through a Scripture that had the number 14 as part of its reference. It was Exodus 14:14. Exodus means “to leave, to depart, to journey forth.” The number 14 denotes transition. The number 14 speaks of a change from one condition to another. The Spirit was telling me it was time to leave the comfortable life I had been living, and embark into a new experience.

At this hour He is speaking to me through another Scripture that also has the number 14 in it, Acts 14:22. The word Acts speaks of activity and action. It is now a time for work. It is a time to minister and to see God work wonders. The number 14 once more speaks of transition to something new and different, and the number 22 speaks of the ministry of flesh cutting.

Just this morning I received a word from another sister in Christ who had no knowledge of what the Spirit was testifying to me. She wrote the following:

Dear Joseph,

I’m sorry to bother you, but I had a short dream I would like to tell you. I was asleep and I saw a clock. I believe it was 3:25 and the odd thing was that the hands on the clocks were scythes. I think I understand the meaning of the scythes, as being symbolic of grass/flesh cutting, but I was wondering about the time? Do you suppose it could mean March 25 or could there be some other meaning. There was nothing else to this dream. I just saw this clock and that was it. If the Lord shows you something, please share it with me. My husband and I are very blessed by your ministry.

Many thanks & God bless you…

Leah w.

I shared with this sister that I believe she has rightly understood the meaning of this dream. The Spirit is saying that it is time for a flesh cutting work to be performed among His people. The time does represent the date which is immediately before us. She said she thought the time was 3:25. It may have been, or it may have been something close to that which I have been seeing a lot recently, which is 3:22. I recently wrote a post on the number 322 which I have yet to post as I was waiting to complete the series Meat from the Meek. This yet unpublished writing focuses upon a clock that reads 3:22, and I will post that information tomorrow.

The Lord showed me today that I am to arrive at my first stop, which is Long Island, New York, on March 22nd. He spoke to me about this present call on March 18th, and these two numbers, 18 and 22, are related. 18 is 6 + 6 + 6. 666 is the number of the Adamic man. I wrote of this symbolism in the book The Mark of the Beast. If you desire to read of how this number relates to the offspring of Adam, you can find the section on this subject here:

http://www.heart4god.ws/id415.htm

It was not coincidental that on the date of March 18th the news reported that President Obama’s administration had formally endorsed the United Nation’s statement calling for special protections on the practice of homosexuality. Barack Obama began his presidency by inviting a sodomite Anglican clergyman to offer prayers at his inaugural celebration. He will continue to promote this abomination as Satan uses him to bring forth the Obama Nation.

Leviticus 18:22
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

Wednesday March 18 (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Wednesday formally endorsed a U.N. statement calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality, a measure that former President George W. Bush had refused to sign…

“The United States supports the U.N.’s statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity and is pleased to join the other 66 U.N. member states who have declared their support of the statement,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood…

Gay rights groups hailed the move.

“The administration’s leadership on this issue will be a powerful rebuke of an earlier Bush administration position that sought to deny the universal application of human rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals,” said Mark Bromley of the Council for Global Equality, which promotes equal rights for homosexuals…

I have written previously of the reason that Yahweh calls this particular transgression of His will an abomination. There is a profound parable contained in homosexual relations. It is a picture of man being given over to a love of self, for it is man (or woman) in love with their own image.

II Timothy 3:1-4
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self… rather than lovers of God.

Homosexual activity is sin fully mature. It is selfish desire and an unrestrained pursuit of pleasure acted upon with complete abandon and a flagrant disregard for the will of God. This is why history has revealed time and again that when a nation gives itself over to an open endorsement of homosexuality that God will judge it, for its sin has become full.

Genesis 18:20-21
And Yahweh said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

It is at this hour when sin has once more become full that God must lead His people to embrace the cross that they might overcome the flesh and all the passions and desires within. The cross alone is the means of setting the children of God free from the bonds of the flesh. There is no other means to establish the kingdom of God within these temples of our bodies other than by embracing the cross. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Later in the day on March 18th, God gave me a further confirmation to His will concerning sending me out at this time. He has spoken to me for years through the symbolism of vehicles, as they represent ministry. Yahweh has given me a specific vehicle that testifies greatly of the ministry He has appointed to me. My van is 19 and ½ feet long, which is 6 + 6 + 6 feet and 6 +6 +6 inches long. It is a model 222 Xplorer Van. Therefore, it testifies of a ministry of cutting the flesh that clothes all the offspring of the first Adam. The van has a Pioneer sound system in it, and God has spoken to me that He has been raising up forerunners in the way of the cross who will act as Explorers and Pioneers to lead His people through the wilderness experiences appointed to them.

One significant detail I had never understood about the van until yesterday when the Spirit suddenly brought it to mind, is that the motor is a 318. It was on 3-18 that He showed me this, and it was on 3-18 that He said it is now time to go forth to the nation. The number three denotes fulness, and God has determined that at an hour when the flesh of man is being revealed in a full expression of sin that He will raise up a people who will overcome the flesh and become a manifestation of righteousness in the earth.

Those who have been following this blog know that God has had me make many repairs on this vehicle in recent weeks and months. It has been virtually rebuilt, and I have been reminded of the way in which an eagle renews its youth. When an eagle gets old it will ascend to a high nest and pull out its feathers. It will then remain there for a period of weeks without eating as it waits for its feathers to grow back. When the feathers are fully formed, the eagle is then able to fly again with a greater power and grace than it had formerly known. It has truly renewed its youth.

As I have pulled one part after another off of the van and replaced it, it has been renewed. It has more power, and handles better than it has since it has been in my possession. It gets better gas mileage and runs quieter than before. God has been preparing a number of forerunners and pioneers to go forth with a renewed vigor and strength, for they have waited upon the Lord, and He will now enable them to mount up with wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

The Father has been speaking many more profound things concerning the things that are transpiring and the direction in which He is leading at this hour, but I will speak more of these things in the next post.

Please understand if I am not able to answer e-mail at this time. I will try to read the e-mail sent to me, but I am getting all things ready and I anticipate being on the road Saturday in order to arrive in New York on Sunday the 22nd. I will also be occupied with many activities while there and will not have the time that was previously available to me to attend to e-mail. I appreciate your understanding in this matter.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063