Strategic Time

We were privileged to hear Dr. Mike Hutchings preach at The Crossing this morning.  He expresses his excitement in living during this time and season because the Holy Spirit is being poured out in a powerful way, and we get to join the Lord in what He is doing on the earth.  We live in a strategic time!
 
God is very intentional and specific with everything He does, and He looks for people who will partner with Him.  He found a good listener and willing servant in Lou Engle who put together Azusa Now. On April 9, different streams of Christianity (about 65,000 people) came together in unity for a time of worship, prayer, repentance and reconciliation.
 
I have been reading the feedback from people who attended Azusa Now.  Have no doubt that God has specific plans for each day.  Read what happened on April 9 of this year and April 9 of previous years.  I believe God selected this date for Azusa Now because it is in the year of Jubilee--the 40th Jubilee since Jesus walked the earth and the 70th Jubilee since the Israelites crossed the Jordan River.  This day was also Rosh Chodesh (New Moon Festival) and Nissan 1.  During the month of Nissan, God led His people out of bondage and miraculously parted the Red Sea and set them on a course for the future in The Promised Land.
 
This date was the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival.  International speaker and author of The Seven Mountain Prophecy, Johnny Enlow, read in the Talmud that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died on the same day--Nissan 1.  At the same time that Azusa Now was being held in Los Angeles, the City of Angels, there were 30,000 pastors crying out to God in Washington D.C.  On this date in 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House.  In 1866 the Civil Rights bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto.  In 1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor who took a stand against the Nazis, was hung, and in 1968 Martin Luther King was buried in Atlanta.  Think about the prophetic pictures that these significant events have in relation to this date and what happened on it this year!
 
Lou Engle cried out for the rains from heaven, and drought-stricken LA was drenched in a miracle rain. Managing Editor of the Elijah List, Julie Smith, reported that there was a rainbow over the U.S. flag at the stadium just before dusk.  There was also a strong wind blowing in the afternoon.  Jennifer LeClaire, News Editor at Charisma Media, feels that something shifted in the spirit on that Saturday.  She acknowledged that there is a battle going on in the heavenlies but feels we're now winning that war.
 
CheAnn, pastor of The Rock Church in California, says we are currently in the greatest global revival in history.  Dr. Peter Wagner reports that globally about 180,000 people a day are being saved.  Lana Vawser, preacher and prophet from Australia, calls what happened on April 9 "a picture of unity."  "He is birthing reconciliation, redemption and revival from a place of unity."  Johnny Enlow believes the Holy Spirit is releasing a fresh wind for reformation that will lead us into a renaissance that brings new knowledge of God filling the earth as the waters cover the sea.  He says, "Any time you get this kind of unity and agreement in the spirit, it is going to release something greater."
 
God is doing a new thing!  The Kingdom is being released on earth.  God has heard us as we pray His prayer:  "Let your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Look for heaven to pour out on the earth in a mighty way.  God is empowering us to live a Kingdom lifestyle in this strategic time. Catch the wind of the Spirit.  We want to be a part of what God is doing in this season.