美國正面臨十字路口的抉擇,她必須出做選擇,如果她遲疑,最後她也等同做出抉擇,而且必然是錯誤的抉擇!過去在歷史上有許多偉大的國家,也是相同走到這樣的十字路口,面臨抉擇,但是每一個國家都選擇了錯誤的道路(都是選擇看起來比較好走的路!)在異象中代表美國的自由女神像,幾乎就要將手中的石板(神的話)放下,手中的火炬,也是逐漸微弱.以至於她看來將被迫選擇看起來似乎較為明亮的道路.當先知雷克喬納(代表教會)舉起她的手,舉起火炬時,似乎她暗沉的臉龐開始明亮.雷克喬納認為這正是現今美國教會的角色,她必須向亞倫戶珥般的舉起摩西下沉的膀臂,否則美國的墮落正是教會的命運.
先知在異象裡面看見正確的道路是一條困難的道路,要走上這條路需要極大的勇氣.問題是自由女神正處在低潮與混亂中,她很可能會被迫做出選擇,教會可以在這個抉擇做出關鍵性的貢獻,但是教會同樣也可以選擇沉默......
March 31, 2007
"To be encouraged is to have courage, and it is going to take courage to take the right road and to walk on it."
An Encounter With Lady Liberty
I was carried into another realm where I found myself standing at a crossroads. Close to me, I saw the form of a person holding a dim light. As I approached, I recognized Lady Liberty, the Statue of Liberty, which was alive. She was confused and disoriented. With her feet barely moving forward, she was hesitant. Her light was dim, and her arms drooped so that she was about to drop the tablet she was holding loosely.
I was compelled to encourage her so she would regain her decisiveness, but at the same time, I was looking for any clue that would indicate which was the right road. As I looked, I noticed very faint footsteps leading up to this crossroad. As my eyes focused on them, I could see that these were the footprints of great nations or empires in history. They had obviously once stood right where we were. All of these footprints led down the same road, which I knew was not the right one. It did not seem that any had yet passed this point on the right road--at least, I could not see any footprints on it.
As I looked at this road and then the other, I could see that the wrong road did seem much more inviting. It had warm streetlights leading to a curve that I could not see beyond. Because Lady Liberty's light was so dim now, I knew this would be tempting as she could actually drop the heavy light to go that way.
As I looked at the other road, it looked as difficult and uninviting as the wrong road looked easy and inviting. It was very dark, rocky, narrow, and climbed steeply to a crest which I could not see beyond. It would be nearly impossible to choose this road without being in a state of great encouragement and confidence, not the depressed state which Lady Liberty was now in.
As I looked at her, it was obvious that her confidence and resolve were eroding even further. She would never choose the right road if she did not regain her vision, confidence, and resolve quickly. It was a hard road, and just about the only light on it for a time would have to be the light you carried yourself, which would make the climb even more difficult. However, it was the only choice that was not certain doom. I was driven by this to try to convey to Lady Liberty that enduring hardship was essential if she was to live.
As I looked at Lady Liberty, I knew that she could drop the torch at any moment. She had to have help very fast. Without that torch, she would have no choice but to choose the wrong road where there was at least some light initially. I stepped over next to her and gently, but firmly, took her arm and started to lift it back up. As the light was lifted back up, it was like it received more oxygen and immediately became brighter. This was an obvious revelation to her, and her countenance began to change slightly.
I then asked her to grip the tablet, telling her she must not drop it. She responded as if she did not realize that she was about to drop it, and she gripped it. Even so, she did not yet have the will or strength to bring it back up to her side. However, I could tell that just taking the resolve
not to drop the tablet helped to dispel more of the confusion. Even these seemingly small steps to regain her resolve and purpose had a great effect. I knew action and decisiveness were critical to her recovery.
I began to encourage her with all that she had done in the past just to get to this point, and told her that her future could be even greater. She could go further than any nation or empire had ever gone before. As I talked, her countenance began to brighten even more. I knew, as well as holding her arm up, I needed to speak to her of her future--she desperately needed vision. There was yet hope that she would take the right road, but there was not much time. I felt that at any moment the wrong choice would be forced upon her if she did not move forward to take the right road.
Interpretation
Lady Liberty was obviously the United States. She is at a critical crossroads, which will determine if she has an even brighter future than her past, or whether she will begin to weaken and fail. She will not make the right decision or choose the right road unless she is strengthened and encouraged to make decisions proactively. Vision and decisiveness are her oxygen, and without it, she will expire. To be encouraged is to have courage, and it is going to take courage to take the right road and to walk on it, but it is the only path with a future.
I felt that I represented the Church in this vision. I needed to undergird her arm, which will be done with prayer and intercession, just as when Aaron and Hur held up Moses' arms while Israel battled Amalek (see Exodus 17). I also had to prophesy to her, encouraging her with visions of her potential future. She had to choose a hard and lonely road, but she had the light, the light of liberty, which would enable her to do it. The higher she lifted up the light of liberty, the more brightly her path would be lit.
The depression she felt was dispelled when she regained her resolve not to drop the tablet. This was the mandate of God to hold to the Word of God. This mandate had dropped lower and lower, until she was just about to let go of it altogether. In the vision, I only saw her grip it enough not to drop it completely, but I knew she had to raise it up to her side again to make it up the steep incline she was facing if she chose the right road.
The Bible only addresses depression one time. God's remedy for depression seems too simple, but it works and is the only thing that will work. His easy remedy cuts off depression at its roots. That is why it is only addressed once; there is nothing more to be said about it. This is found in Genesis 4:6-7:
"Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.'"
Of course, the Lord warned Cain of this just before he slew his brother. Every person has been given a conscience that tells them right from wrong. To violate it is an open door for depression, which leads to anger and ultimately conflict with others. Nations that give themselves over to evil will become angry nations, which will lead to conflict and war. There are righteous wars, but most are unrighteous, and are motivated by either jealousy or anger, just as this first conflict between brothers. Had Cain heeded God's warning, this would not have happened.
In our generation, drugs have become the source of temporary relief most people seek. Drugs can work, temporarily, but only while opening the door wider for increased depression, which requires more drugs. The longer this cycle continues, the more that vision, purpose, and resolve are confused, deluded, and eroded. What will often fill the void are illusions of grandeur that are out of touch with reality, which the devil imparts to bring further humiliation and conflict.
In contrast to this, we are told in Romans 14:17, "...for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." The kingdom of satan would have you pursue this in reverse, compelling you to seek joy with the delusion that it will lead to peace in your life, but it will only lead to more confusion and more depression. True peace and true joy can only begin with righteousness, which is doing what is right. If we will seek to do what is right, it will lead to a peace that the world cannot even understand, which will lead to a joy far above anything that this world can offer. The peace and joy of the Kingdom is not quick, but it is deep, lasting, and based on reality.
The fact that this vision ended without a road being chosen means that it has not yet been determined which road she will take. The most important thing now is to help her regain her strength, vision, and resolve so that she will be able to see the paths and the choices more clearly. As she lifts the light of liberty higher, she will be able to see further and others will also come to the light.
Application
"America has been a discipled nation, and has been taught, raised, and built on the principles of the Word of God."
The United States is not the Kingdom of God, and it is not indispensable to the purposes of God. Many believe that she has a special covenant with God, but many do not believe she does. This is based on the belief that, Biblically, the Lord is only obligated to keep covenants which He initiates, and in Scripture He only has a covenant with two nations--Israel and the Holy Nation, the Church.
Whether you believe America has a special covenant with God or not is not crucial for us to be the light and salt that we are called to be to our country, and to want to see our nation align itself with the purposes of God. At the very least, America was dedicated to God by its first colonists and the founding fathers who formed the nation, and the things dedicated to the Lord are holy and will be destroyed before being allowed to be profaned.
Because America was dedicated to the Lord, it cannot get away with what some other nations may be able to get away with. Severe discipline from the Lord will come upon America for things that may not be nearly as bad as what other nations are doing. This should be an encouragement to us that the Lord has not given up on us, as we are told in Hebrews 12:7-13:
"It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His Holiness.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."
The Lord will discipline America with increasing severity, not to condemn, but to save. Intercession and repentance can reduce the severity of these judgments, but reducing the severity should not be our only goal, rather repentance that will lift the discipline altogether.
The two paths before America are either another Great Awakening or a great destruction. The Church is called to be both salt and light to our nation. We must rise up with resolve to be these. I Peter 4:17 states, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God...." We are also told that if we judge ourselves He will not have to judge us (see I Corinthians 11:31).
We do need to clean up the Church, but we do not have time to wait for the Church to become perfect before we can be used or we would never be used. The Church in America is in very much the same state as the Lady Liberty I saw. If we will rise to our purpose and recover our resolve to stand for the Word of God and His purposes without compromise, we will find the strength to lift our light higher and to help our nation lift her light higher.
The immediate, desperate need is for us to help lift her arm with our intercession. Then we must begin to prophesy to her about her future as I did in this vision. America's future really can be far greater than her history, and she has had a brilliant history. True prophetic purpose will always be rooted in a basic commitment to honor the fathers and mothers, or history. We need to prophesy the potential future while honoring the significant exploits and contributions of great Americans in our history. Not all of the history is good, but just as even the greatest heroes of the faith in Scripture had flaws and made mistakes, we must remember the extraordinary exploits of all who built this nation.
We also need to honor the other nations who were our fathers and mothers. For America, this basically includes every other nation on earth. We are a nation truly composed of those from all nations. Every race and culture which has helped to build America is worthy of honor and respect. If America is to rise to greater heights, it will not be by tearing down other nations, but rather helping to lift them up.
The Great Commission is to make disciples, not just converts, and it is to make disciples of all nations, not just individuals. America has been a discipled nation, and has been taught, raised, and built on the principles of the Word of God. That is the tablet which must not be dropped, but raised up again to be at her side, giving her the strength and resolve to uphold the light she has been given--the light of liberty, to proclaim freedom to the captives.
Freedom is essential for true worship. That is why the Lord put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden. It was not to cause them to stumble, but there could be no true obedience unless there was the freedom to disobey. This is why we are told in II Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
America now has the freedom to choose which road she will take. The Church in America also has the freedom to help her, or do nothing. If we do nothing, we will share her fate. If we help her, we will share in the fruit of what she can yet accomplish to help prepare the earth for the coming Kingdom of God.
To help her we must first cast off our own confusion and disorientation, the result of letting the Word of God slip lower and lower, and loosening our own grip on it. We must return to the Scriptures, seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness--the only path to true peace and joy, which is only found in His Kingdom, His domain, where He is obeyed.
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Email: info@morningstarministries.org
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