Time of strong individuals

Time of strong individuals

This is a prophetic word for the season in progress – the word about individual victories, individual walking. Though we need to keep harmony between corporate grace and personal grace, yet now is the time of focusing on individuals.

For instance, one of the youth may say, “let us pray for the awakening of the young people”, and all would start interceding. But when it comes to the individual achievement, nothing happens, because “things can by done by a crowd only”.

David comes to the battle field and sees the crowd keeping silent. Goliath keeps reproaching Israel for forty days. And David doesn’t shout anything like “pray for me, support me, carry me forth in your arms, intercede for me!..” No, he has no time for that. He simply says, “who is this uncircumcised that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And the tell him the story of Goliath. Even his brothers considered him a kid with a naughty heart who came to see the battle. But David answered to them, “aren’t these just words?” I like David – he keeps respectful to his brothers, observing the hierarchy, and simply says, “aren’t these just words”. His question is, what they will do to the one who defeats Goliath. They tell him, well, he would be given the king’s daughter for wife. David says, that is all right, good enough.

Saul looks at this young boy, and even then he already felt and heard things, and he gives him his own armor desiring that David has the victory in his king’s ammunition, so that the victory could be ascribed to the magic anointing of the king. I think, David played with it, then thought, “wow, that I should wear it!” And took it off, took his sling, got 5 stones in his bag and ran against Goliath, and hit him on the forehead, got his sword – finally a good weapon – and cut of his head, and lifted it up. The whole of Israel went into attack, and that is how the Lord gave victory to Israel that day. How? – Through an individual victory of one man. It was not a corporate victory, it was an individual victory of one man, which brought a breakthrough for all.

This is what I am talking about – the time of strong individuals. We often hide without observing the balance, and our boat lists to the crowd side. Now is the time to correct list to the side of individuality. And this is the time of David’s strong ones, when it is specifically recorded who did what for Christ.

Therefore, I want to invite us all to where you will tell your own stories, not other people’s. Some of us have nothing at all to tell, you have no stories. We keep telling stories of the brethren, which are other brothers’ and sisters’, but not our own. I realize there is a base, support, prayer groups, which become a part of the corporate victory. But you understand that the list here has to be corrected. So I want to invite you in the honest, to start writing your own story of walking in the spirit. And declare this season a season of strong individuals.

It is written, “And I sought for a man among them”(Ezek.22:30), not a crowd, not a community, but a man, “that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land.” One man can make it for the whole land. “…that I should not destroy it: but I found none”. Yes, He found a crowd, there were many prayer groups… I have nothing against prayer groups, but they have to consist of strong individuals, of persons.

Therefore, this is the time of strong persons, David’s strong ones. He may have, and we say that David is Jesus Christ, seven, three, four people, but he needs thirty. Do you understand? There have to be 30 for the awakening. The whole of Israel was held together by those thirty, because those were thirty brave ones, they were head people with David.

It is written “David grew greater and greater, because the Lord of Hosts was with him” (1Chron. 11:9). – David grew greater. –  Now these were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, chief of the captains. – Why is he chief? Because he is the strongest. – He had lifted up his spear against three hundred, killed by him at one time.” That was truly a great exploit, which was no less than some Odyssey’s, to stand for his own people!

“After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines. But they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory. Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” – David wasn’t a simple man, he didn’t humble himself so much to say, “let me die for you, I don’t want anything’. But he says to people, “Go get me water from that well, I am thirsty”. You may say, David wasn’t a Christian. But I wish all the Christians were like David.

So there were his people thinking, these are serous things, this doesn’t sound like David – usually he could go himself and get things at the risk, like Saul’s spear or jar. But they also knew he could test his people.

“So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord.  And he said, “Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men”.

What does it talk about here? About love. This is a story about love. They had to get the water, so they had to really break through, while one was getting the water, the other two were fighting. And then they had to retreat, even so they get an arrow in the back, and bring the water safely, not spill it all on the way, and then say, David, here, drink.

Do you see? What kind of foolishness is this? How is that the Lord didn’t kill David right there for not loving his brothers? But I tell you this, don’t stick your nose there. This is a secret, a secret of David. I admire this, admire brothers David had, this is amazing. Today we need to learn this.

But these are individuals, this isn’t a crowd. They didn’t pray and ask, “Lord, open a spring here for us”, as we Christians would do, we would ask anointing for our water scouts, that they may find it right under our feet, that we start our own resources, or find sponsors to dig a well in a safety zone, to make up peace with Philistines, etc. We would do anything to escape dangers, but to David they brought water that way.

And David demonstrated, he mocked Satan, he put Satan low, he put fear low and showed that we are fearless. What could Philistines do after they have taken water from right before them and took it for David to drink? How can one battle with such people, when they have put you down to the very bottom, couldn’t be lower. I don’t know how many they killed while taking water, but it was a solid humiliation. This is what God’s warrior do, they celebrate and rejoice at the victory.

This is of course, someone else’s story, but we perceive it as our own, and we love doing it. You know it when a speaker is telling a story and a thousand people crowd is roaring as if it were their own. This is a “little sin” that we have as a Christian church – to tell someone’s stories as our own. Let us write our own stories, let them even be small in the beginning.

This is a season of strong individuals, persons, personal victories before the Lord! And the total of these victories will make our glory. Those thirty, when they stood altogether, everyone realized that there are no accidental people.

“Abishai the brother of Joab was chief of another three. He had lifted up his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. Of the three he was more honored than the other two men. Therefore he became their captain. However he did not attain to the first three. – What kind of man was that? More honored, perhaps ordained bishop, but those there were more glorious than he, they were stronger. – Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam – I’ve see a weaver’s beam once, it is a scary log –  and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear”.

What is it all about? These are martial arts of the spirit, folks! They were as if mocking the devil, brothers were having fun. This is how David appointed his people.

How did David Himself got Saul’s spear and jar with water? He did it himself, he didn’t cry out to brothers, “if you love me go and do this”.

Or when David brought two hundred foreskins of Philistines to Saul for his daughter, instead of one hundred. Saul demanded one hundred, David says, ”I want to thank you, king, here is two hundred”. This is the way David was – not 110, not 120… There must be spiritual generosity. Some would bring 102, 107 – but 100 is better then, because your 107 speaks of your spiritual greediness, you are spiritual coward and greedy – where are you aiming? Even 150 would be a shame, 200 is good – such stakes David started making. Here is 100 in one sack, and here is bonus, another 100. Many would bring 102 and boast of it for the rest of your lives. David would fully despise such one. We need the spirit of David!

Samson did the same, he was an individual and demonstrated how to move alone. He caught those 300 foxes – can you imagine what screaming there was?  He had to really rush in a trance to get them all together. And then tie their tails somehow – foxes bite – and set them on fire, and thus they burnt the Philistine fields! You may say, this is impossible. Brothers and sisters, I believe the Bible! A hundred and fifty pairs of foxes with tails on fire burnt the Philistine fields. Why did he do it this way? Couldn’t he simply set the fields on fire in the night? It would make more sense. But he wanted to humiliate, to mock, to have fun, to put them to shame. Eventually they hated him – that’s what he wanted, his intention was to have his adversaries out of balance.

This is what one man did – what courage! Wildest courage! We don’t realize this, but for many of us this is a fairy tale. But I enter these things, because I want to understand how he did these things, because I want to be like Samson. He is an individual judge, he ruled for 20 year, and he was in power, and at the end he won.

Gideon with 300 men who each had just a jar with the fire and a shofar, and the shout “the sword of the Lord and Gideon!”- and Gideon.

Jeremiah – one prophet against all the hundreds of false prophets. Paul Apostle went alone and became an Apostle of the Gentiles. He had a team, made disciples, but realize that Paul was a person, an individual. Jesus said of him, “he is My chosen vessel, and will show him how much he is to suffer for My name”. It all happened because of Paul. Christ died and rose again, but it was because of Paul that the Gentiles got saved. He became an Apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles.

And we need harmony of the person and the team, when we work as a part of the team, for the church, for the brethren, but we work individually. Each one is a hero, and each one is writing his own story.

I say again as a prophetic word – this is the time of personal victories. Don’t hide cunningly behind the common things, like let’s pray for the awakening of the youth or Russia, but go and do your own work and tell your own story. Go and have your own victory, no need to wait till we gather altogether. Tell your story of the week, where was your exploit. You can have secret fast and prayer, share the Gospel on your way to work, save money and go on a mission trip – it can be a thousand things! It has to get born in your heart though.

I love to hear and give testimonies, and the Acts of Apostles is one of the loved books – it talks how they actually did things. As Paul preached in Thessalonica there was testimony to it, therefore he could speak of their election. Election is doubtful without testimony, but where the powers of God manifest there is election. For this one has to act boldly.

Therefore, this is the time of strong individuals and personal victories!