Rivers of Blood

Dear beloved:  The Lord spoke to me in a dream last week, as I was awakened out of a very good sleep and sat up, just as if someone had tuned the alarm clock on or pinched me.  I heard three words, "rivers of blood" and that is all I could recall.  I had no recollection of any of the dream before that or after as I went back to sleep.  I pondered the words the next morning, wrote them in my journal, and have been praying for revelation on their meaning as I feel there was great significance to their meaning.

Events of the past few months regarding the abuses and deceit of the government have impressed upon my spirit that we are very near to breakdown and escalating chaos here in this country.  I believe any one of many scenarios could unfold quickly and overtake what semblance of order we have here in America: financial collapse, famine, pestilence, and civil war.  Any one or all of these streams could pour in together to rapidly change the landscape of life as we know it.  The Lord revealed to me in dreams back in 2010 when I was ministering in the Costa Rican jungle, that all these were parts of the prophetic picture of this great nation.  One dream in particular was very vivid and profound, when the black horse of famine came out and the rider was making his declaration of Rev. 6:6 "/A quart if wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of  barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine."  Then the horse reared up and threw off the rider, which indicated to me extreme chaos and no balance of economy or commerce.

As I prayed for revelation on the words "rivers of blood", I believe it came to me through the words of Ezekiel where I just happened to be in my reading through the bible in a year program. Ezekiel 23:36 Morever, the Lord said to me, "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. v37 "For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food. v38. Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths. v39  for when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and lo, thus they did within My house." v45 But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. v46 :For thus says the Lord God, 'Bring up a company against them, and give them over to terror and plunder, v47 and the company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their house with fire. v48 Thus I shall make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. v49 And your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord God."

So there it is.  The rivers of blood that started out as drops, then became trickles, then rivulets, and are now flowing as full blown rivers due to the shed blood of the innocents, will become raging torrents due to civil war, terror and plunder on every side.  The only way to stop this as a nation and as individuals is if we repent and turn from our wicked ways, and cry out to the Lord for Him to heal our land. Spend time with the Lord crying out to Him to smite this nation not with a company to judge, but smite us with conviction and the spirit of revival, that repentance and revival and the seeking of His truth will sweep the land. May God bless you today as you pray.  in Christ, Jim      
To read the dreams posted in March 2010 go to www.jimrowh.blogspot.com

Baptism of Fire

Dear beloved:  Everything in the Christian walk is obtained by asking to receive, and by stepping out in faith believing that you will receive.  In the act of giving there are two parts of the equation; first, the actions of the giver, and the actions of the receiver.  In the Christian walk, the giver is God, the author and perfecter of our faith and in Him there is no change.  James tells us in James 1;17 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.  The Giver does not waver, nor is He a man that He should lie.  So when He promises us something, we can rest assured that He will follow through on His promise and give to us that which He has promised.

The other side of the equation is the receiver, that being each of us, which wavers and is not constant.  We come and go, our passions, desires, and motives change from day to day and year to year.  But if we come to the Lord seeking more of Him, and come with the innocence of a child, the Lord will be faithful and true to fulfill His side of the promise and give us the desires of our hearts.  Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Matthew 6:33 Seek first My kingdom and My righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.  Jesus also instructs us to receive the kingdom with the innocence of a child. Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. v14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. v15 Truly I say to, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all." v16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands upon them.

John the Baptist promised that there would be coming after him one who would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Matthew 3:11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. v12 " and His winnowing fork is in in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  So the promise is for you to receive the baptism of fire, another baptism in addition to the water baptism, and this baptism will not only empower you, it will burn out the useless chaff in you and enable you to go forward walking in all the power that God has predestined for you.

In the natural the harvest is ready to begin.  Here in Kansas the fields are turning white with grain in the heads, and the combines are beginning to move into the fields to separate the grain from the chaff and stubble. Only the good heavy grain will be taken to the barn, the rest will be blown away and eventually decompose.  Jesus told the disciple in Matthew 9:37 "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. v38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers in His harvest."  Ask the Lord to baptize you with fire today, so you can go forth into the harvest field with the power of a new combine, and help the Lord bring in His harvest.  May God bless you as you go forth this day.  in Christ, Jim  www.gathertheoutcasts.com

Tattoos for Jesus?

Dear beloved:  I recently gave a teaching on tattoos to the inmates in the prison, as many of them have tattoos and were curious about what the Bible has to say about the practice.  The prison culture is ripe for tattooing, with men who have lots of time on their hands as well as many ties to the demonic world of drugs, witchcraft, lawbreaking, and rebellion.  If you are one who already has tattoos, or you are contemplating getting a tattoo, you might be interested to know what God's word says about it, and whether you should proceed to get a tattoo.

Everything we do in life has consequences, both in the physical and the spiritual realm.  The physical consequences are obvious, but the spiritual ones are not so easy to discern.  We look at the beauty, or in some cases, repulsive nature of a tattoo if it is obviously demonic, and make an immediate judgment on how it adorns the body, or about the statement that it makes to the world.  Many inmates can tell their life's story through their tattoos; their gangs, their girlfriends, their associations, even their allegiance to Jesus or some other deity that they worship.  Many, however, wish they could erase their tattoos with the ease of an eraser on a chalkboard, for they are embarrassed by the tattoo and the way that it has marred their body, or they are no longer attached in the spirit realm to that which they are connected to physically.

The Old Testament law clearly stated that tattoos were not to be taken on the body. They were viewed as blood sacrifices to the dead, and therefore forbidden.  Leviticus 19:28 You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves, I am the Lord.  1Kings 18:28 So they cried with a loud voice (the prophets of Baal) and cut themselves according the their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. v29 And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. Although we have in the new covenant been set free from the bondage of old covenant law keeping, we are still under the grace of God to treat our bodies with care and respect, as the Spirit of the living God resides within our temples. 1 Corinthians 10:23 Paul states, All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.  All things are lawful, but not all things edify.   Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?  May it never be!  Although he was speaking primarily of the need to be free from sexual immorality in this case, the application for all uses of the physical body are the same: we are to treat it as the temple of the Spirit of the Living God that it is. Intentional cutting to create tattoos clearly violates the commandment to not harm your physical body.  If you have any tattoos of any nature, repent of the cutting and ask the Lord to forgive and He will be faithful and true to forgive you.

The second aspect of tattooing is the connection to the spirit world that the tattoo represents.  If the tattoo is of a person's name, their initials, a deity of worship (idolatry), or symbol of something demonic, such as a snake, owl, or spider, repent and ask the Lord to break off the soul ties to that spiritual entity.  When you tattoo the name or initials of a person, you have a connection, or soul tie to that person\, and the same goes for other entities, whether they are persons, animals, birds, reptiles, or whatever.  I know a young lady who tattooed the initials of her deceased parents on her back, and almost immediately her personality changed for the worse, because she took on the soul ties with the demonic forces (generation curses) that had shaped the  negative aspects of  her parents personalities.  When you make soul ties to the demonic kingdom, the devil actually takes part of your fractured soul captive and holds you in bondage.  You must then repent of that connection, ask the Lord to forgive you and break the cord that connects.  Then ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill you and heal you in the place of your soul where that void was left. If you have tattooed something that attaches to the kingdom of God, such as the picture of a cross of the name of Jesus, then you have tied your soul to your Savior, so the only repentance needed is of the cutting.  Those tattoos will be a lasting testimony to the one who can save your soul, though in times of persecution they might cost you dearly, even to the loss of your head and body.

If you are contemplating getting a tattoo, pray about it and see if this is truly what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do.  There are many ways to express your testimony other than tattoos which you may someday regret and wish to have removed. Although their are ways to remove them, it is not easy and can often times be painful and expensive.  I pray that this will help some out there who may have questions.  May God bless you today.  In Christ, Jim  www.gathertheoutcasts.com