As I waited on the Lord today I saw an old fashioned Brillo Pad placed into my hand.
Some of you may not know what a brillo pad is.
Brillo Pads are made for "deep cleaning".
They are made of steel wool with a strong detergent soap embedded into the steel wool.
They are used when things have become especially dirty, rusty and unclean.
As I sought the Lord concerning this vision He spoke to my heart saying, "I have used you to clean the surface rust off some of the cutting edge of the sword of the Lord that has been neglected With this sword you have been able to accomplish some wonderful things, but it is now time to go to the heart of the sword - that part that gives weight and power to the cutting edge.
Apply the "brillo pad" there.
You must not worry about how offensive or scratchy your message is but allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse the heart of the sword of the Lord.
He went on to say "hidden in the heart of this sword are truths that have been covered over with fleshly and carnal practices that have kept my word from accomplishing what it is intended to do.
As I began to take the brillo pad into my hands and apply it to the heart of the sword of the Lord, I began to see such glory and beauty that it took my breath away.
The more I cleaned by scrubbing, the more glory I saw.
I saw magnificent jewels embedded into the sword in such a way that the sword was not only strengthened with unparallel power, but beatified beyond imagination.
I saw such designs as the world has never seen.
It seemed that this sword had unending beauty, yet a beauty that was designed for power and glory.
I knew that none of the glorious designs were there just for the beauty but that they existed for the dual purpose of glory and power.
Somehow I knew that these were the Biblical Truths that have been buried under the carnal decisions the Church has chosen to make over the past centuries.
These carnal decisions have rendered her increasingly powerless to cope with the rising iniquity.
I had the privilege of cleaning and uncovering these Biblical Truths immense value.
I then heard the Lord say that the strength of this sword was in the alloys that were forged into it through fire, pressure, and annealing.
At the very heart of the sword was the word "Love of God.
" I knew that every truth forged into the sword only had strength because it was rooted and grounded in "The Love of God.
" Even the divine attributes of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence owed their glory to the foundation of the "Love of God.
" As I watched the sword was placed into the hands of the Prophets.
Immediately it was raised into the heavens and became a lightning rod that drew the thunder and lightning of heaven to the earth.
The Prophets became the channels of God's lightning revelation and although the people were somewhat fearful of their sword, they were also fascinated as the Prophets connection to heaven's glory supplied earth's need.
Even as the earth needs the nitrogen of the lightning we need the ministry of the Prophet.
I found the following definition of what nitrogen is and what is accomplishes: All life requires nitrogen-compounds, e.
g.
, proteins and nucleic acids.
The nitrogen molecule (N2) is quite inert.
To break it apart so that its atoms can combine with other atoms requires the input of substantial amounts of energy.
The enormous energy of lightning breaks nitrogen molecules and enables their atoms to combine with oxygen in the air forming nitrogen oxides.
These dissolve in rain, forming nitrates, that are carried to the earth.
Atmospheric nitrogen fixation probably contributes some 5- 8% of the total nitrogen fixed.
Even as our definition declares the lighting contributes only about 5-8 % of the nitrogen to the earth.
How needful this seemingly small percentage is.
It is true that too much of the Prophetic is as harmful as not enough.
The beauty of lighting is that it can strike anywhere at any time even as the Lord wills.
Even so the Prophets must be ever alert and ready to be used of God when the time arrives.
I then saw the sword of the Lord placed into the hands of the Pastor.
Immediately the Pastor turned to face the ravenous wolves that were seeking to devour the flock.
They fought tirelessly against what seemed a never ending flood of these wolves.
Interestingly the flock was barely aware of the life and death battle the Pastors were engaged in.
They fed contently on the good pasture the Pastor had led them to and only on occasion did a small portion of the flock see the great danger they would be in if it were not for the courage and watchfulness of the Godly Pastors.
The sword of the Lord in the hand of the Pastors looked at times very much like a shepherd's staff and in fact it was.
The staff directed and corrected the sheep, but at the same time it led them to green pastures and fresh water.
How happy and contended the sheep became when they were led to the right pastures and the fresh, clean, still waters.
As the sword was handed over to the teacher it became a quill that had the power to transform doctrine and truth that before time was blurry and hard to distinguish into clear and precise letters.
I heard sighs of relief come to the flock as doctrine that was confusing and difficult for them became not only clear, but part of their life.
Strangely this clarified truth brought a joy to the flock that had been missing.
The teacher had an ability to affirm the identity of the flock in such a way that it gave them value and confidence.
When the flock was walking in this new sense of value they became very productive.
As I used the brillo pad on that portion of the sword that made the teacher effective, I heard the Lord say, "Remove the decades of pride that has accumulated from the gathering of `degrees and honors' which have isolated my truth in towers of intellectualism.
" At first there was a great outcry from the teachers, but when they saw how effective they were without their titles they became extremely gentle, kind, and patient.
I saw the Teachers and Pastors walking together in such power that the landscape began to change.
Hills and valleys that had become brown and infested were transformed into green pastures.
As the sword was handed over to the Evangelist there was a transformation of almost unbelievable contrast.
Whereas the Pastor was gentle, and the teacher precise, the Evangelist seemed incredibly reckless.
He swung the sword in every direction and seemed to have no pattern or purpose in how he used it.
Incredibly thousands ran to the sword to be struck by its truth.
It was only when the Evangelist tried to be like the Pastor and Teacher that his anointing diminished and became ineffective.
When the Evangelist looked longingly at the security of the Pastor and the Teacher, he did not lose his anointing.
When he chose to live as they did, he immediately lost his joy and entered a season of extreme frustration.
Then I saw tens of thousands of Evangelists leaving the Pastorate for the true calling they were given.
They were saying, one to another, the security of the office of the Pastor is not worth the constant frustration of being out of the will of the Lord.
As soon as the Evangelists entered the fields of their calling a supernatural supply was ordered by the Lord to be brought to them by the angels.
The angels went to a supply room where there was provision that had been increasingly stored up, because the Evangelist had been depending of the supply of the Pastorate.
Now the sword was handed over to the Apostles.
I was so excited I could hardly contain myself.
Yet, sadly I saw that they were told to put the sword in its sheath.
I was deeply puzzled by what I saw until the Lord spoke to my heart saying, "Even as it was in the days of Nehemiah, the main task of my Apostles at this time is to remove the massive amounts of rubble that have accumulated over the centuries.
" Neh 4:10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.
" The Lord spoke gently to my heart saying, "Son, as you behold the rubble and apply yourself to removing it, the apostolic sword will be fully impregnated with my heart.
The sword will grow in its glory and power as you are more and more grieved at the neglect of my truth and my Church's acceptance of man's doctrines and practices.
The day will come when I will tell my Apostles to remove the sword from its sheath, and when it is drawn the whole earth will tremble at its glory and power.
The Apostles will teach each of my ministries how to use this sword in the field of labor they are called to.
Then the whole nature of my work will be transformed almost overnight.
I then looked at my brillo pad with a new and loving appreciation and returned to the painstaking work of cleansing.