Why Elisha Beyond Elijah?

What comes after the “days of Elijah?” There has been a great song around for the last decade celebrating Elijah, but he was the forerunner of something greater. We have been in the season of an Elijah anointing, but are now entering the season of Elisha. What do I mean by this? It is obviously important to me, since we call our ministry: Elisha Vision Ministries. But the revelation is in the name, Elisha, and his extraordinary ability to “see” in the supernatural dimension. What did he see that Elijah missed? Why was Elijah depressed after defeating the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel? And why is it so critical for us in 2013? Here is a little background.

Bible readers are familiar with the basic story of Elijah and Elisha, but there is much more revealed, simply from their Hebrew names. Elijah literally means “God is Yehovah.” El, or Elohim, is a somewhat generic reference to God and is sometimes used for other gods. Jah, or Yah (no “j” in Hebrew), is the short form of Yehovah, the personal name of the God of Israel, the God of the Bible. Elisha literally means “God is Yeshua.” The word is “salvation” but also just happens to be the name of the Son of God.

Here is an excerpt from my book, Generation LIFE.

“Elisha caught the mantle falling down as Elijah departed. Elisha returned to the banks of the Jordan River they had crossed just a little earlier. When Elijah had swung his mantle, the river stopped flowing, and they crossed on dry ground. Now Elisha was back at the River when he swung the mantle and cried out loud:

Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is Yehovah God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over. 2 Kings 2:13-14

Elisha would not be satisfied with Elijah’s mantle as some relic or memory. It never was about Elijah, it was about Yehovah. The mantle was the connection, like the branch connects to the vine. But Elisha wanted the LIFE! He wanted the relationship Elijah had with Yehovah. He did not cry out for Elijah. He called for the God of Elijah. There was much work ahead and Elisha knew it was beyond his ability. He must connect to the Source! That is where we are today. This last section of the book is about being fruitful in the worst season this planet will ever see. We will never be functional without the Father’s faithful covenant love, the High Priestly intercession of Yeshua, and the authority and power of the Holy Spirit within us to literally manifest the God of Elijah.” (End excerpt)

We discover Elijah again in the New Testament when Jesus identifies John the Baptist as Elijah.

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist . Matthew 17:10-13

If John fulfilled Elijah, then we again see Jesus as Elisha. So back to my headline today. Why Elisha beyond Elijah? We are no longer in the preparation stage of Elijah and John. All my life the people of God have been “preparing.” That was good, but that season is over! It is now time to function. To rephrase a cliché: Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the KINGDOM! Or, to put it another way: Game on!

The scandals in Washington these days only confirm how late the hour. Make sure you have plenty of oil (Holy Spirit) in your lamp. Make sure the wick is trimmed. This is not a call to hunker down and hide, but rather the opposite. It is time wake up, stand up and speak up for righteousness.

Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. Daniel 11:32

What great exploits has God assigned to you?

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists      (READ MORE)

 

(As is my custom, I have taken the liberty to change the word “LORD” to Yehovah. Every single time you see LORD or GOD in all capital letters in the Old Testament, the actual Hebrew word is Yehovah. This name occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text, yet remains untranslated in most Bibles. His name, obscured for 2,500 years, is now being revealed. It is TIME to restore the name of Yehovah!) (for deeper study click here.)

Syria: the Shia/Sunni War

The “uncivil” civil war in Syria is clearly breaking down along Shia and Sunni lines. This is the latest in battles among fellow Muslims that go back nearly 1,500 years to the very beginnings of Islam. After Mohammed died, Islam’s first division was a fight for control between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims. Today’s fighting has left 120,000 Syrians dead with 1.5 million refugees. Yet it is the same division of Muslims. Some believe another 100,000 could die in the next year alone. Hezbollah has openly joined with the Shia government of Bashar Assad. Consider this update from Israel National News (6-7-2-13).

The split between Shiites and Sunnis is deepening and the war in Syria is threatening the rest of the Muslim world. The rebels belong to Sunni Islam while the regime is Alawite, a branch of Shiism supported by Iran and assisted by fighters from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, units from the Shiite group Hizbullah and Shiite volunteers from Iraq.

Rebels in Deir ez-Zor proclaimed war against the Shiites following their defeat in the battle in Al-Qusayr. In a video posted to YouTube they announce the launch of a sectarian war, while chanting “Death to the Shia” and recalling the 637 The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, when Muslim Arab forces defeated the Persians.

It is a fact that Muslims have killed more Muslims since 9/11 than infidels. Yet, the God of Israel loves Muslims and desires that they be saved. Here is an excerpt from my new book, SIMPLE ISLAM:

The most important point of this entire book is that Jesus died for Muslims. God loves Muslims along with the whole world. Muslims are people. Islam is the religious/political system that enslaves them. We love the Muslim people, but reject Islam. From its inception it has had a violent and bloody history. It started with Muhammad’s murders of many. Then, when he died, there began a series of bloody battles that produced the first major split of Islam into the two largest “denominations” of Sunni and Shia. History provides context for today’s advance of Islam.

While we are at war with the system of Islam, we can love Muslims to life in Jesus. My hope is that this book will clarify this path. The Bible is clear that Yehovah will judge the wicked, but His heart is to show mercy to all who turn (repent) from their wickedness.

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 NLT END OF EXCERPT

(SIMPLE ISLAM is now available for a $10 donation or 10 for $50 including shipping. Just click on the picture of the book.)

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists        (READ MORE)

(As is my custom, I have taken the liberty to change the word “LORD” to Yehovah. Every single time you see LORD or GOD in all capital letters in the Old Testament, the actual Hebrew word is Yehovah. This name occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text, yet remains untranslated in most Bibles. His name, obscured for 2,500 years, is now being revealed. It is TIME to restore the name of Yehovah!) (for deeper study click here.)

Islamism Spreading Polio

Rarely do I quote so liberally from another blog, but this information from Daniel Pipes at Middle East Forum is so shocking you need to read it for yourself.

The polio disease was on the verge of eradication when Ibrahim Datti Ahmed, president of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria and a physician, suggested at about this time in 2003 that the vaccination program in his country was part of a Western conspiracy to render Muslim children infertile. His call for an end to the polio immunization campaign touched a nerve and spread to other Muslim religious leaders in Nigeria, causing the vaccination process to slow down and incidences of the disease to pick up.

By now, Ahmed’s paranoia has sent the new wave of polio from Nigeria to Muslim populations in at least 17 other African countries and 6 Asian countries:

Africa: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, and Togo.

Asia: Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

Comments:

(1) A single conspiracy-obsessed Islamist, equipped with an organization and credentials, has caused polio not to be eradicated but instead to win a new lease on life.

(2) Thus has radical Islam brought misery to another aspect of human life – and made fellow Muslims its principal victims. (June 1, 2013) Daniel Pipes

Here are more reports that confirm this tragedy. The first from the New York Times details the murder of nine polio workers in Nigeria and ten in Pakistan by Muslims. What kind of religion is so paranoid and downright demonic? It matters what you believe!

Pakistan and Nigeria: Murders

Somalia: Parents reject polio vaccine over rumors spread by Islamic extremists

Nigeria: Polio Wave Hits Muslims because of Nigerian’s Paranoia

Analysis: Roots of the polio suspicions among Muslims in Africa.

JESUS SAID: The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists      (READ MORE)

Dry Bones on “Drones”

… a little comic relief from my favorite Israeli cartoonist, Yaakov Kirschen, better know as Dry Bones.

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists      (READ MORE)

Hang in There

Do you remember this poster? I always liked it as an encouragement to press on and never give up. This week my mind keeps singing a little song we sang many times in our Clearwater, Florida church over the 24 years we were there.

“He who began a good work in you, He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it. He’ll be faithful to complete it. He who started the work will be faithful to complete it in you!”

It comes directly from Philippians 1:6.

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

It reminds me that God chose me; He found me. He started it. I fought Him and He won! I have walked with Him now for 50 years and I say to you: “He is faithful, even when I am not.”

I am still incomplete. He has not finished with me yet; but He will. Yehovah God, my Father started something in me all those years ago and He will complete me. As Paul testified in the above verse, so do I. “I am confident of this very thing.”

Everyone knows that Jesus was a carpenter for at least 15 years or so, but did you know He was a finish carpenter? That is why I am confident. My Father has the best finish carpenter in the universe assigned to finish what Father started. No worries.

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14 NLT

The Lord gave me this word today as an exhortation to you. No matter what happens in this earthly geo-political world, God is faithful. He loves us and will finish what He started.

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists      (READ MORE)

Coming to a TEA Party Rally Near You

OK, so I am already on the Muslim list, the conservative list, and the Christian Zionist list. It is time to weigh in on the TEA Party. Look at the picture. Have you seen one of these vehicles yet? Chilling. I can see them at the airports or borders, but at TEA Party rallies? It would make sense to see them at OWS (Occupation Wall Street) protests where people are stabbed, raped and abused. But the TEA Party?

An article on TheBlaze.com shows six pictures of these vehicles last Tuesday at TEA Party rallies in four states: Missouri, Illinois, Florida and Indiana. One picture even shows armed DHS agents! Are the TEA parties even remotely connected in any way to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center towers with passenger airplanes? Why is Homeland Security being used to “chill” dissent from grassroots Americans who disagree with government policies?

Here are two pertinent quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson

Remember what T-E-A stands for: Taxed Enough Already. Nobody gets raped or murdered at these events. Why the show of force last Tuesday in at least four states? We have a serious problem here folks…. just sayin’. And, by the way, there is not an actual single organization called the TEA Party. It is a collection of grassroots groups and individuals. Some form an organization, but most do not. The news this week revealed that nearly 500 different conservative groups tried to get tax-exempt recognition but were stonewalled by the IRS for 27 months from before the 2010 mid-term election until after the 2012 presidential election. Coincidence?

And how bad was the stonewalling? Epic. Over the course of 27 months, not a single Tea Party type organization received tax exempt status. Breitbart.com

How should we then pray?

Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Timothy 2:2-4

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does Yehovah require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists     (READ MORE)

God Loves Muslims

Here is an excerpt from the OVERVIEW of just published SIMPLE ISLAM.

The grace of God is more important than all the facts and history in this little book. Especially for Muslims, the love of Yehovah God must come through in our words and actions. Christ died for them as much as anyone on earth, so we emphasize His love and sacrifice. Yet, we will also expose the truth behind the system of Islam that enslaves its followers. And I hope to make it simple. Many Muslim individuals are finding forgiveness and love in Jesus. There are even many reports of Jesus appearing to them directly in dreams and visions. I rejoice with every report.

Islam is not hard to understand. It is made too complex by the very ones who try to explain it. My purpose is to reveal Islam in simplicity. This is not written for theologians or academics, yet it conforms to accurate historical and Biblical standards. Each point is supported by ample evidence, ensuring a “true report”.

My goal with this little book is that you will find it a handy guide to keep around to refresh your own knowledge of Islam, and also to equip your sharing of simple, yet accurate, information with your friends.

The most important point of this entire book is that Jesus died for Muslims. God loves Muslims along with the whole world. Muslims are people. Islam is the religious/political system that enslaves them. We love the Muslim people, but reject Islam. From its inception it has had a violent and bloody history. It started with Muhammad’s murders of many. Then, when he died, there began a series of bloody battles that produced the first major split of Islam into the two largest “denominations” of Sunni and Shia. History provides context for today’s advance of Islam.

While we are at war with the system of Islam, we can love Muslims to life in Jesus. My hope is that this book will clarify this path. The Bible is clear that Yehovah will judge the wicked, but His heart is to show mercy to all who turn (repent) from their wickedness.

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 NLT

The OVERVIEW (above) is the opening section of my latest book, Simple Islam. The book is available for a $10.00 donation. Also, a special rate is available as an introductory offer to help spread the word. If you order ten or more they are only $4.00 per copy, plus shipping. Ten copies would be $40.00 plus $10.00 for a total of $50.00. Eleven to fifty copies would still only have $10.00 shipping. To order or donate, click here.

Please pray with me for this project that the truth about Islam would get out and many Muslims will find the Messiah Jesus.

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists     (READ MORE)