Jane Hansen Hoyt – Thursday PM Session
It is good to be with you again. It is wonderful to see all my friends in Europe. How many were in Indianapolis (USA)? It was a great conference. It was a unique conference and I believe it was a time when God was doing something unique between Messianic Jews, Muslim Background Believers and Gentiles. In fact, I have an email from Holly Wallace who is part of Revive Israel in North America. She was in attendance at the conference. She said,
The content of the sessions was rich, filled with worship, proclamations and prophetic acts. The event united three leaders in the Body of Messiah, linked them in covenant partnership in the Kingdom of God that is being birthed in the earth. One represented Christians from over 170 nations (that is Aglow); another representing outreach to millions of Arabs with the Gospel (that was Harun), and one representing the Messianic Jewish remnant and the restoration of apostolic authority coming out of Jerusalem (that is Asher Intrater).
God did something very powerful and I believe this link-up of three key leaders is for the advancement of His Kingdom and will unfold in the days ahead. We love Asher and Betty and his team, and we understand that God has linked us together, heart-to-heart in covenant relationship for such a time as this.
As I share tonight I am going to begin with an incident that happened in January 2014.
Time is Short
Tony and I were in Jerusalem. We were there to receive an award that the Knesset was giving for tourism in Israel. They were honoring Aglow and our support of Israel and our travel into Israel.
We were seated in the coffee shop at the Crowne Plaza. There was a bearded man walking around in this little area. We did not know him. Soon he sat down at the table opposite us and he leaned out and he kept looking at me. He said:
You carry great weight. You are a lion. I do not know who you are but you are important in the Kingdom. You are not finished. It is not time to stop. The next phase is just beginning. Take care of your health. Rest. Cut off everything that is unnecessary. You are an Esther and you have been called for such a time as this. There was a moment Esther had to decide. You are called for this time and he, pointing at Tony, is your Mordecai. You are not like anyone else. You are different. I can feel it. You are called to prepare people to meet the King. You are an Apostle. Bring your ministry back to its foundation. Prepare your ministry like the 5 virgins.
The body needs the foundation of the Word. We are in the time of temptation now. It is the strength of the Word that will enable My people to stand in the time to come. You are an Apostle, so build apostolically. Just know that the time is short.
From Jerusalem we traveled to Hong Kong. We were going over into China and we spent a few days resting in Hong Kong. We were walking through an alley way in that busy city when Tony stepped into a tailor shop. So, I just stepped back and kind of leaned against the wall, still in the alley way.
An Arab man from Pakistan approached me. He said, You are a woman of wisdom. He began to speak to me along the same line as the man in Jerusalem. He asked where I got my wisdom and we had a lengthy conversation about Jesus, God, and the Bible. Of course he had his own view about things, but at the end of our conversation he said, I just want to tell you one thing – time is short.
I had two similar instances within seven days. That kind of thing does not happen to me frequently. The man that was speaking to me in Hong Kong was Pakistani. Interesting the two sons of Abraham - Isaac and Ishmael, both recognizing that time is short.
For Such a Time as This
As we see the incidences of our current day in history, there is a sense of time shortening. As Edda said tonight, the landscape in Europe has changed significantly. The world has transitioned into a different place. We sense the intensity of the times and the turbulence. As I mentioned in my message in Indiana, what is taking place in Europe is the worst humanitarian crisis since 1942 - that kind of change and transition brings with it certain pressures – culturally, economically, politically, and most of all spiritually.
We have said of ourselves in Aglow that we recognize that we have been called for such a time as this. You know, that can kind of roll easily off your tongue. We are Esthers. We have been called. And then the shift begins to occur. The pressures of the time begin to come upon us. It gives you pause when you say, and you realize, that you have been called for such a time as this.
There are challenges, there is conflict, and there are opportunities for us to rise to. It is a time when we are feeling pressed in, but I believe the very fact that we are feeling pressed in is the wooing of the Holy Spirit drawing His Bride into a relationship with Jesus, the Bride Groom that is unlike anything we have yet known. There is a seriousness of the hour, but there is an intimacy to be gained and to be sought after in this hour.
Ten Virgins
I think of Mike Bickel’s message to us back in 2009. He spoke to us about the 10 virgins urging us to be like the five wise virgins who were ready for His appearance because He will come at a time and an hour that we know not. I believe in this current atmosphere, there is a very powerful wooing of the Holy Spirit that we must respond to.
Proverbs 3:6 says, In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. In all your ways acknowledge Him. That word “acknowledge” in Hebrew is “yada,” which speaks of intimacy and relationship. It is saying in every way, in all your ways, walk in an acknowledgment and in an intimacy with Me that will guide your steps, that will make you secure, that will cause you to walk in peace. This is a special time.
Two Paths to Intimacy
As I was just seeking the Lord about this year (2016), it is interesting that the number 16 references love, loving, being loved, the whole love relationship and atmosphere. I believe that what the Lord is speaking to us is that we need to be in His Word and that the two pathways into intimacy are through the Word and through prayer. You may say, well that is pretty basic; but, I believe there is revelation and insights that have been stored up in the Word for this hour and that it is as we soak in His Word, read His Word, study His Word, linger in His Word that this fresh revelation and insight will begin to unfold to us. Asher referenced the importance of knowing the Word in Indianapolis during his Sunday morning message.
Interestingly, Tony and I had already had a conversation about our hunger for the Word. Tony has read through the Word many times, but he said, “I feel like I need to read the Word again from cover to cover.” You know, we all have our favorite places and our favorite books, yet God is casting a new freshness on His Word that we need to heed. There is a lingering in His Word and a lingering in His Presence that is very strategic for us at this time.
Last night as we were preparing to go to bed, I turned to Luke 24:13-32 about the two men on the road to Emmaus. They were walking along talking together and the Word says they were reasoning together. Please understand when I say, God wants to move us beyond reasoning to a place in the Spirit realm that is alive and electric and fills us with fire and passion and intimacy! It is while they are walking and talking and reasoning amongst themselves that Jesus drew near to them. He began to engage them in conversation, but the Word says their eyes were restrained. They did not know who He was. They could not conceive and comprehend what was taking place in the moment. Later in verses 17 and 18, after Jesus had said, What are you talking about? Their response: You do not know what has just happened? He said, Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? (vs 25-26)
He expounded to them in all of the scriptures the things concerning Himself. The power of the Word was coming to them in a revelatory way! They needed a lens change. They had perceived in a particular way, but their eyes were restrained to see what was unfolding before them. So, as He broke bread with them, and as He continued to speak with them, their eyes were opened.
Visitation vs Habitation
It is a day of the opening of the eyes. It is a day of new revelation. We have heard Graham Cooke speak to us about the difference between visitation and habitation. Visitation is looking for revival, looking for events, looking for things where He comes to visit us. The greater truth is habitation and the fact that revival and His Presence and His Spirit is inhabited within us.
I believe that what is inhabited within us is going to be stirred this weekend with new fire and new passion and new intimacy.
Read the Word
As we move forward in these days ahead, it is a time to be in the Word. Not in your former way of thinking, but with fresh eyes to see and a fresh approach to hear what He has to say today. I believe it is correct that this is a Jubilee year, which is a time of restoration and reconciliation and reformation. It is a time when relationships are restored, when things come together in a new and a powerful way.
Aglow’s Stand
At our conference in Indianapolis, one of the things that I shared was out of Esther. I felt it was very important for us as a ministry to establish and declare in a new and a powerful way that our stand is with Israel and for the second coming of Jesus. We kind of make a broad statement when we say, Well, we stand with Israel, and Asher has so graciously corrected us in that statement. It is not just the state of Israel, it is loving what God loves, standing with what God has stated, and being one with the Messianic remnant within the land to call back the second coming of Jesus. We have stood with Israel over the years, but I felt it is important for us as a ministry to make a declaration that this is our intent and this is our main focus of our ministry.
You will recall that in 1991, we also received a word about Islam, that He would put in our hand a thread that would begin to unravel the garment of Islam.
The Key to the House of Islam
As a ministry, we have taken steps to walk in obedience to that word with outreach into the land, with Aglow groups established in many of the Middle Eastern nations, with a television series that has ministered to many. But last year in Indiana, I felt like the Lord spoke to me out of the Book of Esther related to Islam as well. It was after Esther had exposed the enemy and the plot of Haman to destroy the Jews that the King said to her, Now I am giving you the house of Haman. (Esther 8:1, 7)
Isaiah 22:22 has been our scripture for many years – I am putting in your hand keys; keys that will open doors that no man can shut, and close doors that no man can open. I believe God has given us the key to the house of Islam.
I shared with the group this morning that this past summer Tony and I purchased a home. The owner of the home was a Saudi Arabian. We purchased the home during Ramadan while he was in Mecca. It was while he was in Mecca that we received the keys to his house. People have frequently said that there are times in my life that as the leader of a global ministry, things that occur are very prophetic. I believe that was very prophetic. It was not planned, but God knew what was taking place and I believe what He is speaking to us is that He has put in our hand the keys to the house of Islam.
Weapons from Heaven
I hope this does not sound crude, but when we think of terrorist activities and extremist activities in the Islamic system, there are explosives that are used. But I want to say to you, you have explosives from Heaven that can invade the system and invade the house to bring the glory of the Lord, to bring revelation, to bring insight, to turn events in this world. You have explosives from Heaven to make a difference!
Prayer Coalition
As we spoke with the National Presidents this morning, I had just read the news on my iPad that a coalition of nations here in Europe have come together to come against ISIS in a stronger way. We need to form our coalition. We need to form a coalition of nations who are praying fervently for what God wants to unfold in this hour. Historically, we are living in tremendous times. It is turbulent, it is pressured, but it is an awesome time to be alive.
As I draw this to a close, I want to say that it is a time for us:
- to draw close to the Lord,
- to heed the wooing of the Holy Spirit,
- to come into an intimate knowing of Him in a way that is different than we have known before,
- to receive fresh revelation and insight.
We do this through reading the Word and through prayer and through lingering in His Presence. I believe that is what 2016 has for us.
Just as I close, I came across an email I received back in 2006 from one of the founders of Tikkun. His name is Don Finto. In fact, it was Don Finto that introduced me to Betty and Asher Intrater. Sometime I will tell you about that first meeting. It was wonderful. But at the end of the meeting, Asher said, I want to anoint you with oil. I had just washed my hair and he did not take a finger and anoint me with oil, he took his hand and anointed me with oil. I have never been the same. It was a wonderful moment.
Here is a comment that Don Finto made related to Aglow: he was awakened in the morning with a scripture on his heart and it was phrased like this – 12 John 7. He looked it up and read it and I thought I must not have heard correctly.
The scripture actually is John 12:7, and it says, Leave her alone (this is Jesus speaking) leave her alone, it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of My burial. He said the scripture kept coming to him throughout the day and then he saw it. Mary had anointed Jesus for His burial. He said, “I believe the Lord has raised up Aglow International as a group of women and men who are preparing the church for His return and for the coronation of Him as King. The Aglow women and men are doing the same thing that Mary was doing.”
Mary understood that something significant was about to happen and I believe, Don went on, “Aglow has an understanding or some sense that something major is about to happen in our generation as the Bride readies herself to receive the Groom.”
When I think of Asher’s ministry to us over the years - he spoke to us about kicking the devil off the planet and bringing in the second return of Jesus. It resounds in my ears and in my heart.
While we were together in Jerusalem this past April, we asked Asher and his team to meet with us on the Mount of Olives where you look across to the Golden Gate (Eastern Gate) and you see the old city of Jerusalem. I asked him if he would meet us there so that together, a portion of the Messianic remnant in Jerusalem and Aglow International could jointly call Jesus to come back to earth. We do not know the hour, we do not know the day.
It speaks in Luke 21, that when you begin to hear of wars and rumors of wars, and the list goes on of what you can anticipate, it talks about knowing a security and stability in your heart in preparation for those days. That is why, in this hour, there is a wooing of the Holy Spirit to come into that intimate place with Him because we need what He wants to impart to us and in us for the days that are before us.
As we close this time tonight, Father, we speak our hearts to Your heart. We thank You for the Holy Spirit. We thank You for Jesus. We thank You for the wooing of Your Holy Spirit to bring us into a new and a deeper place with You. Do in us all that You have purposed to do. Even as we sang tonight Lord I give You my heart, I give You my life, I give You my soul, even as individually we say that, Lord I say this corporately for this ministry. We give ourselves to You for Your Holy purposes. Come in and do in us - come and do through us all that You have purposed to do.
Amen.