Kansas City Chronicles - Day 6 (Commissioned)

I felt extremely tender after seeing the vision of Jesus coming to free me from my prison cell of sickness and emotional turmoil. I was still under the impact of it, wiping the tears from my face, when the atmosphere of the service changed yet again.

The musicians began to play and the silence was breached. Wes Hall announced, “Tonight is going to be an Isaiah 6 experience for many of you. If you feel called to any nation in Asia, come up to the altar now.”

I thought, eh – not really. Sometimes I feel called to Israel…is that in Asia? I kind of just wanted to sit there and cry some more. I certainly felt more peaceful than I did an hour ago.

Then Wes said, “…Or any Muslim nation.” As if by some invisible force that bypassed my cognitive processes and reached down into my spirit, I felt pulled to the front of the room. Without a second thought, I stood up with about 50 others and walked towards the stage.

From the moment I planted my feet in the prayer line that reached from one end of the staging area to the other, I began to feel a tingling sensation creep up and down my body. The sensation increased in intensity until what seemed like flames of fire were cascading down and around every limb and extremity of my physical frame. At times I felt afraid that my body might actually burn up or cripple under the power of this fire; in the very next moment I would feel refreshed and inebriated by it. At one point I thought to myself, To die in His presence would be a wonderful thing anyway!

A few minutes into the experience, I felt a quick whooshing sensation in my stomach and suddenly I could see a throne before me. My eyes were closed, but in my mind’s eye I could see myself standing before a Room full of fire with a large fiery throne right in the middle of it. Angels of fire swooped around the room, and a river of fire was pouring forth from the throne itself. I knew God Himself was seated on that throne, but His appearance was shrouded in garments of fire. I seemed to be receiving an impartation of fire from that river that found its origin in the very Being of God on that throne. As I gazed on the heavenly scene, I again felt a mixture of holy fear and yet excitement brimming within me at the prospect of being in such an important place. The thought crossed my mind more than once, Only by the blood of Jesus could one stand here and look on such a sight!

Allen Hood, a preacher from IHOP that helps coordinate the awakening services, prayed for several specific anointings. They prayed for a release of the spirit of martyrdom to rest upon individuals that were called to these regions, the spirit of prophecy to come upon those that were called, like Jeremiah, to prophesy to the nations, and for a grace for these messengers to see the sights and sounds of heaven in new ways. A few different times I began to violently shake when people were praying for me, and at one point I had to steady myself with one stable foot on the ground so I wouldn’t fall over.

I stood there for one hour with these strange yet wonderful surges of Holy Spirit flames coursing across my body, marking me for a service and a calling that was holy unto the Lord. At the end of the night, I felt commissioned. Commissioned to go to whatever nation God called me to, even if it cost me my life, to bring the message of His Gospel to the peoples of the earth. As I thought about it afterwards, it was indeed an Isaiah 6 experience. I saw the Lord on His throne, the angels of fire around it, became afraid in His presence, and then heard and accepted His call to GO, whether the people “there” receive the message or not.

Where am I going? I don’t know, exactly. But I am more sure now than ever that I am called to travel to nations with the Gospel in my lifetime. This, too, encourages me that God will give me the grace and the health to walk this out. I have received prophetic words about preaching to Muslims and Jews before, but I have never been commissioned to do it. This Saturday night, on May 22, 2010, I was. There is no going back now…my life is in God’s hands. My body, soul, spirit, finances, possessions, relationships, are His and His alone.

This is another lesson I have learned from the battle against my foe, Lyme Disease, in this past season. Doctors could not tell me what was wrong with my body for five months, and I could not buy enough supplements, medicine, or eat healthy enough to heal myself. Only God knew what was happening in my tormented body; only God could comfort me in that time of darkness; and even now, only God can completely heal me. And that is the point. I’ve been backed into a circumstantial corner, and the only way into my destiny is straight through the Red Sea. God has called me to do what is literally impossible in my current situation. I believe He will part the Red Sea once again.

I’ve barely even begun the work God has given me to complete on this side of eternity, and I’m called to do more than lie on my back for hours and hours a day. God can use anyone in any situation to further His kingdom, so I am not devaluing my potential in this season or anyone else that has physical limitations. But He’s given me specific promises, and I won’t be satisfied until the Jericho of this sickness is destroyed and I can plunder the rest of my promise land under the leadership of the Commander of the Heavenly Host. There is a reason He is called Faithful and True. I am banking my life on it.