We enter a new decade. (Apologies for the short little excursus into the world of soccer.) Leeds United beats Manchester United. Just over 10 years ago when Leeds was flying high as a club, we went to the grounds to pray that whatever should take place would. We did not curse the place, nor do I assume it was a ‘bad’ club, but the next week was the first bad loss, and then, and then… until they lost all the former status, and plummeted down the divisions. Now they beat MU. Steve Lowton wrote, ‘I suspect the match yesterday, incidentally between Leeds and Manchester United, could prove to mark the turning point in a ten year period of decline for the club I follow.’
Who knows what lies ahead?
I read Cheryl’s post concerning the place where she is now living (Piacenza) as being a key in God’s plans, a place where the powers have met over the centuries.
The UK into an election in 2010. Landslide in 97 to Labour. Sue Mitchell had given signs for that year as being the year when red would be everywhere. The political pundits literally said tonight the country is turning red. Now – it seems to me from nowhere I am reading about the possibility of a hung parliament in the UK. WOW!
Meetings of powers, of rival sides, of political agendas. All of this connected for me. Signs I am sure of the shift that is here.
A few nights ago I had two dreams (or maybe one that was split in two). In the first we were behind a glass wall about to minister to someone, and then another person who represents those who carry the grace of God’s power and presence came and said that you will receive in proportion to how much you allow your dependence elsewhere to lessen. I immediately saw that what he was saying was like a see-saw. Put your weight one side and that has a direct effect on the other; lessen your trust in human provision and the provision of God will flow. OK end of part 1.
Then, somehow, I moved to the second part. And I saw 2010 across a see-saw. 20 one side and 10 the other. The math(s) is obvious. 20 outweighs 10… in the dream I then began to see that we are entering a decade of things being balanced out.
Meeting of powers. The club with the success and the club with the demise. Politics…
It is not that of instant reversals. But the status quo is changing. So what lies ahead?
- We enter a decade of major shift in powers. I read in Paul Leader’s word about discoveries for the big nations and for the small ones. There is a rebalancing, though not an instant turning over. There will be a re-grouping in the next few years by those with power, but the balance is turning, and there will be some major re-alignments before we are half-way through this decade.
- We enter a decade of some very significant discoveries.
- The huge people movement of the last decades will begin to see people return to their roots. There are old spiritual inheritances to be picked up. ‘Mining’ where the spiritual mines have been closed over.
The concept I had in the dream was that of the beginning of the rebalancing. This does not mean everything shifts, nor that it will be a smooth path that can be plotted. But we will begin to see this in evidence this year. Significant sporting events, such as the World Cup will manifest signs. This will speak of those who have controlled no longer being able to hold back the release of the rebalancing of power.
Nations that sit in a balancing position: geographically, such as Turkey; Central America (Panama?); those nations that stand as connecting points will manifest shifts. Cities that are viewed as geographical gateways to places; mid-West states in the USA; places that are viewed as a meeting point for cultures: all of these will receive a prominence, many times beyond their size.
At a personal level.
- We have to lessen the weight of dependence on our own ability to provide. Personal insecurity must be embraced for a new level of God’s grace and power. So dependency will be challenged even more this year than last. The culture of dependency on the familiar is a barrier to the future. ‘Resignations’ will be made. Or that is how it will be seen, but there are established people who have to step out of ‘same old, same old’ routine.
- A spirit of thankfulness for the half-measure has to arise. By that I do not mean a satisfaction, but a rejoicing with what we have. The grief people experienced over what they lost (in the financial world in recent days) has to give way spiritually to the thankfulness for what God has released. The stewarding of what has been received is now very key. The see-saw cannot turn at this moment of time instantly. But it can turn as we steward.
So as the decade moves so there will be shifts, and some that do begin to happen in a moment but more toward the end of the decade.
.
12 Comments
Martin:
Here is a link to an article on Grist (and environmental website). It is interesting how it aligns with your blog. c.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-01-05-the-world-in-2020-china-the-u.s.-the-global-south-and-the-planet/
Thanks – such an informative article… highly recommended to one and all: global trends but so in line with what is being released prophetically.
Thats all really great Mart, but did you see anything about Chelsea?
LOL!
Thanks, Martin. Have certainly been noticing all the pointers to a shift in power… from the Geordie girl who has become hotter than the trained big-name make-up artists through her youtube demos, to the recent report that regional accents are becoming more entrenched rather than homogenised as predicted – seemingly because people with Geordie and Scottish accents are now taking them all over the globe…
Hi Martin,
Happy New year
I have been fascinated by the weather over the past few days here, snow and ice grips the UK and like last February has ground pretty much everything to a halt, roads, airports and it’s the worst winter weather since 1981.
The thing that is fascinating is the reason for it, it’s an unusual change of weather pattern, normally we get westerly wind that brings low pressure and a relatively warm wind and weather system, but this year there is a high pressure system over the UK and an Icy easterly wind bringing in the Arctic weather.
It speaks to me of change of direction, shift of power (as you’ve mentioned) and the shifting of the familiar western expectations (mindsets and perspectives, I’ve been reading a lot recently about the differences in Hebrew and Greek thinking) the results being widespread and transformational, the blanket of snow and the country being red..obvious analogies there.
Also within all these changes I think identity and security in Christ are being shaken / rattled and crystallised, the wind is blowing away the cobwebs, I’ve been exploring identity recently on my blog and just this morning received a copy of an e mail form Doug Addison about some dreams he’s recently had about Identity, it seems there is a lot going on.
When I read Pauls word the oil references spoke to me more about power, control and dependency than about the oil itself.
my pennies worth, exciting and challenging times ahead…
I found it very interesting to read on the BBC (source of all wisdom??) the following (I embolden one part): However, while parts of the world suffer freezing temperatures, the seesaw patterns mean other areas are warmer than usual, including Alaska, northern Canada and the Mediterranean. Met Office figures for the end of 2009 show some places dropped 10C below the average, while others were 10C above.
The end of 09 some 10 above some 10 below (20/10?)
Melbourne Australia has just had the hottest day in 100 years, one end cold, the other roasting hot…
Well, I composed a comment, my system crashed and I lost it – so frustrating…but part of it was about mulling a thought provoked by your post and Cheryl’s article. Mulling over the similarity between what’s happening now and what happened when Roman emperors changed. The key phrase for me in Cheryl’s article was ‘changing the imperial guard’ – it is only the imperial guards who are changing, not the Kingdom. From a Western perspective, we exchange a relatively benevolent one for a potentially hostile one – Grist speaks from an Amero-centred viewpoint but is nevertheless insightful and valid – a situation that existed frequently for the early Christians (and other cultural groupings such as the Jews) in the Roman empire. To go back to your post, Martin, the ekklesia needs to be a heavy weight that pulls the balance towards the world knowing God (and I now mean globally as we are living in a global age) – and the only way to do that is to add the real God into the scales for people – through knowing him and signs and wonders following. Easy to talk that talk but not easy to walk it…so as you say, our dependency on him needs to increase and on ourselves to decrease – oh help, Lord…please show us how.
Jane
P.S. The first resignation has occurred – Jonathan Ross has resigned from the BBC…the prophets speak it and it happens – an encouragement to us all.
I agree with Jane that the only way the world is going to encounter God is through signs and wonders. Many of us still long for, pray for and work, for more encounters with God in OUR ways eg in regard to sickness, debt, injustice, relationship breakdown, lack of employment etc. etc. This is right, and we have had some successes in these areas. These encounters proclaim that the kingdom of God is here and demonstrates that what we say is true. But I believe that increasingly, God wants us, ordinary people, to encounter Him in HIS ways.
As His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, they will challenge church and personal conventions, and many things that we were brought up to believe, we will discover are incomplete and inadequate. This may signal a shift from ‘service-oriented’ Christianity, and herald another major move of God. After all, we’ve enjoyed 270+ years of evangelicalism, and 40+ years of the charismatic movement, but are we any nearer reaching the 95%, anywhere?
I guess many will inevitably denounce and reject (those part of the last move of God!), but enough will embrace to fulfill Father’s plan.
Martin
I was with you that day.
We found ourselves praying for humility for the club and then it did appear to collapse like a pack of cards.
Interestingly we also prayed for economic development on a road coming from the City and this has taken place and has held up in the recession.
Leeds as a “first city” has had a hung City Council – perhaps a foretaste for the UK?
Blessings
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for the reminders about the economics of the city too. And Leeds as a first city – unique pressures in living in such a place. Not always everything to show on the surface for the hard labour in the city, but the shift there gives sight for elsewhere.