LOYALTY ISLANDS SHAKEN" by Joni Ames E-mail: JONIAMES@... Website: http://hometown.aol.com/joniames Newsletter site: http://JoniAmes.injesus.com January 3, 2004 ================================================ Heb 12:25-28 (NKJV): (25) See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, (26) whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I SHAKE not only the earth, but also heaven." (27) Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being SHAKEN, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be SHAKEN may remain. (28) Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be SHAKEN, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ================================================ Dear Friends, Often times, through what happens in the natural, the Lord speaks prophetically of something in the invisible realms. I'm reminded of the verse in 1 Cor 15:46, "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual." (NKJV). I believe, such is the case of the following experience. ========================= THE LOYALTY ISLANDS SHAKE ========================= The Loyalty Islands are a set of islands in the SW Pacific, East of New Caledonia. They are a dependency of New Caledonia, have an area of about 755 square miles, and their population is approximately 17,912. The closest continent would be Australia, and that is over 1,000 miles from there. Many refer to the area as being, "down under." In the past month, a whole lot of shaking has been going on near there. Earthquakes of 5.5 to 7.0 have been going in that region, sometimes on a daily basis. In fact, there have been NINE such quakes in just the past couple of weeks. (NOTE: For those interested, in seeing maps, additional information, and subsequent updates, please consult the following web page: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_cwbb.html ) ================ SOME DEFINITIONS ================ I'm a "Word (Bible) person" AND a "word (dictionary) person," so I researched some of the words that came through this... LOYALTY is defined as, "the quality or state or an instance of being loyal." ISLAND: a tract of land surrounded by water and smaller than a continent ; an isolated group or area; especially : an isolated ethnological group ETHNOLOGICAL GROUP: a science that deals with the division of human beings into races and their origin, distribution, relations, and characteristics I also saw LOYALTY ISLANDS as LOYALTY EYE LANDS, and sensed it referred to areas that our eyes would continually land on and be loyal to. ================= LOYALTY IS SHAKEN ================= I was asking the Lord about this, because I have had MANY phone calls, as well as some personal experiences, where it seems that there has been a "shaking" in the area of those one would expect to be "loyal." I believe that the Lord showed me the following: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) We are in a time of intense shaking in relationships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While some of the shaking that is going on in relationships is divisive and from the enemy, I believe a great deal of the shaking is from the Lord. He promises us that "everything that can be shaken WILL be shaken" in these last days. We're in a time of war in which we must know FOR SURE who is loyal to us and our nation. And the same is true in our personal relationships. We need to know those who labor among us, and who the ones are that the Lord has called us to, and even not to, walk with. And the Lord wants to know who and what WE are loyal to! Pastors often get "shook up" when their church experiences a "shaking" and people begin to leave their church. Yet those I've spoken to who have gone after those leaving and begged them to stay were VERY sorry they did! God has a way of shaking and sifting things out in HIS timing to spare us of a lot of heartache. I can remember when I was younger, I'd take everything so personally when relationships would get shaken and begin to fade away. But every time I look back on what occurred after that happened, I was VERY thankful that the Lord had separated me from those situations before it was "too late!" Those relationships would have been HORRIBLE for me! The Lord REALLY DOES know BEST!!! I also remember when the Lord shook a business relationship from my life, and what a blessing that turned out to be! Another time, a shaking came in my life into BOTH a family relationship AND a ministry relationship, SIMULTANEOUSLY! But if it hadn't, I'd never have stepped out into the ministry the Lord has me in today! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) We can no longer afford to be divided racially, politically, denominationally or by gender or nationality -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are in a new day and age where NONE of us in the Body can say to another part, "I have no need of you!" EVERY part of the Body must be recognized as important and necessary! God wants to cross-pollinate us with other groups and peoples and realize how special each is, even in the diversity of cultural giftings. A friend once said, even of the political parties, it takes both a left and a right wing for an eagle to fly! That is NOT to say that we are to partake in anything and everything the other does. Rather, to celebrate our differences, and find an area where we may meet in order to be an effective witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (3) No man is an island; He is shaking us to bring us together -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know that many people have gotten "wounded" in the Church before. There are many who are outside the church walls and say they will never be a part of the structured church again. But, as the saying goes, "No man is an island." I remember when the man who played the Lone Ranger died, the Lord spoke to me and said, "So stop trying to be one!" The days of the "Lone Ranger" are over. We each need each other, and we need to come together and celebrate our differences, instead of fight over them! Whether you are meeting in someone's living room or a church building, we are ALL a part of the Body, and we cannot despise and say we have no need of one another. That's not the heart of God. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4) We must be cautious of where our eyes and our loyalty lands -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Lord told Abraham that every place He saw with his eyes was his. We need to be cautious with the liberty and authority the Lord gives to us. We need to guard our eye gates and our loyalty gates, for what we see, we can have or become. There is a lot out there to gaze upon, but let's focus upon and be loyal to the beauty of His Holiness, and the destiny we have in Him. =============== SHAKING TO SIFT =============== Not all shakings lead to an end of things. Often times a marriage, ministry, friendship or business relationship is shaken because the Lord wants to refine that relationship and merely "shake out" and "sift out" the "junk." Sometimes the Lord just wants to get "to" the things that are "hidden" or "down under." When people pan for gold or sift through a mine for diamonds, they shake and sift what they come across, until they find the jewels. In many situations, that's what it takes until we reach the "nuggets" the Lord has for us in that relationship. Whatever the reason, the shaking of loyalties is happening right now. Even with those people or things we've clung to for years. But let's be wise and seek the face of the Lord and HIS will in each one, not giving the enemy credit nor allowing the enemy any foothold. Let's be willing to release who or what He wants us to release; as well as willing to hold on through the shaking to get to the nuggets in those relationships or situations He wants us to retain. ======= PRAYER ======= Lord, give us the wisdom and direction we need to know which shakings are from you, and how to walk them out. Let us know whether you want things shaken away from our life, or are simply bringing a shaking and sifting for the purpose of refinement. Thank you, Lord, that as you shake and sift our lives, you help us find the gold and the diamonds! And in the process, you give us the grace to walk through the process to victory! In Jesus name, Amen. Joni Ames ===================================================== Joni Ames P.O. Box 411501 Charlotte, NC 28241 E-mail: JONIAMES@... 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