Yesterday, I was listening to an interview that Rick Joyner gave recently. He spoke about an encounter with God, a revelation of heaven, and a sobering prophetic dream about America. It was about a 45-minute interview so he said much more than I can report or even recall here but a few things stuck in my aging brain that I think are worth commenting on.
First of all, he had an encounter with God in which God told Joyner that he wanted Joyner to be his friend. He said He was in search of friends. Rick said that he was caught off-guard by the Lord’s statement to him because he thought that God either had no need of friends or that he had a multitude of them. The Lord simply told him that friends are hard to come by. Joyner confessed that he had served God all these years with the intention of being a faithful servant or a good soldier who was always ready to obey the Lord but he had not thought about being the Father’s friend.
He realized, however, that we might serve God faithfully without knowing him personally in the same way that we can serve the CEO of a large company faithfully without really knowing him personally – even though we may know much about him and may have even attended events at his house. But God was looking for more than that. He wanted a man who would be his friend like Abraham was his friend. Joyner explained what that friendship looks like. Friendship with God is simply an ongoing awareness of his presence and an ongoing dialogue with him about what is on our hearts as well as his. Of course, it still involves faithful service but at a different level. Some employees can become close friends with their employers while others simply remain employees. The friend never forgets who the boss is but, as friendship develops, his service comes from a heart of love and loyalty rather that from the need of a paycheck or the fear of being fired.
One interesting thing he mentioned was that while God wants us to be his friends, we need to be faithful servants first. That was certainly the pattern Jesus established with his disciples. He said, “ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn.15:15). Notice that his followers were servants first. If I have not learned to be a servant first, I will probably take advantage of the friendship and treat it like an entitlement rather than a privilege. But proof of the friendship is when God begins to share with us the things not generally known to all believers. When we become friends with Jesus, he will show us things that go beyond the written revelation that is open to everyone. He will begin to share his heart, prophetic words, words of knowledge, and so forth. The greater the friendship, the greater this personal revelation will be. Think about becoming a friend as well as a servant. Spend time with him, worship him, share your heart with him, and listen to his voice. Ask him to teach you how to be his friend.
Secondly, he had a revelation of heaven – beautiful beyond description. However, he said God gave him a taste of heaven without the presence of God or the family of God. Joyner said that experiencing heaven alone is not heaven. The presence of God and those he loves make it heaven. The two great commandments – love God and love others – confirms that notion. If we want a little heaven on earth it will be found not in beautiful surroundings and mansions but in developing those relationships.
Finally, he spoke of a troubling revelation of countless terrorists coming over our southern border who will make ISIS look like Sunday school boys in comparison to their violence, hatred, and the torture that they will extend to Christians – as if hell itself had opened up in the United States. The interviewer asked if that could be stopped. Joyner said that it could surely be stopped if America would turn back to God and if the church would lead in that turn around not only by preaching the gospel and speaking up for righteousness without compromise, but also by demonstrating the gospel with power.
The future of America is not in the hands of our president but in the hands of God’s people who must begin to walk in the spirit of a warrior who prays for people with passion, who confronts the enemy with the word of God, deliverance, healing, and love and who will stand in faith in the day of battle – still loving our enemies while lifting up the name of Jesus. I would say that we need to get busy learning how to pray effectively and learning how to push back the borders of darkness with God’s divine weapons. I would also say that the great majority of believers in our nation have no clue about how to do either. Please pray for the Lord to teach his church and to do so quickly.
Three thoughts from Rick Joyner that I thought were worth considering. Be blessed.
