Posted: 06/25/2008 at 4:17am | IP Logged

 To Be Alive You Must First Die!
by Prophet Michael Bacon

The Lord has been sharing a word with me that I would like to impart to the body of Christ. At the beginning of the year the Lord had shared with me that the church would be receiving a new wine in 2008. This new wine would be through the winepress of God as many in the body were and continue to go through a spiritual pressing where God is producing endurance, strength and perseverance to the church. As in the first miracle that Jesus ever performed, Jesus is saving the best wine for last.  The church is that new wine that will be poured out on the earth to do great things. The Lord has shown me that we have seen nothing yet of what He will pour out through us in terms of His power, miracles, salvations, and financial blessings. That being said, there are still many Christians who are struggling and seeking God to rescue them from their situations. Many prophetic ministries are receiving hundreds of prophecy requests each month from God's people looking for answers to everyday problems. There is a hunger in the church to hear God speak to His people in relevant ways.  The Lord has given me an additional word for the church that I feel led to share. It goes with the new wine message that was shared on Identity Network earlier this year. This word will not be a popular one but it is a necessary one and I believe it has prophetic overtones that will touch your life if you will allow it to minister to you.
 
Colossians 3:2-6 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetness, which is idolatry. For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.
 
We live in a dangerous time where our generation has become consumed with sin and self.  Even those in the church are not walking a life that brings glory to His name.  As the Lord was talking to me He gave me this simple message. Tell my people to die so that they may live!  I questioned Him and asked what He meant. Did He mean literal death, spiritual death, or even mental death (death of the mind)? 
 
Then the Lord led me to remember the only funeral that I have been to in my life. It was my wife's grandmother's funeral.  I didn't know her well but I knew she was a Christian. The Lord reminded me of how when we arrived at the funeral home there were many tears. People were crying, mourning and even wailing over the loss of this dear woman.  It was a very sobering moment as it made me personally realize that my own problems and worries were nothing compared to a physical death and an eternity of being with the Lord.
 
A large crowd of loved ones and friends then made their way to the grave site. The first thing I noticed was a large hole that had been freshly dug to hold the casket that was suspended in the air waiting to be buried. As an observation that I later made, nothing else mattered than the fact that this precious woman had died. No one was talking about their jobs, family, problems, financial needs or anything else. Through the whole funeral ceremony there was a Holy hush, an awareness of the finality of this event.  I watched closely as I had never been to a funeral in my life. I could feel my own tears well up in my eyes as her body and coffin was lowered into her final resting place.  I didn't know her that well while she was alive but I could feel the pain of those around me. It was very hard for some of the family to say goodbye and come to terms that she was really dead and would never be seen again until heaven. Some prayers were said and people finally scattered to go on with their busy lives.  The final scene was the most provoking to my spirit as I stood back and watched as the bulldozer pushed the dirt down on top of her coffin. It was then that the Holy Spirit showed me my own life and areas I needed to turn over to Him.
 
The Lord brought this day to my memory because He wanted me to be reminded of what it is really like to die. Not just the act or process but the emotions that were felt.  The Lord showed me that His people are full of pride, selfishness, emotions, and lust of life.  We are part of a generation that represents the "ME" generation. So many people that I meet are consumed with their own life to the point that they can't see past their own problems, dreams, ministries, jobs, and families in order to reach out to others. We have a serious problem today where emotions and the flesh are ruling more than the spirit man.  Jesus is calling His people back to Himself.  In order to follow Him each of us must crucify the flesh and die to self.
 
The Lord says to His church.  'Go and prepare your burial site.  Dig a hole deep in the ground that will hold your old man or self.  Invite all your loved ones and friends to your funeral. Go pick your coffin out. See yourself laying down in it for all to witness your death. Watch as they close the lid that final time. See yourself being lowered down into the hole. Hear the cries and wailing of your loss.  Finally, listen to the dirt being piled on top of your coffin knowing all that you have left is the Lord and Heaven.  See all your worldly desires, feelings, emotions, and life pass away. Embrace the death of your old man that you may now live a life free of sin.'
 
We don't have to die in the natural to experience this. We can die right now, in the spirit. It is time to have that funeral service. It is time to lay down our lives to follow Him. I am speaking a prophetic word here. Let those that have an ear to hear receive this word.  The Lord is instructing His church to die.
 
Even after our death, some of us may even need to visit our gravesite from time to time as a memorial service to remember that we no longer live but it is Christ who lives in us.  We are not our own. We belong to Jesus as we were bought with a price. Our desires, assets, finances, ministries, agendas, dreams, visions, and even our feelings do not matter if we are dead in Christ. Not our will be done but His be done. 
 
Too many people are so worried about their own situations that they are not doing the will of God. The Lord is calling us to a new place of total surrender. He cares about our situations, our feelings, and our lives but these things are secondary to our relationship with Him. He truly has to be first in our lives over all the other things. When we die to ourselves Jesus begins to change our minds about what is important. We begin to walk in His will and these other things that we battle in our life are taken care of. 
 
1 Peter 2:21-25
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
 
The implications to dying to self are that we will be returned to a place of closeness with the Lord. The Lord is truly calling His church back to their first love.  We can only return to a place of closeness with the Lord when we lay down our lives and choose to seek Him instead of what we desire.
 
The Lord is calling some of us to die to:

• Our reputations - When we are dead we don't care what people think about us
• Our feelings - When we are dead we are not easily offended
• Our desires - When we are dead we don't choose self over others
• Our agendas - When we are dead we are submitted to what the Lord's plans instead of ours
• Our ambition - When we are dead we do not seek self promotion
• Our pride - When we are dead we are correctible and teachable
• Our callings - When we are dead we rely on God to make our calling happen
• Our ministries - When we are dead we do not build our ministries the way we think they should be built but in some cases we actually let our vision die so that God can raise up a fresh revelation of how it should be built and what it will become.. When we are dead we realize that the ministry does not belong to us but to the Lord.
• Our finances - A dead person owns no possessions. We cannot control or worry about what does not belong to us. Instead we obey God to do what He commands us to do with His possessions.
• Our time and schedules - A dead person has not recognition of time. The Lord is calling His people to turn their calendars and schedules over to Him so that He can use them.
• Our families - A dead person has no control over their family. We cannot control or force things upon our families. Instead we must turn them over to God and let Him do according to His will.
• Our sins - A person who is dead does not sin. There are no fleshly desires when you are dead.  A dead person does not have habits or addictions. The Lord reigns so that the dead person is free from sin.

Posted: 06/25/2008 at 9:33am | IP Logged

Where are the ones that will willingly die to all their flesh, for the time is here saith the LORD.  Now is the time, for outpouring of the new wine, but this wine that is new, must be poured into vessels worthy of Me..

Your Father