I want to continue on the theme of attaining the “sons of Issachar” anointing just a bit more. The next thing said about Issachar in Genesis 49:15 was that when he saw a resting place, and how desirable it was, he chose instead to bow his shoulder to bear burdens and become a slave. The shoulder speaks of authority (the government rests on His shoulders). This is a calling to use our authority to be slaves instead of using it to get other people to serve us. It means being willing to do the hard part that no one else is willing to do when we could choose to take the easier way.

      Many great pastors spend most of their lives and energy helping other people with their problems. These have to be some of the great heroes of the faith we will see justly rewarded on that great Judgment Day. However, these great souls are getting more and more rare as ministry is often used as a path to personal advancement rather than service to the Lord and His people.

     We are in need of ministries today that are not driven by personal ambition but out of devotion to the Lord and serving Him by serving His people. There must be a recovery of the mentality of being servants before we can be trusted with the “sons of Issachar” anointing needed for the times to come.

      Even so, I question whether we will ever have perfect motives in this life, so if we wait to get perfect before doing anything, we would never do anything. You don’t have to wait until you’ve done the study that I have to start writing. I actually didn’t wait either. I wrote my first book, There Were Two Trees in the Garden, while I was a relatively new Christian, and it is still one of our bestsellers. Many still say they think it is the best book I’ve written.

      Remember, there is a ditch on either side of the path of life. If we wait for perfection, we’ll never do anything, and if we go prematurely, it will be shallow and weak. Anything we do in the name of the Lord deserves the highest devotion and the best quality, but the important thing is if it is true and is the Lord’s word for this time. The last thing we want to do is to convey our opinions and attach the Lord’s name to them.

     We are now using the prophecies that I gave about serious earthquakes and volcanic eruptions coming upon the U.S. West Coast to discuss how we should handle such revelations and how we can expect them to be taken or interpreted by those who hear them. I have had some who I thought were relatively mature in the prophetic actually try to convince me these words were wrong because so many people were not receiving them well. This is political correctness in a most terrible delusional form. If the rejection by men were a basis for determining whether something was from the Lord, then most of the biblical prophecies would not exist because they were almost all rejected by more than those who received them. We should always be open to correction and listen to the pushback, but it is a mistake to think we’ve missed something because people reject it, even strong Christians and Christian leaders.

     We may also have wrong expectations if we think that because our word comes true, we will be accepted and trusted. This may be the result with some, but even as we see with the Lord Jesus Himself and His accurate prophecies, this did not turn many people to Him. What they did do is help those who could hear His voice to be prepared, and in the case of the destruction of Jerusalem, be spared.

     My confidence in these words about our West Coast was very high when I brought them out again a few months ago, and it has grown since then. Even so, as I shared then, I do believe that until they actually happen, there is time to reduce the loss from these pending disasters. How? With repentance and intercession. We have many examples of how merciful and patient the Lord is. Right now my main prayer is for more time so repentance and intercession might arise to reduce the losses, and even more important, turn many people from the way that leads to destruction to the path of life.

      A lot has been said about me to discredit these words, but if you think about it, I was put in a no win situation from the beginning as far as people’s opinions were concerned. I don’t think the Lord is all that concerned about my reputation, and I don’t want to be either. If there were any personal advantages I could have received out of giving these words, I fail to see them. I will look bad until these events take place. If what I saw does happen without any lessoning, it will be too terrible to contemplate. For myself there is not a win in this, except for the reward we receive for being obedient.

      The Lord knows that I am not lying when I say I would easily give my own life without even thinking about it if it would keep what I was shown from happening. Like everyone, I’ve known grief at the loss of loved ones, but the grief I’ve experienced in seeing this and the intercession over it, has been the worst grief I have ever felt many times over. The grief at foreseeing these things is so intense I don’t know if I could bear it when it actually happens. I do not share these words casually because I know the Lord hears them, but I think I would much rather be at ground zero and go with those who are lost than have to bear that grief afterward.

      I’m not just sharing this to convince you of my motives, but if there is any way that I might wake up others to just how serious this is, I will try. I don’t know how you can live very long with the grief I’ve been feeling about these impending disasters. Just having people mad at me is petty compared to this burden. I have had prophetic burdens a number of times, but I do not remember anything close to this.

      If my words, and those of others, have the effect of causing the repentance and intercession that greatly lessens these events, I will still look bad because it will look like I overstated what I was shown. I have no expectations of any personal benefit coming from this until the Judgment Day, but I am more than okay with that. Why? I’ve seen the Judgment Day. I’ve seen the judgment seat of Christ. I know I can trust His judgments, and I know that nothing on earth could ever compare to the glory that awaits those who serve Him. The way people think about us in this life is not important. What is written about us in the present history books is not important. What is important is doing our job, and what is written about us in God’s history books, which are the Books of Life.