One of the words the Lord gave me for 2011 is that there will be “great betrayal – churches and relationships” this year.  I take no pleasure at all in delivering this word, yet it is an important one.  While some of us have had more experience with betrayal, personal and corporate, others have never had to live through these kinds of assaults on our hearts.

Maybe that’s why the Lord wants me to warn you all about it.  I could be the poster child!  When you have come through something like betrayal, God authorizes and expects you to help others come through it.  Like Rick Joyner told Lori:  you will take the stick the devil beat you with and beat him back!

Your victory is never for you alone.  The Church and the Kingdom of God is a building made of living stones – each one supplying something the other one needs.

In Luke 21, Jesus is telling His disciples what the signs of the end times will be and it is here that He says “Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you.”

That time is here, folks.

It’s impossible for me to think of any situation that would arise where one family member might betray another, but it will happen – the Bible tells us so.  But even in the Church there is going to be great treachery against one another.  This is exactly the opposite of what the Lord prayed for us before He left this earth.  Jesus prayed in John 17:21 “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one…”

Bob Hartley is a prophet of HOPE.  When he was here recently, he told us that Hope defends you, fights for you and helps you heal.  He said we would be Hope Craftsmen (and women) here at Morningside.  This is my heart’s desire.  He said people would come in and be healed and then be launched out to help others.

Bob said:  “I saw this Hope in God for Community come forth like in Nehemiah’s day.   Jesus brought me back to my catholic neighborhood where I grew up and showed me how I had 100 families that fought for me on every level:  for my physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, and for my calling.  He shared that this is the type of community that He (Jesus) would restore again, like the early Church in Acts 2:42-47.  This warmed my heart with hope as I reflected on how much the community of my childhood had meant to me and how I had prayed for this same type of community for my children.”

Bob said that we, like Nehemiah, will become “Hope Craftsmen” and direct the people to build right where they live, where their hearts flourish, and people will be strategically placed here.  My vision for Morningside has always been that we would become a “Refuge” and a place of restoration.  Freely I have received, and my desire is to freely give HOPE to others.

Each of us ought to have genuine compassion for others who have spiritual or physical hurts.  We have to move out of the swamps of backbiting and tearing down.

In the Refuge, we will love each other, we will have each other’s backs, and we will care for one another!  God is raising up many places of Refuge for the Times of Trouble ahead.  Betrayal may drive you to one of these Refuges, but HOPE will sustain you through it!

We must purpose in our hearts to become “Hope Craftsmen”!