Many of you would cry unto me and say, "Lord, what's happening?  What is happening?  Why aren't things as they should be?  Well, things are as they should be.  Things really are as they should be. If you look at your situation through the light of New Testament theology you will see that things are as they should be.

           Yes, great things are happening and great things are promised, but also great trials and great tribulation hath come along with them.  This is biblical; this is New Testament; this is the suffering that I said you would walk through.  If you would know the Savior, if you would rule and reign with Him, then you would also suffer with Him. 

 You have entered into the realm of the suffering of the Messiah, of the God of the New Testament.  But as you walk with him in your sufferings, as your feet are pierced, as your hands are pierced, as your side is lanced and as you cry out, "My God, my God," you experience what Christ experienced.  You experience what the Apostles experienced. You experience what the prophets walked through.  

Do you think prophets were loved and petted and set on high as examples of great love in the Body?  They were persecuted and hounded out of almost every town they were sent to.  Very few prophets were ever received by those they were sent to.  And you are a prophetic church like it or lump it!  You are a prophetic church.  This is a prophetic place; it has a destiny in the Body of Christ and you are suffering rejection even as a prophet would suffer totally even as a church at times. 

 Fear not, my hand is upon you in your afflictions.  You will rise out of these afflictions.  You will come forth as a mighty body.  Are you worried about divisions among you?  Among the early twelve they were always trying to take each other's thrones.  There were bare knuckled fist fights within the Body. 

 There's always been contention within the Body of Christ.  There's always been fighting among the brethren.  Fear not for the fights; I will rule and reign over the ultimate decisions on who's going to get what. And if someone has usurped his position illegally, you watch them fall because they're coming down. Only that which I establish will remain, saith the Lord, in the final analysis.  Even those that may have raced ahead illegally, they will come down.  They will not be allowed to persevere and endure. For a time and a season I will use them and then I will pull the chairs out from under them.  Do not be concerned about anyone that you think has raced ahead of you or taken your position or put a knuckle in your eye and left you behind. 

 For the Lord your God is on top of all of your situations.  Everyone in this room as a destiny; everyone in this room has a calling.  Everyone in this room has been prophesied to concerning your future, not just by one prophet but by many.  Speaking by the Lord himself privately in your own time, you know in your heart, it is time you begin to believe the prophets!  It is time you begin to believe what I've told you.  Despite the affliction, despite the trial, despite the persecution, believe the word of the Lord in your heart and cling to it.

 As Jesus set his face like a flint for Calvary and would not be deterred from the calling that was before him, so set your faces like flints for that which you know that I've spoken to you, and that what you know has been prophesied over you, and set your face like a flint.  And do not be detoured by the left or the right by who's above you or who's beside you.

 Many will come to discourage you.  Many will come to tell you, you cannot do that.  Many will come to tell you, you've been disqualified because of this or that.  I do not disqualify my people.  The only disqualification that you will encounter is if you quit and run the other way.  But if you stand fast and set your face and move on toward the goal that I've given you, I will face your accusers for you.

~ a prophecy by Don Franklin 07/15/01