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Throughout the Scriptures the people of God are referred to as His bride. This metaphor starts in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2), through all the queens of Israel (especially Esther), the Song of Solomon, the wedding parables of the Gospel, Paul’s epistles, the glorified woman (Revelation 12), the bride made ready (Revelation 19:7), and the marriage feast (Revelation 21). It is a great mystery (Ephesians 5:32).

In ancient times, those who took care of the wives of the king were eunuchs. They were given great delegated authority, on the one obvious condition that they could not touch the affections of any of his brides.

We as dedicated believers in Yeshua (Jesus) are members of His spiritual bride. There are those of us who are called also to be “friends of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). They are part of the bride but also have some leadership to help prepare the bride for His coming. These co-leader-friends have special access to the people of God, to the heart of the bride. However, like spiritual eunuchs (Matthew 19:12), they must be sure not to steal the affections, attention, and ownership of the bride.

My wife and I have a wonderful relationship; we are best friends and lovers after 30 years of marriage. Yet I am the number two man in her life; number one is Yeshua.

Those of us called to leadership must be very careful to die to the temptation of “stealing the attention” or “possessing the affections” of the people of God. We have the love and respect of the people but only to a secondary degree. This is true of worship leaders, pastors, preachers, and anyone in a place of authority or influence. When we operate in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, people are drawn to us and to Yeshua in us. That is acceptable. At the Red Sea, the people of Israel believed in both God and Moses (Exodus 14:31). Yet Moses was very conscious not to pull the hearts of the people toward himself. (It took forty years in the desert to die to that tendency.)

The subconscious desire to gain affection and honor is incredibly dangerous and subtle. It lies at the root of the fall of Lucifer. May those of us in leadership enjoy the love and trust of the people of God, but make sure that we never let the subtleties of pride lure us into “touching the bride.” She is for Him.

-Asher Intrater

Jesus, the Life-Giver and Judge, Is Revealed as the Bread of Life

John 6:32-40

³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

The heart of the revelation has now been given in Jesus’ keynote address (chap. 5), in which he claims to have the divine prerogatives of life-giver and judge. These two rights will be depicted throughout the rest of the Gospel, beginning immediately with the description of Jesus as the Bread of Life–the one who not only gives life but sustains it.  Jesus is declaring that He is the One who gives immediate life, and also sustain life for all who believe in Him.  This is quite a declaration to a remnant of peasants and farmers who worked very hard for the bread which sustained them.  He is showing them what it means to walk in Him.  It is only by grace that a person can partake of the bread of life.  It is not a matter of hard work.  Also, He is declaring that He is the only way to experience true life.  He states this later in John when He says “I have come to give you life and life abundantly.”  This was as offensive then as it is now.  There has always been a desire in the heart of men to take credit for what has been done.  Essentially Jesus is saying that it has nothing to do with hard work if you do not eat of His bread.  This leads to judgment, then and now.

We also see judgment taking place as people are unable to receive this revelation. First the Jews and then most of Jesus’ disciples are offended rather than enlightened. By the end of the chapter only the Twelve are left.

How many today are walking in this knowledge.  That He is the only source of life.  Everything else leads to death.  Unless we constantly yield to Him and get our life from Him we are not in His will.  This is as hard today as it was then.

Thank God that He is passionate for His children.  He will stop at nothing to pursue us and hunt us down until we live a life that is abundant in Him.  Praise be to the Bread of Life who has come from heaven to give life to the whole world!  Jesus is the manna of the Father.  Oh the riches of His grace towards those who believe.

We are excited about what is coming up this next week.  It has been incredible to watch God create a relationship between us and Traverse City Christian School, as well as Abba’s House.  As God has knit our hearts together with them we have realized He wants to do something very big as we serve Jesus together.

This next two weeks is a big step in His direction as He continues to partner us together.  From Jan. 16th to Jan. 27th we are going to be hosting young men and women from TCCS & Abba’s House in what is called there J-term.  We will have the opportunity to teach these students on how to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus, how to grow in worship and prayer, how to operate the harp and bowl style of worship, and several other key topics.  It has the potential for incredible impact all over the area.

Please be praying that God would touch the hearts of all who come in an incredible way.  Pray that each young man and woman would get a hunger and thirst for Jesus which would be life long.  Also, pray for revelation of Jesus Christ as we teach and equip.

We are also hosting Caleb & Rachel Culver to do some equipping at GTHOP Mon. the 16th & Thurs. the 19th from 6:30-8:30.  We invite anyone with interest in; growing in worship leading, operating in the Harp & Bowl style of worship, and prayer to join us.

May God richly bless you with the knowledge of His Son as King, Prophet, and Priest.

What a great time to reflect on this past year.  It has been incredible what God has done at GTHOP this year.  We are so grateful for Him and all the grace He has shown us.

Even this last few weeks have been incredible.  We had Stephen Burke from “The Lord will Provide” here, as well as, our friends Graeme & Sabrina Walsh.  We saw some incredible healing and prophetic words come from those meetings.  We believe the Lord was declaring something prophetic over the whole region when they were here.  It was another confirmation for us.  God has incredible plans for Traverse City and it is exciting to know that GTHOP is an intricate part of that.  That being said, we need to be constantly looking unto Jesus Christ and allow Him to establish what a ministry should be.  We are even more excited about what He is going to do in 2012.

That leads us to 2012.  We believe the Lord has called the church to go after Jesus in a whole new way this year.  The humanistic Gospel is spreading at an alarming rate.  We need to combat this false system of thinking by focusing on all that is good, Jesus.  Apart from Him we have nothing, no matter if we have known Him for a day or 50 years.  He is the only solution to any problem.  Our focus will be on Him as King, Prophet, & Priest this year.  He is the ministry and the calling.   He is the reason for all things.

To start out this upcoming year we are asking all involved with GTHOP to fast the first seven days of 2012.  We need to embrace our dependency on Him in a whole new way.  We must decrease and He must increase.  Also, we are reading “Apostolic Foundations” by Art Katz to start out the new year.  We encourage all to read this in the month of January with us.  It is a refreshing return to the Man who is the ONLY FOUNDATION to living.

One last note; if you are in the Traverse City region from Dec. 28-31 come and join us as we webstream the onething conference from Kansas City.  All afternoon and evening sessions will be shown at the new GTHOP location.  Come and renew your passion for God as we worship together.

A special thank you to all who have helped GTHOP this last year.  There are so many it would be impossible to list.  Thank you for partnering with Jesus and establishing a resting place for Him in Traverse City.  Merry Christmas and God bless you.. everyone!

EZ.  44:4

” Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.”

I. The Ministry of the Priest

Three roles of the new covenant believer.  Rev. 5 Verse 10 also 1 peter 2 declares us to be Kings & Priests. 1 Cor. 14 declares that all would prophesy.

1. Prophet

2. Priest

3. King

The priest is called to carry Gods presence and to minister to him through worship, intercession, reconciliation, prayer, & praise
The prophet is called to seek the direction of himself and others through the word of God, ministry giftings, and gifts of the spirit. (rev. 10:10, Ephesians 4:9-11, 1 Cor. 14:1)
The king is one operates in authority, ruling, reigning, and power over the enemy.

These three clear calling come first and foremost from Jesus Christ.  These are His specific three callings.  Because we have become the Tabernacle of Him we are to operate as He did, does, and will do.  We have become little Christ’s.  This is what Christian means.  First Christ and then His body.  We operate in normal human existence which the same as Christ.  He came so we would know normal living; as in Adam’s day, before sin.  He who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

The ministry of the priest is the foundation for the other two.

Deuteronomy 10:8

To carry the presence is our primary occupation.  This was the ark of the covenant.  There were three things in the ark.

Priests bear the ark, the presence of God.  So when people encounter us, they encounter the presence of God.  Because God dwells inside of people under the new covenant.  We are to be carriers of the presence.  Old priests were a picture of the new testament.  The full blessing would rest upon His priesthood, the ark upon His priests.  Those that carried the ark had power & blessing resting upon them.

So, we must examine what was in the ark in order to establish what God has given us to carry as priests.

First, the mercy seat was in the middle of this ark.  Cleansing happened here.  His mercies must cover us each and every day.  The first order of business is to come and ask God for mercies which are new every morning.

Second, there were tablets-represent the Word.  Not words on paper that are leather bound.  The living Word which is active and alive inside of us.  The Word must be written upon our hearts.  We must carry the truth and are made to manifest the truth which is Christ.  The Word is Christ.  As we manifest Him we manifest the Word.  We have to eat the Word, which is meditation.  Truth is not systems of thought it is a man, the living Word, Jesus Christ.  Part of the ministry of Jesus was to declare the kingdom of God.  This is part of the role of the priest.

Third, Aaron’s Rod-supernatural must be evident in our lives.  That which man can not do.  If we are asking if “such and Such” is considered supernatural then we already have and issue.   Normal living is the supernatural manifesting through human beings.  Jesus healed all who came to Him.

Lastly, Manna-supernatural provision.  There was No inheritance for the Levites.  Who has the greater inheritance, the one with 100 million, or the one walking in the presence .  Jesus taught this well in the Sermon on the Mount.  Crossing the sea with Jesus disciples were wondering why they had not brought bread.  That which man can not produce must operate in order that the dependence is on the Spirit.

How do we access this particular role of those ministering in the House of Prayer.  So the new covenant description is found in the Hebrews.  Our role is not to be a priest but rather allow THE PRIEST to minister through us.  Hebrews 4-8 tells us about Jesus Christ becoming the High Priest for us.  When we accept Him as Lord and Savior we enter into Him working as a priest through us.

* OUR ROLE: TO DO THE WILL OF GOD

We will become what we behold.  The more our heart is set upon Him the more we will grow into His image.

Our ultimate function as a new covenant believer is laid out in Hebrews 10.  Anytime we do the will of God we are acting as a priest.

Psalm 40:6-8
Psalms 119:16,24,35,92

John 4:27-38

The will of God is to made manifest in the moment.  It is not something that can be man made or duplicated.  It is instant obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 10 reaffirms what Jesus has said in that all He did was what the Father told Him to do.  Through the cross we now have access and the ability to enter into the same type of obedience to the will of the Father.  Our delight as priests should always be to do the will of the Father.  Anywhere the will of God is being manifest the kingdom of God is present.

You can not do the will of a person you can not hear or see.  When we are near to Jesus, we are near the Heart of the Father.  It is from this place that the will of God is done.  By a desire, not a behavior.

Our role is to do the will of Christ.  If we do this, we declare His kingdom on this earth.

1 Chronicles 16:8-11

⁸ Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹Sing to him; sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
¹¹ Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!

King David has just accomplished the deepest desire of his heart.  To establish a resting place for the presence of God.  He has finally got the ark of the covenant to it’s own tent, or tabernacle, as it is called.  He begins the ceremony commissioning priests, singers, and musicians to minister before the Lord and to marvel at His presence.

In a moment of uncontrollable excitement he lays out one of the greatest songs in recorded scripture; it is his song of praise for God’s goodness.  It is an overflow of revelation of how good Adonai really is.  From then on it was the job of the ministers to thank God and gaze upon His presence!

Today, we at GTHOP stand 3000 years after this commissioning in wonder of the God of the ages.  Tonight we begin praise and thanksgiving of this same God in our own “tent.”  God has provided for us our own building to stand and minister to Jesus and continually seek His presence.  God is raising up a group of new covenant priests, singers, intercessors, and musicians who will stand and give thanks to Jesus Christ night & day, right here in Traverse City!

Come and join us tonight from 6-8 pm for our first corporate time of worship, thanksgiving, and prayer for the city in His “tabernacle.”  If you can not make it tonight please come anytime and spend time with the One who is worthy of our affection.  May He continue to build up a people who will continually seek His presence and give thanks for His goodness, and praise for His greatness.

Father, continue to pour out revelation of Your goodness and the glory of Your only Son, Jesus Christ.  May You establish Traverse City as a resting place for You, and may You continue to build up a group who will unashamedly seek Your presence continually.  May You continue to unite Your people with Your heart all over this city, state, nation, and world.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

We also encourage you to meditate on this song from David in 1 Chronicles 16.

On Oct. 21 we were pleased to partner with many other ministries in TC and host a pre-call.  Lou Engle and Rick W. of Transformation Michigan lead a prayer meeting for this city, state, and nation.

As “coincidence” would have it, we signed our purchase agreement on our building that morning.  God is certainly up to something in our city.  Before I go on to describe what happened during the event, we would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all who have supported GTHOP through prayer, finance, and time.  It is incredible to see God work through all of you in establishing HIS house in Traverse City.  Without your support we would not be moving into our new building in late Nov. (we will keep you updated on that.)

At any rate, we gathered together and the glory of God met us.  Tyler S. lead our worship with others from GTHOP.  It was a great time of going after God. We even heard reports of one person giving their life to God during worship!  It just goes to show that when His presence shows up, everything changes.  When Lou was up to share he changed his normal pre-call message and began speaking about a group of people in Traverse City who would hunger and thirst for Jesus as those in Psalm 84.  He also went on to share about his beginnings, and how Psalm 84 was one of the things that he started on.  He expressed how he could feel that same sense in our city! It was as if there was such a hunger for Gods presence here.  He also commented that it was like Psalm 132 when David says that he will not even sleep until God has His own house.  That same group is gathering here in our city.

This is the hallmark for who GTHOP is.  A new covenant priesthood who would stand and minister to Jesus night and day.  Those who are hungry for HIM and nothing else.

We believe that God is raising up this group more and more in this area.  GTHOP is to be a catalyst for this movement in Traverse City.  Not just us, but we are a huge part of this group.

Oct. 21 will be a marker for the Grand Traverse region.  A permenant place of worship was established the same time that we received His word for there to be a Psalm 84 people.

Father, continue to raise up Your priesthood.  Those who will stand to worship You above all else.  Continue to establish a Psalm 84 people in Traverse City.  A group which would love You well.  A family which sets their heart on a pilgrimage, a traverse, toward You.  A group of men and women who long for Your courts.  For Your tabernacle is lovely and it is truly a blessing to just be in Your presence!  In the name of Your only Son, Jesus Christ.

Dear Friends and Family of GTHOP:
Thank you so much for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, and financial contributions over the past week. With your help, we were able to raise $34,000 toward the matching donation which means that $34,000 became $68,000.  Praise the Lord!

We are now at $134,000 total raised toward the building purchase which will cost us $300,000 all together. In addition, the generous matching donor has extended the $50,000 matching donation offer for another week which means we still have until this Saturday to match up to $50,000 in donations.  With $34,000 already allotted toward that goal, this only leaves $16,000 to go in order to take this incredible offer to its full potential. If you didn’t get the chance to donate last week but would still like to make a contribution, please feel free to visit www.gthop.com/donate or contact us to let us know you are sending a check.

We are extremely blessed to have such a strong support network and we are in awe of all the Lord has already done.  Please join us in praising the Lord for His hand in this situation.  He truly is a good Father.

Blessings and peace to you in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ,
Grand Traverse House of Prayer

Dear friends and family of GTHOP:

Blessings in the name of the Lord.

Two and a half years ago, the Holy Spirit gathered several people from all different walks of life to seek His face in a living room for the establishment of a house of prayer in the Grand Traverse region. As a result, we have seen and heard many testimonies of healing and salvation that have come out of those prayer meetings. What began in a living room one night a week has become 24 hours a week of intercession and worship unto the Lord.

As the Grand Traverse House of Prayer, we believe we are called to establish a prayer and worship center that exalts the name of Jesus 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In light of that, we started a fund-raising campaign 90 days ago in order to raise $300,000 to buy our own building and to enable this vision to become a reality. Much of the funds have been raised but we still have a ways to go.

We have at this time been given an incredible opportunity for a $50,000 matching donation. If we can raise $50,000 between now and September 24, 2011, the donations that we receive will be matched up to that amount. If everyone reading this post made a donation of just $100, we would be able to reach this goal.

Please take a few moments to ask the Lord what He would have you to give in this season to help establish a 24/7 house of prayer for the entire Grand Traverse region. Any amount that He would lead you to give will push us closer whether that be $10 or $10,000.

Donations can be made on our website at www.gthop.com/donate. We are also able to accept donations by check made out to GTHOP. However, as the deadline for this matching donation is September 24th, please respond to this e-mail if you would like to make a donation by check so that we can make certain it is allotted toward this goal. Please also feel free to contact us via e-mail if you have any questions about who we are or why it is that we feel so strongly about what the Lord has called us to do.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this and to ask the Lord how He would have you partner with us. We are excited to see how the Lord moves through this moment in our history.

Blessings and peace to you all in the name of Jesus,
Grand Traverse House of Prayer

God has put inside of every person-who believes solely in Jesus Christ for salvation-an authority to determine the destinies of nations and kingdoms.

SHARING THE THRONE(GOVERNMENT) WITH CHRIST

Every Jesus follower has a two fold citizenship.(Phil. 3:20)  An earthly citizenship and through the new birth, a heavenly citizenship.  As a citizen of heaven we are subject to heavenly laws.  At the same time he is to share in it’s authority. (Ps. 103:19)  Gods kingdom is supreme over all other kingdoms.  It has always been in Gods heart to share this authority with His people.(Gen. 1:26, Luke 12:32)

The level of of certainty in this Kingdom is based upon the pleasure of the Father, not on the confidence of man.  As we increase in revelation of this place in His government we in turn increase in the authority we operate in.  Our position in His kingdom is determined by our relationship with Christ. (Eph. 2:4-6)  In other words, when we abide in Christ, we are presently seated in His authority.   It is impossible to grasp the magnitude of what is now available to us.

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places

Eph. 1:17-20

This revelation can not come by natural reasoning.  It can only come through supernatural revelation.  It can only come by the Holy Spirit.  These resources of truth are only available by the Holy Spirit, this means our natural man cannot understand them.

In 1 Cor. 2:12 Paul goes to say ” Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”  There are then two sources of knowledge.  The first is “the spirit of this world.”  This reality gives us views of our earthly citizenship, with all of its rights and responsibilities.  But “the spirit which is of God” reveals unto us the kingdom of Christ.  This brings with it our rightful standing before God.  It also brings all the rights and responsibilities of heaven itself.  This gives us identity of our citizenship in heavenly places which can only come by the Holy Spirit Himself.

This means that if, at times, we find ourselves distant from the throne of God, the reason is simple: we have not received the revelation that the Holy Spirit, through His Word, makes freely available to us.  If we do not have this revelation, we can neither understand nor enjoy the benefits of this heavenly citizenship.  What this in turn does is dulls us down to were we choose to toil as slaves through our earthly citizenship, instead of reigning through our heavenly citizenship.

Since it is in the heart of God from before the foundation of the world to have a people formed in His image to rule and reign with Him on earth then let us rest in this kingly calling.  For we are truly citizens of heaven, seated with Him (now) in heavenly places.

Prayer:

Father, reveal to me, by Your Spirit, what my citizenship looks like.  Enlighten my eyes, that I may see what You have freely given to me, and give me the strength to walk as Your king on the earth.  To say what You say and to pray as You pray.  Continue to keep me in the center of this heavenly kingdom and give me Your wisdom in all of it’s rights and responsibilities.  In the name of the only Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ.  Amen