Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people of Israel did not answer him so much as a word. ~1 Kings 18:21
In the 9th century B.C.E., when drought covered the land of Israel, a weak King Ahab and a wicked Queen Jezebel ruled. The prophet Elijah was moved to confront Israel's double-minded prophets on Mount Carmel, asking them to make a decision. Their decision was not about what to have for breakfast that morning, but whether they wanted to eat at all in the future!
If you are someone who loves to pray or desires deeper intimacy with the Lord, you have undoubtedly made room for Him somewhere in your heart or home, a place where you can be alone and quiet with Him, undisturbed. I know many His Inscriptions readers who have created special places in your homes, offices, or prayer cottages where you warmly welcome the Holy Spirit to come and abide with you. I have been blessed to visit or pray in some of these places over the years, and there is nothing on earth like them; they represent holy ground! Some of us, though, especially during the pandemic, have found that the private spaces we once had became crowded with other people! 
Dear Friends, A huge THANK YOU to His Inscriptions friends who prayed for last week’s ministry trip to Springfield, Tennessee! It was an amazing week of training roughly 60 leaders at City of Faith International Church which culminated in a mighty outpouring of God’s POWER on Sunday morning. Photos and testimonies follow. 
“Simon Peter said (to the disciples), ‘I am going fishing.’ They said, ‘And we are coming with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” ~John 21:3
There was a time when the apostle Peter felt more like a defeated soldier than a fearless leader. He wasn’t “catching” much of anything! His Savior had just been arrested. A valiant attempt to defend Jesus with his sword had brought the Master’s rebuke instead of praise.
Even worse, Peter had watched Jesus willingly face death like a lamb led to the slaughter. On the darkest of nights, Peter matched Christ’s three bold identity statements (“I am He”) with three denials of his own (“I am not;” see John 18). Come to the sea of Galilee with me to understand how Peter must have felt at this moment - and what the Lord did to restore him. 
Dear Friends, Merry Christmas! I am reflecting back on 2020 today, realizing that despite all that has happened, God has been very much on the move! He has expanded the ministry of His Inscriptions this year in three essential ways: through partnership, publishing, and prayer. 
There is a place at the top of the mountains in Switzerland where one can stand and see nothing but pure, untouched beauty. Heaven’s sun kisses earth’s snowy peaks with brilliant light until they radiate whiteness. The air is crisp and clean. Every cell in your body comes alive with invigorating breaths. It is a steep climb to reach the top, which in winter is only accessible by lift or helicopter, but from this place where three nations intersect, one can ski down a southern slope into Italy or a western one into France. The villages seem like storybook pictures below, so tiny and peaceful from a heightened vantage point! Dear Friends, As I prayed early this morning I heard such encouraging words from the Lord for those who are struggling to see and understand what is going on around you right now. These words are a gentle reminder of what is always most important, which is our heart's total surrender to Jesus. I pray these words from His heart will bless you! “A surrendered heart is all I need. No matter what you are going through, your surrender to Me is the key to victory. You may not have the answers; you may not even see the way ahead of you, but a simple surrendering of yourself again is the yieldedness that allows Me to move you forward.” 
Dear Friends, Today, July 27, 2020, marks exactly 7 months and 7 days since the tangible glory of God stepped into my home. As some of you know, at the Lord's request I have spent the past three weeks on an extended prayer retreat. Never before have I been so "deep" with Him, and never have I been more sure of one thing: God is on the move! A NEW MOVE! Like you, I have spent the past few months wondering: what do I do next? It is easy to prophesy a "new move of the Spirit," but what, really, does that look like? How does it happen practically? Most of us do not have extended time to sit with the Lord and wait like "Mary" when life demands that we fulfill some very "Martha-type" roles. Yet as I've pressed into the Father's heart for understanding, He has revealed some keys that I believe will be helpful to anyone who is hungry to see God's glory manifest around the world. Unlocking a new move begins with a man named Peter. Dear Friends, In the past few months, I have been blessed to have several encounters with the Lord in which He revealed Himself to me chiefly as the Shepherd. In modern-day terms we might say he manifested Himself as a Pastor, or perhaps as a very wise and dear Companion. Whatever the terminology, I was reminded more than once of the scripture in 1 Peter 2:25 which reads: "You were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls." I have been thoroughly captured by the gentleness, patience, and love I have seen as He manifested Himself to me this way! Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:7-8 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! ~Philippians 2:6-8 Dear Friends, Throughout history, God has looked for people who were either curious enough or sensitive enough to turn aside from their daily routines and spend time with Him. Just as the Lord longs for us to turn to Him, so He also draws near to us when we do so, revealing Himself in greater measure. Abraham showed hospitality to strangers and entertained angels. Moses turned aside to see a burning bush and encountered God. Joshua, Samuel, Daniel, Anna, Zaccheus, Mary, and so many others made quality decisions to seek God, and were rewarded for pressing in. Their reward? To hear God's voice and to know Him personally. I had a dream from the Lord this week which truly alarmed me. In the dream, I saw that the Church at large, Christ’s Bride, was being systematically seduced by a man who was familiar to her. He was a “believer” and an active participant in countless local and regional ministries. Because this man was working toward the same goals and supposedly serving the same Lord, the Bride willingly gave herself to his service in the deepest sense of the word. The Bride (represented in the dream by a variety of different women) bore his children and nurtured them as best as she could. However, once the children were born, the man returned to each one of the women, exposing himself as a liar, not a lover of God. Though operating within the Church, he was anti-Christ. 
Dear Friends, Nothing God does is an accident! There are no “coincidences” in the Kingdom of God. You are here on earth at this time for a specific purpose predetermined by the Father. Do you know what that purpose is? What do you need right now in order to fulfill the call of God on your life? I asked my friends on social media this question. Here are some of the answers I received: Wisdom. Confirmation. Recognition. Direction. Time. Money. The kids grow up and leave home. Healing from a physical ailment. A life partner. An audience to preach to. All of these are good things, of course, helpful to anyone in ministry. Partnership and support are essential, while time and physical stamina enable us to do what God has called us to do. Yet the Bible gives a very different answer to this question. Jesus tells us there is just ONE THING we must have in order to do the kinds of works He does, and it encompasses all of the above. 
In September 2019, I set aside some time for an extended prayer retreat. As I asked the Lord for His heart concerning the coming New Year 2020 / Jewish Year 5780, I saw a woman in travail, about to give birth: she had nurtured the seed that was growing and expanding within her, and now the time of birth had come! As she opened her mouth she was compelled to cry out in travail. I heard the Lord say: “That cry will be the sign of new life coming forth in a new era. So great and passionate will be the shout that the world will focus on the cry; yet the lovers of God will see the baby that emerges, fully equipped, from the womb of the woman. For My Bride is full of godly seed and recognizes that her time has come. Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not give delivery? (Isaiah 66:9) You will see the fruits of your labor as you make declarations in the Spirit, decreeing the new things I have prepared for My Kingdom! And they are beautiful things! The ministries birthed in this season will be as varied as the warriors themselves. DIVERSITY will be a theme in My Kingdom, yet not diversity for diversity’s sake! No, the differences among people and ministries will only highlight My beauty and My diversity. For one will say, ‘I did not know God looked like that!’ And another, ‘I did not know God could do that!’ And the world will wonder that a God who seems in such opposition to them could actually be so much like them in some ways, welcoming what is unusual and celebrating diversity! 
In this midst of this diversity will be a unity so strong, even those who have labored for unity will be amazed. You will not have to strive for unity, with all the discomforts of laying aside personal agendas and dreams, in order to connect to those unlike you. No; instead, an innate unity in the Spirit will break out and be birthed in this hour. It will be unusual and unforced. The new “children” born of the Spirit will not see black and white, male and female or any other differences; they will operate in ONE Spirit. It will not be their common interests in the flesh but their unity in the Spirit that will sustain them. Like those who built the tower of Babel, these newly-birthed ministries will walk in a higher purpose with clearer communication, accomplishing My will for this time. SPECIFIC "NEW ERA" MINISTRIES WILL BE BIRTHEDOne new ministry will see the horrors of Hollywood as a challenge to take on, leaving the masters of deception dumbfounded with their godly emphasis on signs and wonders. What they release by My Spirit will be completely irreproducible and the cameras will turn from the fake to the real as these unstoppable ones “wow” their audiences. They will not do this for fame or money but for the glory of God! I will release a power in that arena that is unknown to man, and unable to be duplicated as it was in Moses’ time. While the world focuses on media and television, I am releasing books by the thousands around the world, a “sleight of hand” which, when realized, will cause a stir. Publishing will be seen as more potent than producing, and the expansion of My Word around the globe will surprise those who thought the printed word was dead! When technology fails these printed words will have power AND position, having been secretly deposited in places around the world while no one was watching. Healing ministries will multiply as believers tap into the power of this Word: ‘I am Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals you!’ No longer will I allow the enemy to have the upper hand in destroying My saints, but I will come to their aid with Spirit-infused “rhema” words that will set the captives free. Large-scale, mass healings will begin to take place THIS YEAR. Those called will wave their hands over auditoriums and see healing manifest throughout. Buckets of healing oil will be poured out by the angels over mass gatherings of people who desire only to worship Me. 
YOUTH WILL BE EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ACCELERATED, AUTHENTIC MINISTRIESWith these healings will come a release of faith, miracles, and more healings. Young people will be so touched by the power of My Spirit that they will surrender their lives on the spot to follow Me in these accelerated ministries of unity! They will form partnerships with each other at the speed of the Spirit: quickly merging together to accomplish the next wave of revival that is on My agenda. Moving in the Spirit will not be foreign to them because they have been born and brought up in such a mode. The struggle that those who went before them endured will not be present for these youths, for they will be willing to accept at face value what I release, without question. Why? Because they will know it is real. AUTHENTICITY will win their hearts, and I am an authentic and honorable friend to them! Faith is rising up in the hearts of prophets and intercessors because the time is near for these things to come to pass. What you have dreamed will now become a reality! Be ready to assist in the laboring, birthing, and early nurturing of this era. It is “all hands on deck!” You are on the cusp of this anointing and the role of the prophets will be as midwives (or doulas) in the Spirit. Those with prophetic gifts will both recognize and identify that which is being birthed at this time. As new ministries are launched, the prophets will declare: “It’s a boy! It’s a girl!” They will NAME these newly-birthed ministries. For My church is returning to her place of dominion and authority and the prophets and intercessors will have a role in defining and naming these new things. Look to the prophets for the definitions and descriptions of what you do not yet recognize, for they will “call it as they see it,” relying upon My Holy Spirit to define holy things. Those who listen to the prophets will build with the prophets; those who ignore or misname My cherished ones will suffer the consequences. WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO BIRTH THESE NEW THINGS:TRUST - You will need to trust in Me and in each other. A TOWEL / A SERVANT’S HEART To cleanse and deliver new ministries, you will need a love that sees beyond the messiness. A PLACE OF RIGHT ALIGNMENT - Safe places will be needed to position these new “babies” as they are coming to life. Right positioning and placement will come as you make the appropriate apostolic connections. HONOR - Cultivate a healthy respect for the new life that is coming forth!” 
THIS IS A SEASON TO VALUE MY BRIDE!In this new era and new season I will shift the Body of Christ out of a place of despair and distress, into a season of joy and great value. For I would again reveal to My Bride the value I place upon her: her love, her devotion, and her sacrifice (See Song of Songs Chapter 4). In previous seasons, My Bride was undervalued by man; the coming season will be an era of great glory, marked by a display of My favor upon My beloved one! I will destroy the lies of the enemy about the condition of My Bride with the words of My mouth. My words will always take precedence! Every word of the Bridegroom from Song of Songs will become a declaration of love and an explosion of empowerment over you! Make ready your garments! Make yourself ready as a bride adorns herself for her husband, for so you will adorn yourself for Me! Let the love-truths of My Word demolish the hateful lies that your brothers and your enemy have spoken over you. Arise, My Beloved, and come into the full understanding of who you are and what you mean to Me! No more will I allow prior hurts to define you. No more will you speak of yourself as ‘dark’ or ‘damaged.’ For you will HEAR, and some will hear for the first time, the depth of My loving call to you, the sound of My voice and even the sound of My whispers! My whispers in the night will shatter invisible barriers with which the enemy has encircled you. You will no longer ‘hide behind the lattice,’ visible yet invisible, but will be released to come and follow after Me! All that has held you back in previous seasons is gone; a new day has come. ARISE, My love, and come away!”*
(To read the expanded word for the Bride of Christ, please click here. To listen the YouTube podcast, click here.)
THE LORD'S DECREE FOR 2020“What you see, decree! What you decree you will see! Those who can boldly take their places beside Me in the throne room of glory will have the privilege of seeing what they decree in the Spirit come to pass on the earth. I want to co-labor with you to establish righteousness on earth and this will require you to boldly take your authority IN ME and use it for good! Your place of prayer is your place of battle, and you have the privilege of sitting with the greatest General who ever lived, to see and receive My strategies for this hour. As you decree them I will carry them out, for I have myriad troops at My disposal. The battle belongs to the Lord, but the secret strategies belong to the prophets.” We need prophets and prayer warriors more than ever this year! We need the overcoming declarations they are making in their prayer rooms to reverberate and resound across the earth. This is a year to stop fighting with natural methods and instead, use our intimate access to God’s Throne to employ His mighty warriors, the heavenly hosts! We need those who can step into their secret place with God and do damage to the enemy. Now is the time and this is the year to do so! *In meditating on the Song of Songs, notice that the Shulamite Bride is at first so very aware of her “darkness,” and of her failure to tend her own vineyard. Although she is in love with her Bridegroom, she is very conscious of her sins and flaws, refusing to arise with Him as a joint heir and partner in His work. What changes? The loving Words of the Bridegroom move her from a place of reluctance to a place of obedience, increasing her joy! In this new season, we will hear the words of our heavenly Bridegroom saying, “You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you!” The love-declarations of Jesus in this hour will set the Bride free!
© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com. Special thanks to His Inscriptions reader and artist Elizabeth Cartier for the beautiful background artwork in this post's images!
Deborah Perkins is a seasoned prophetic writer, teacher, and Christian leader with more than 35 years of ministry experience across denominations. At God's request in 2013, she founded His Inscriptions, an online ministry devoted to helping people worldwide “Discover Life-Giving Communication with God.” Through her website, inspired teaching and a weekly blog, Deborah offers discipleship to those who want to grow their relationship with God. Deborah currently lives in New England with her hubby, 3 sons, one cat and a coop full of chickens. Learn more about Deborah or order her books on her Amazon author page. 
Dear Friends,
Christmas blessings to every reader of His Inscriptions! In this joyful season I am celebrating the gift of Jesus Christ!
I have been meditating on the first chapter of Ephesians, which reminds us of our hope of heaven's promised blessings, our redemption through Christ's forgiveness, our adoption as sons and daughters of a heavenly Father, and our inheritance in Him. “Only 14 percent of young adults (ages 18-35) say they attend church because someone in their worship community cares deeply about them.” ~Barna Research What are you doing to reach the next generation? Take a look around your church or small group fellowship. How many of your regular attendees are from the “next generation” following you? 10%? 20%? 50% or more? If you see a healthy crop of young believers growing and being discipled in your church, congratulations. You’re a rarity! As research shows, the majority of young people in our culture are suffering from serious neglect. Notably, they don’t feel anyone in church “cares deeply” for them. (Barna, 2019) 
His Inscriptions readers are an amazing group of leaders in your local churches, families, and communities! It is you I want to encourage today with this special focus on ministry. As I sat with the Lord in prayer this week, He gave me a picture of three doors. With the exception of our quiet times, these three doors are meant to remain open, the Presence of God accompanying us as we pass through each door into different spheres of influence. The first door was the door to our heart, or our "innermost room." Jesus called believers to go into this innermost place and close the door so that we could commune with the Father in secret. The Passion Translation describes this place as the "resting place of His love" (Ephesians 3:17), the source and root of all that we do. Our first and primary ministry as priests will always be to the Lord. This sacred space in our hearts is like the "Holy of Holies" - a place where there is a divine exchange of our sin for His righteousness, our unworthiness for His love, and our humanness for His supernatural Spirit. It is the only place in Scripture I know of where we are told to close the door, seal ourselves off, and be alone. We "cap our wells," so to speak, for the sake of replenishment and stillness before the Lord. The second door opened to those closest to us: family and friends with whom we live our daily lives. The places we walk on a daily basis present us with the opportunity to love those around us as an outward expression of our inward love for Christ. This represented our secondary ministry, second only to God. The third door opened to the world of our communities, churches, and nations; our "metron" or expanded sphere of ministry. While many believers place this sphere first, that is not the biblical pattern. (See 1 Timothy 5:8.) What exactly is our ministry? It is the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). The beautiful truth of the New Testament is that God's "door" is always open. The veil that separated us from intimacy with Him was torn at Christ's death, and we are now able to boldly approach His throne through Jesus's righteousness! Hallelujah! Paul said he "resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) The message of Christ is our ministry! For our message to be authentic and powerful, we must ourselves be ministered to by the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3, 4, and 5 describe a new perspective on ministry. Ministry at its best is not an "office" or a title, but a position of servanthood. Here is what one of the most qualified Jewish leaders of Bible times thought about Christian ministry once he was converted: On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. ~Isaiah 62:7, ESV I believe that today the Lord wants to both encourage and honor His "watchmen:" those who regularly wait and watch for Him in prayer! Most of you reading this have an interest in either prayer or the prophetic gifts, and many are called to be “watchmen:” intercessors and prophets for the Body of Christ. Watchmen (and watchwomen!) are appointed by God to serve as protectors of the Kingdom’s flock. (See Ezekiel 33:7.) They devote hours of their time, usually unseen and often at night, listening to the Lord and praying His heart for His people. Because they make themselves available to Him, they become the first line of defense when the enemy tries to ravage the flock. I saw this truth demonstrated dramatically during my prayer time one morning. 
As I listened to the Lord last night, I felt His heart of compassion and I believe strongly that He asked me to simply pray for you today. Prophetic words are wonderful, teaching and devotionals help us grow, but there is nothing like the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit in prayer! There is no distance in the Spirit (see Colossians 2:5; 1 Cor 5:3a). God is omnipresent and unlimited in His ability to reach anyone, anytime, anywhere. As I pray in the Spirit for you, and you agree with me, I believe I am effectively standing beside you, IN HIM. Our unity with the Savior means we are never alone! Please join me in agreeing for these very biblical promises and blessings to take place in your life today! Read them out loud over yourself; insert your name if you'd like to make them more personal. They represent God's heart for you! 
Most Christian leaders I know, including myself, have a desire to see the Kingdom of God expand. Some want to grow their churches, some want to send missionaries to the field, some evangelize the lost and heal the wounded, and some pray for revival. Each of us has a part to play, and every one of us will have a different vision. At the moment, I am called to write, while you might be called to share Jesus in your workplace. God invites ALL of us to help build His Kingdom, yet we ALL need to invite God into our processes first to see His Kingdom expand! If you’re longing to bear more fruit for the Kingdom of God, these words the Lord shared with me recently will encourage you. 
An unusual thing happened the other day. The Senior Pastor of my church called me, out of the blue, to say hello. No agenda. No problems. No church business to discuss. Just a “Hello, how are you” kind of call. That call was a HUGE blessing in my day! Most leaders I know are pretty busy people. Heck, I am, too! When I hung up the phone after our call, I sat for a moment wondering: when is the last time a leader called me and didn’t need something? Wanted to just connect, for the sake of the relationship, not the “mission” or the shared purpose, whatever that may be? Apart from a handful of very dear friends I know in leadership, I couldn’t remember. Leaders who lead with love are a rare and special breed. 
Today, I want to share with you the third (and final) portion of the Prophetic Word for 2019. This part focuses on the coming harvest and the desire God has for us to use our gifts to build the Kingdom of God. Sharing your gift matters! I pray that this portion of the word for this year will inspire you to collaborate with God and see His promises come to pass in your world! Remember, prophecy is an invitation to partner with God to bring His life-giving Kingdom to earth. Without your participation, that task would be impossible! God has chosen to include you in His harvesting process, to use the unique gifts and talents He gave you, and to give you great joy as you see Him move. Listen carefully to what He's promising here - and even more closely to what He's asking from you. 
The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry. ~Isaiah 58:11
I hear the Lord saying: “At present, you are more like a water spigot than a fountain. You are connected to your Source and can access My power, but you enjoy the ability to turn on or off the water at your own good pleasure. I would rather you be a fountain flowing continuously, not a spigot flowing sporadically. For this, you will need to yield full control to Me.”
Destiny Conference Video Just Released - Please Watch and Share!*Please note: $30 Registration online by June 6th, 2018. $35 registration at the door on day of event. Registration fee includes catered lunch by Tabitha's Table! Location: Freedom Worship Center, West Boylston, MA (Rte 12) Click registration button for more info and full schedule. Need a printable flyer for church bulletins? Click here! Questions? Contact Deborah here. |
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AuthorA severe hearing loss from childhood caused Deborah Perkins to develop what she now calls her secret weapon: tuning in to God's voice. A Wellesley College graduate and an award-winning writer, Deborah is now a wife and mother of 3 boys. Deborah has devoted over 25 years to professional and lay Christian ministry in New England and beyond. Her passion is inspiring people to cultivate greater intimacy with God. 
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