I was standing on my watch recently when I heard in the spirit the sound of an eagles cry. Bald eagles often vocalize to communicate, especially with other eagles. I then saw the head of a bald eagle looking at me. Shortly after that, I saw a vision of numerous eagles nests suspended high in the air at the height where eagles soar. These nests were suspended in the sky without the support of branches.
Shortly after this vision, I wrote an article called, “The Sound of the Eagles Cry” that I posted on our website. (Click here to read)In short, there is coming an increase of prophecy, visions, and dreams that will fan the flames for a great awakening. This awakening is bringing to life destiny and purpose in God’s people. In order to pastor the prophetic and the nature of Christ, the Lord is establishing eagle nests where young eagles can be fostered and nurtured until the time they leave the nest to soar in the spirit.
These eagles nest will help to provide basic training in the watchman’s ministry, the gift of discerning of spirits, prophetic intercession, prophetic worship, the gift of prophecy, prophetic evangelism and so on. Home groups in the very near future will play a major role as eagle’s nest that the Lord will use as a means of equipping for the work of ministry.
For the past few days, I have been seeing a recurring vision of a bald eagle staring at me in the face, followed by the sound of the eagle’s cry. This has become more and more frequent, which indicates the level of importance. This past Sunday someone else shared with me that they too have been experiencing this same vision.
CAN YOU HEAR THE CALL
I asked the Lord, “What does this vision mean?” The words of Jesus came to me “For many are called but few are chosen” (Mt. 22:14). Then I understood that the eagles call is the Lord calling those who have an ear to hear, to come up higher to a new level in Christ where there is a greater vision. Eagles soar at an elevation where they have a panoramic view of the area beneath them. Eagles have a telescopic vision that enables them to see something as small as a fish swimming in the ocean from a high elevation. The Lord is drawing us closer to Him that we may know the times with His understanding.
God is doing a new thing. Because these eagles nest are located in the heavenly realm, to inhabit them will require that we live in the Spirit realm – the place of vision. We must have a greater understanding of the times with divine insight and counsel. This means we must have a solid foundation in prophecy, visions and dreams and their interpretation. We must also be prepared for the coming harvest to help others grow in their prophetic gifting.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
Jesus tells us that many are called by few are chosen. Those who are chosen are the ones who answer the call. In 1988 due to my spiritual dryness at the prompting of the Lord, I returned to my first love. During this time I also had a prophetic dream. In this dream I was living an ordinary life when I heard the clarion call to leave everything behind to follow the Lord. I sensed that this same call was given to all who heard His voice. I then left the place where I was at and crossed over a bridge. As soon as I did, I found myself in various difficult situations. Each one was a test that I had to overcome in order to move on.
The last scene in the dream was a battle that I was in. I was hugging the earth dodging bullets that the enemy was firing at me. I believe this was a war of words and in this battlefield, there seemed to be no way out. I was dodging the accusations, criticisms, and judgments being shot at me when suddenly a bridge appeared. When I crossed the bridged and reached the other side, I passed through a clear veil that led me back to the place where I had started my passage of journey in response to the call. Then I heard the Lord say, “Many are called but few are chosen” and I knew in my spirit that I had passed the test.
When God gives you a prophetic dream that contains the obstacles you may face, it is not to alarm you, but to encourage you that God’s grace is sufficient. It is not meant to reveal your weaknesses, your failures or shortcomings, but your potential. In this dream even though I would go through trials and tribulations, the exhortation was that if I continued to run the race and not retreat, I would eventually become victorious. My reward would be that of becoming a chosen vessel of the Lord for the work of ministry. This I knew was my destiny.
What followed shortly after the dream was not only an impartation from heaven, but all hell broke loose on earth. As the dream revealed, I went through many trials and tribulations and I faced many obstacles, such as overcoming rejection, persecution, spiritual opposition and demonic oppression. This was my training ground, the School of the Holy Spirit that the Lord specifically designed for me. The Lord knew what it would take to equip me as a soldier of the cross for the work of ministry. God has a specific plan tailored to each individual that is called – which means everyone.
This training was like being in a military boot camp except the enemy was very real. It was this training that imparted to me the understanding of how to use the divine weapons of warfare from the arsenal of heaven, to walk in God’s love, be filled with the Holy Spirit and minister in the anointing. This is what brought me closer to God where I learned to abide in His presence for intimacy and for fellowship. This is where the ministry of the Father’s heart was forged in me that His love may be revealed through me. I also obtained a great freedom from the bondage that held me in captivity with the liberty to minister the anointing to fulfill my call. My greatest reward is the fellowship of His glory.
EMBRACING THE PROCESS
The situation with trials and tribulations that you face every day is your School of training for reigning. The nation of Israel left the land of Egypt to enter into the Promise Land to posses their inheritance. What should have taken no more than 10 days journey took forty years. It was because of the hardness of their heart that they were not able to cease from their own works and thus, it was their children that inherited the promise. While the promise was given to Israel, those who heard it were not able to obtain it. Instead, it was given to their children. God does not break His covenant with His people. The promise is obtained by those who successfully go through the refining process.
There is so many Christians today that have heard the call that is wandering around in the wilderness. What is meant to perfect them is being mistaken as the enemy oppressing them. You know them by their negative words, attitudes, and reactions. Those who see from above are able to say “We are more than able “and with rejoicing with Thanksgiving, live in the presence of God. But those who are unforgiving, anxious and fearful wander around in circles unable to find the place of rest. Is God still with them? Yes, God never leaves us nor forsakes us. God in His great compassion and mercy was with Israel as a cloud by day and a fire by night. However, that doesn’t mean that they were walking in their destiny.
CALLED OUT TO BE COMMISSIONED
There is a major difference between receiving a call and being commissioned. Moses was called as God’s deliverer to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt. His learning ground for preparation that led to his promotion was the 40 years he spent on the backside of the desert. Joseph, from the time that he received prophetic dreams that he would rule, went through a perfecting process that leads him to prison before He was promoted as Prince of Egypt. When David was a boy he was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be King of Israel. During this time until he ruled as King at the age of 30, he was treated as a common criminal feeling from Saul. Because David understood the process he used this to his advantage by abiding in the Lord’s presence through worship and praise.
The purpose of the call is to bring us up out of the place where we are in order to bring us into something better. As the Lord declared to Moses, I have come down to “to bring them up out of that land unto a good land” (Exodus 3:8). The purpose of the call is not for our own sake but that of God’s people. The process of coming out of to come into is what takes us from glory to glory. Our job is to respond to the call by saying “Yes Lord” which is the first step to begin the journey. When we are commissioned we have reached the destination where our character reveals His image and our gifting ministers His life. Where the two converge at a certain place of maturity, we are then ready to receive a new commission.
What lies between the prophetic promise and your Promise Land is a wilderness. It is here that God leads you “in the wilderness to humble you, and to prove you and to know what is in your heart, and whether or not you will keep His commandments” (Deut. 8:2) As this scripture indicates, the purpose of the wildness is to reveal what is in you! Without a challenge there cannot be courage, without obstacles there cannot be faith, without conflicts that reveal what is in our hearts, we cannot be perfected. Jesus wants to cut away the dead works and prune every branch that is in Him that it may bear more fruit.
The wilderness is the proving ground that God uses to mold us into His image and likeness. Every trail and tribulation, every circumstance and situation is our golden opportunity to embrace the divine nature and image of Christ. We know that the greater the call the greater the preparation required to fulfill the call. A doctor must go through years of training before they are liscensed to practice medicine, while a grocery store clerk may obtain a place of excellence in only a few months. Those who feel that they are in a long arduous process need to understand that they are being prepared for greater works.
YES LORD
I well understand that my promotion in Christ is not determined by man, but by my response and willingness to yield to the process. God looks for obedience not good works. In order to inherit the blessing, which empowers us with greater authority and anointing, we must learn the lessons. It is this process that takes us from glory to glory.
So naturally my response to the Lord in regards to answering the eagles call was “OK Lord, if I answer the call what will this entail? Somehow I knew the answer. Just as I expected the Lord answered that there would be opposition with trials and tribulations with the promise of a greater anointing.
What can one say to the Lord of heaven in regards to further suffering on earth? Paul was joyful in all his tribulations (12. Cor. 7:4). He knew that tribulations work on behalf of every believer that the love of God may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Ro. 5:1-5) This is why Paul said that he gloried in tribulations knowing that tribulations led to possessing more of God’s glory. Paul understood that in his weakness, he could further yield his life to the Lord and thus say, “I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
Although I confess I do not rejoice with the exuberance of Paul in suffering, I do know that those who trust in the Lord and make Him their protector will always become the victor. You can never lose if you do not retreat. Our call is to always move onward and upward. God is doing a new thing and it requires a death process. We go from glory to glory by laying our lives down for Him to find our life and being in Him.
For those who answer the call to soar in the Spirit, will find the Lord lifting them up into His presence, for “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler (Psalms 91:4).
How quickly we respond to the call determines the speed of our progress. We are living in the days of acceleration that requires extravagant obedience. God moves at the pace of our response to step out in faith to step through the window of opportunity opened to us. We need not fear the process, for the Lord is our shield and our buckler. Can you hear the sound of the eagles call? It’s time to fly and soar in the Spirit.
IT”S TIME TO PREPARE
Since I responded to the call I have learned that the best way to prepare for a greater anointing that will enable me to father an eagles nest, is to receive further training. This is especially true in the area of interpretation of prophecy, visions and dreams. I know that our ministry is very weak in this area. We don’t have any trouble receiving prophetic revelation; as we are always hearing from the Lord. It’s in the area of interpretation and applications were we often fall short. This will change and it has too.
Over the years we have conducted a great deal of training in the gift of prophecy that has impacted many throughout the region of Maine and New England. At the School of Ministry and our Church services on Sunday, there is now a focus on the Watchmen’s Ministry and that of prophetic intercession and worship. Now is the time to continue to build upon this foundation by cultivating the ministry of dream interpretation. We are also finding that the Lord is opening up doors to establish eagles nest in other locations as well as to train and equip leaders who wish to oversee and conduct an eagle’s nest ministry. I will share more on this later.
In His heart with love – Roy Roden