Dennis DeGrasse to B1 Leaders, 15/09/04

I.) Ruth 4:1. THEN BOAZ went up to the city's gate and sat down there, and behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken came by. He said to him, Ho! Turn aside and sit down here. So he turned aside and sat down. 2. And Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. And they sat down… 4.11. And all the people at the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the household of Israel. May you do worthily and get wealth (power) in Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem.

As I prayed for this town and this region, I kept hearing the words “You are gates”. I deliberately put this word aside and waited another day. As I took up my prayers again today, I heard the same words come into my spirit. I do not know all that this means, but I see a few things worth mentioning:

  1. I see you as those whom the Lord has given responsibility to oversee the spiritual life of the town. You do not have the whole town as your own personal responsibility, but you do have your patch to oversee.
  2. I see that there is a collective strength that is greater than it should be; i.e. the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. I see a collegiate anointing that is releasing an apostolic anointing upon what you are doing in the area.
  3. I see you being fore-runners of restored apostolic government to the church and as such your greatest strength will be your continued willingness to serve one another and the church.
  4. I see your anointing making room for you. It isn’t a matter of power of personality, size of church, etc. but of the anointing upon your life.
  5. I see one arising who will be first among equals. There will be no strife over the matter as all will recognize the level of anointing and will recognize the depth of character and humility that will accompany this servant/leader.

II.) Luke 5:1. “NOW IT occurred that while the people pressed upon Jesus to hear the message of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret ( Sea of Galilee). 2.And He saw two boats drawn up by the lake, but the fishermen had gone down from them and were washing their nets. 3. And getting into one of the boats, [ the one] that belonged to Simon (Peter), He requested him to draw away a little from the shore. Then He sat down and continued to teach the crowd [ of people] from the boat. 4. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon (Peter), Put out into the deep [ water], and lower your nets for a haul. 5. And Simon (Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [ exhaustingly] and caught nothing [ in our nets]. But on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets [ again]. 6. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish; and as their nets were [ at the point of] breaking, 7. They signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and take hold with them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8. But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9. For he was gripped with bewildering amazement [ allied to terror], and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made; 10. And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (Peter). And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!”

As I continued to wait upon the Lord, I saw the Lord creating a net. The net was used to bring in the catch and was a strong net with fine mesh to keep the little ones from wriggling through the net. The net isn’t all that it will be. Parts of it are missing, but the Lord is repairing the net. This is no small cast net, but is a large drag net. The Holy Spirit will drag the net through the town time and again. Many will come into the Kingdom because of the net. Notice the effect of the catch upon the boats! You have been praying for a great catch, but can the church stand the strain of a great catch?

Several things to think about relating to this point:

  1. Are we preparing for such an event by training leaders to assist in cleaning of the fish?
  2. Can our ship take the strain of the added weight of such a catch, or like these boats will they begin to sink under the strain?
  3. Obviously the catch was supernatural and unprecedented in size, as these professional fishermen didn't have big enough nets to handle such a catch.

III) The final thing that I saw was some of the town leaders coming into the Kingdom of God. I see the Lord giving you increased favour with the town leaders. Whether or not this is just for a season I cannot tell, but take advantage of the favour while you have it.