Our beloved fellow Last Days Disciples, this new series of articles is titled “Marching Orders for the Stephen Generation” and its purpose is to enhance our understanding of what we Last Days Disciples can expect in the coming days… and what our Father has already provided for us in the midst of everything and anything we may face. This series will strengthen and solidify the firm foundation of Truth that Holy Spirit has been imparting to our FMM family and will increase our resolve to fulfill the exhortation we find in Ephesians 6:10-18 (TLV):
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you are able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist when the times are evil, and after you have done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm then! Buckle the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. Strap up your feet in readiness with the Good News of shalom. Above all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Ruach on every occasion, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, keep alert with perseverance and supplication for all the kedoshim.”
We begin with the Original Marching Orders to bring into focus the enhancements found in the Marching Orders for the Stephen Generation. And the reason for that ‘upgrade’ given to us by the Ruach HaKodesh is because we live in uncharted territory… generations before us never faced the kind of things we do. They could not have conceived civilizations slowly self- destructing after decades of demonically inspired lies and deception. Those who lived during the days of great revivals and outpourings of the Spirit would never have imagined how those fires could have died down to smoldering embers.
So knowing how much the written and Living Word has revealed about the Last Days, I exhort you to take seriously the level of equipping this series offers as we work together to advance the Kingdom of our God and prepare for the coming of His beloved Son.
Love, Mum Nancy
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The Original
Marching Orders
(First received in 1988)
- Take My people further in their understanding of what it is to be a temple of My Presence.
- Teach them to think along with Me, in all things.
- Teach them to listen to Me at all times, even as they are thinking!
- Develop a great tenderness and sensitivity for My Presence within them. Teach them to worship Me in the depths of their spirits and innermost minds, in all things.
- Teach them to understand clearly and thoroughly, what it means to be faithful to seek, in all things, My viewpoint and the purpose of My Kingdom, Kingship and Righteousness. If they do that, I, for My part, will add all other things for them.
- Take them further in their understanding of the depths of the Covenant relationship they have with Me. Teach them what their part is to be.
- Teach them how to respond to Me in even the tiniest matters.
- I AM with them in all things and in all ways. I want them to be with Me in the same manner!
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Marching Orders for
The Stephen Generation
(Updated adaptation made in 2021)
- Take My people further in their understanding of what it is to be a temple of My Presence… So they’ll have the faith they need to remain connected to Me when I lead them through “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.”
- Teach them to think along with Me, in all things… So that they can be led by the Holy Spirit at all times, even amid desperate emergencies.
- Teach them to listen to Me at all times, even as they are thinking… So that I can guide them safely through opposition and persecution.
- Develop a great tenderness and sensitivity for My Presence within them.Teach them to worship Me in the depths of their spirits and innermost minds, in all things… So that when I return, I won’t have to say to them, “I never knew you!”
- Teach them to understand clearly and thoroughly what it means to be faithful to seek, in all things, My viewpoint and the purpose of My Kingdom, Kingship and Righteousness.If they do that, I, for My part, will add all other things for them… For I AM the Blessing Father gave to them from the very beginning… and because the Serpent never stops trying to destroy God’s beloved humans… they must cling to Me as they resist demonic attacks in the final days.
- Take them further in their understanding of the depths of the Covenant relationship they have with Me. Teach them what their part is to be… So that I can continually impart My Covenant blessings and protection to them. Teach them to abide beneath the shadow of My wings even as thousands perish all around them.
- Teach them to respond to Me in even the tiniest matters… So that they can remain connected to Me regardless of what is going on around them.
- I am with them in all things and in all ways. I want them to be with Me in the same manner… So I can continue to be everything they need, no matter how desperate the world situations become all around them.
The Lord gave me the original ‘Marching Orders’ in the summer of 1988. Soon afterward, He started sending the downloads for what would eventually develop into the material that the Ultimate Journey Ministry shares so successfully today with those who participate in that ministry’s support group disciple training.
But after the Lord gave me the new assignment of cooperating with Him in giving birth to this current Follow Me Ministry, the Marching Orders are just as pertinent and necessary as ever. Only now we’ve updated them to reflect the atmosphere and urgency in which the Last Days disciples of today will be required to operate.
I call these Last Days Special Forces Disciples: ‘The Stephen Generation’, because they will finish constructing the ‘Highway in the Wilderness’ that will prepare the way for the Return of our risen Messiah. (See Isa. 40). And they will do it amid some extremely difficult and often dangerous circumstances… regardless of the cost to them. So they’ll have to do their work while resisting and opposing the forces of Darkness when the age-old war between Good and Evil reaches the zenith level of its intensity.
And since they’ll have to learn to persevere in their service to the Lord in dire and apparently impossible situations, they will be very aware of the fact that only the actual Presence of the risen Lord will be able to see them through. They will have to know what the disciple Stephen (in chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Acts) knew, and do what he did when it was his time to render his unforgettable service.
The Stephen Generation will have to be prepared and equipped to maintain the supernatural martyrs’ mindset focus that the valiant, unstoppable, disciple Stephen maintained and displayed, during his final moments on Earth. Nothing could deter or stop him or the other martyrs! They follow the totally focused example of our Lord! And authentic Last Days disciples will have to do the same. So the training true disciples receive is of vital importance. And that training is what these meditations are meant to help us unpack, explore, absorb, digest, and… embody… as we go through our ‘boot camp’ preparatory stages.
Dad John
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Meditation 1
The Invincible Light
Beloved Family… one of the works we list in our website (www.follow-me-ministries.org) under ‘Blood Covenant Reference Works’ is a three-part work entitled, “Lost In Translation”. In the first book, the authors, John Klein and Adam Spears, make this statement: “If you don’t understand Blood Covenant, you don’t understand the Bible.” I heartily agree with that statement. So I recommend that you supplement what you glean from these meditations, by digging into the recommended Covenant-related works included in the reference list on our website.
In our other FMM material, we often refer to the Blood Covenant Pattern and Reality in which God has chosen to deal with the human race. So now let’s apply some of what we know about the awesome Blood Covenant mindset and relational dynamics, to what is implied in the FMM Marching Orders. If we see the Orders through ‘Covenant Eyes’ we will develop a deeper appreciation for how utterly loving, and in step with God’s wishes, those instructions really are. And we’ll get an even deeper understanding of the Blood Covenant Faithfulness and Loyalty they are geared to develop and reinforce within us.
So let’s consider some of God’s Biblical Blood Covenant revelation so that we can begin to sow it into ourselves with significant repetition. Sowing new data into ourselves with continuous repetition gradually rewires and reconfigures us. We eventually become whatever we consistently believe and affirm to ourselves, about ourselves. So if we believe and identify with the Destiny God has revealed and given us, we will continue to grow beyond the lies contained in our old former wiring and stored data, and move into the Truth God has set before us. It is through repeating God’s Truth to ourselves, that we gradually transform and grow into the new levels of maturity and ability He always intended us to be and enjoy. That repetition also develops a laser-level intensity of focus that makes it easier for us to keep our minds and wills calibrated to interact with the Perfect Presence of our beloved Covenant Lord. The more aware of Him we become, the more we can actually interact with Him throughout each day and night. Thus He is able to lead us into, and through, the Last Day conditions and circumstances that will be engulfing the earth during the turbulent, uncertain, and dangerous final days of this age. We dare not try to deal with these overwhelming events by following our original worldly, self-centered patterns and deceptive mindsets.
God has given us an enormously rich trove of Biblical revelation we can identify with. And that will equip and empower us and guide our steps and sustain us at every point of the way. The more we take that God-given destiny into ourselves, the more it becomes part of us. And it serves as a permanent ‘backdrop’ against which we can interpret and assess all the opposition and negative circumstances we’ll experience throughout our Journey. It will also help us to better grasp the meaning of what the Bible reveals concerning the required lifestyle of New Covenant disciples. For example, what we see concerning Stephen in chapters six and seven of the book of Acts is a great demonstration of the focus, courage, and faithful determination we can expect to see and experience within ourselves… if we do what we’ve been discussing and prepare like the Lord Himself, and Stephen, and God’s other faithful martyrs did.
Take special notice of the wonderful depths of Spirit-to-spirit oneness with our risen Lord that Holy Spirit was able to develop in Stephen, with his cooperation. This is really important to know, because that prepared and equipped him to face, and gloriously overcome, the intense demonic rage and opposition by which the powers of Darkness vainly tried to discourage, deter and derail him! The enemy failed miserably with Stephen. They couldn’t get him to cave in and keel over because he knew the end of the story in advance. He knew that, in His beloved risen Messiah, he had already overcome and defeated his enemies and their strategies. And that’s exactly what we too need to know and have firmly embedded within our inner workings… in advance!
When we look at what happened to Stephen on the surface, it’s painful and unpleasant. Most people naturally bypass and avoid dwelling on things like that. But Last Days disciples must consider and ponder it deeply, for it is a portent of what we too will be required to face and overcome. This is why I link Stephen’s wonderful to-the-death testimony with that set of ‘Marching Order’ instructions the Lord gave me to share back in 1988. At that time the Christ-Life Solution Ministry (now entitled The Ultimate Journey) was ‘under construction.’ And the Marching Orders were the essence of the very first ‘download’ I received when the Lord began to reveal to me the content and structure of the material He would be giving me to write for that Christ-Life/Ultimate Journey support group ministry that was officially launched in February of 1991.
Ever since I began to publicly share those original eight instructions, I called them ‘Our Marching Orders’. I saw them as the tools we could use to develop within ourselves the necessary neurological ‘hardwiring’ and mental insights, thought patterns, and skill sets we would need to think, act, react, and interact… as one with our risen Lord! Abiding in total obedient agreement with His Perfect indwelling Presence, was at the heart of what the Christ-Life Ministry was intended to instill in those who were exposed to it. And that always remained the goal for the ‘The Christ-Life Solution’ (which was later renamed ‘The Ultimate Journey’) and also for the Follow Me disciple-training Ministry that is currently entrusted to my care.
So I pray that these meditations, will help you to unpack and deeply absorb those ‘combat preparation’ instructions, in the hope that you too will begin to practice and master them, while there is still time and space left to you to be able to do it!
Stephen Faced Total Demonic Darkness and Dispelled It With God’s Light
In Acts 7, the Jewish disciple, Stephen, was empowered by the Holy Spirit to give totally supernatural testimony on behalf of His risen Lord. The shocking situation in which he suddenly found himself forced him to operate under excruciating pressure and danger. But He performed his role to perfection… even though it ended up costing him his temporary earthly life!
So notice this – throughout that entire ordeal, the Holy Spirit equipped and empowered Stephen to perform at a glorious, unforgettable level of Blood Covenant excellence. He empowered Stephen to interact with His risen Lord at that loving, ‘I only have eyes for You’, level of interactive Covenant union. And that’s what empowered him to prove his Blood Covenant love and devotion to the Lord by faithfully standing by and remaining faithful to Him, in the face of His enemies, even to the death!
So to me, it’s obvious that Stephen had developed and mastered that laser-level-focus-on-Yeshua mindset and skill level, well before he was forced to undergo the ultimate test. He rehearsed and rehearsed his role, of being a bearer of Yeshua’s indwelling Presence, well in advance of ‘curtain time.’ And when ‘show time’ was finally at hand, he knew his part and played it out to Perfection!
It was an incredibly intense, fiercely passionate, totally supernatural level of Covenant loyalty that Stephen rendered to His Lord on that day. And that’s what we need to fathom and absorb into ourselves as deeply as possible. We must understand that our calling as disciples, requires us to be willing to follow our Lord so that His Life, Love for His Father, and Perfect Righteousness may become ours as well. I firmly believe that we too will need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to operate at that supernatural level which is off limits to unassisted fallen human flesh. This is only attainable by those who think, live, act and react as one with the Spirit of Almighty God, who is the only one who can make us to be and act as one with the risen Son of God!
“So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had LIGHT in their dwellings!” (Exodus 10:22-23 NASB, Emphasis added.)
“Adonai went before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead the way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them LIGHT. So they could travel both day and night.” (Exodus 13:21 TLV, Emphasis added.)
We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit… to develop that unique Stephen level of apostolic training and preparation within ourselves. The level at which Stephen served and loved our Lord bore Light-spreading fruit that continues to impact the world to this day! So let’s broaden our understanding of this awesome legacy, and assure our ability to share in it and deepen it in ourselves and in our midst. So here are some pertinent Scripture texts to ponder:
“My son, PAY ATTENTION TO MY WORDS—incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart. For they are Life to those who find them and health to their whole body. Guard your heart diligently, FOR FROM IT FLOW THE SPRINGS OF LIFE!” (Proverbs 4:20-23 TLV, Emphasis added.)
“With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to LAY ASIDE THE OLD SELF, corrupted by its deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and PUT ON THE NEW SELF—created to be like God (God-filled) in (His) true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 TLV, Amplification and emphasis added.)
“Do not be conformed to this world but BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect!” (Romans 12:2 TLV, Emphasis added.)
Stephen’s Spirit-given supernatural grit and staying power enabled him to go all the way… without caving in under the intense pressure the powers of Darkness were exerting against him! How did he develop and maintain such an amazing, persistent, supernatural military-level of strength and unwavering focus on His risen Lord? How did he practice renewing his mind, during the days leading up to that final moment, that empowered him to be so outstandingly courageous and strong and invincible? How could he remain so utterly captivated, overwhelmed, and engulfed by the Reality of His Lord’s imminent Resurrection Presence? What enabled the risen Lord of Glory to blot everything else out of his awareness… even Death itself? Well, here’s a hint: Stephen allowed the Cross to empty him of the ‘self-adoration’ with which we are all born. That made room for the Lord’s Resurrection Presence to envelop and fill him. And the Lord was free to abide within Him… and be free to do the works of God through him!
Yes, Stephen learned the secret of remaining perpetually focused upon His Lord, and was thus able to interact with Him (by the obedience of faith) and serve as His ‘base of operation’ from which the Lord could reveal Himself from within Stephen. And that oneness with His risen Messiah transformed Stephen into His Master’s own image and likeness! The Light of the World Who was abiding within Stephen, blotted out and replaced every trace of Darkness that was around and within all that pertained to Stephen!
This disciple was able to operate at a much higher, eternal dimension than what is normal to those who do not know the Spirit of God. The reality of His Eternal Lord, abiding within his heart, mind and flesh, was able to bore right through the temporary, vicious hatred and murderous intent of the crowd that surrounded Stephen’s body. Nothing earthly or temporal could pry his attention away from the Everlasting, Supreme Glory of His Triumphant Lord! At that critical time, Stephen’s heart, soul and spirit remained riveted upon, and continually drawing from… Him… the Eternal Infinite Resource that he so sorely needed in those chaotic moments. Stephen drew from an Infinite Source that connected him to an eternal Kingdom, according to what the Lord had taught to His original disciples to do in earlier days:
“It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has listened and learned from the Father comes to Me! Not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God—He has seen the Father.
“Amen, amen I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I AM the Bread of Life! Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. This is the Bread that comes down from Heaven, SO THAT ONE MAY EAT AND NOT DIE (spiritually). I am the Living Bread, which came down from Heaven. IF ANYONE EATS THIS BREAD, HE WILL LIVE FOREVER! This Bread is My flesh (My Human Blood Covenant Representative Life), which I will give for (in exchange for) the (crucified Self-) life of the world.”
Then the Jews began arguing with one another, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
“So Yeshua said to them, “Amen, amen I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood (that is, truly become as one with Me in your spirit and soul), you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks (becomes one with the covering Authority of) My blood has Eternal Life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
“For My flesh (My Covenant Humanity given for you) is real food and My blood (the Perfect Covenant Representative Atonement) is real drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (by the obedience of faith) abides in Me, and I in him.
“Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who eats of Me will also live because of Me. This is the Bread that came down from Heaven—not like the bread your fathers ate and then died. He who eats this Bread will live forever!” (John 6:45-58 TLV, Amplification and emphasis added.)
Stephen learned to partake continually of ‘the Bread of Life.’ That is, he learned to live as one at all times with his indwelling, already-victorious Redeemer King. He was Stephen’s completely Heavenly, God-given, and Supernatural Life Source, Shepherd, and Companion! The Lord was enfolding and captivating Stephen and carrying him and his earthly faculties all the way through that horrendous ordeal… with His Resurrection Authority and Power! And Stephen really knew that! The Lord’s Nearness completely captured the focus of Stephen’s mind and heart. And this is the phenomenon about which this book is intended to help you become supremely aware… so that you too can begin to embody the truth and reality of our Messiah within your heart of hearts at all times. Beloved, don’t obsess over all of the Death that surrounds us, become one with the one who is Eternal Life as He abides and works from within us!
I pray that in the days to come… the One who captivated Stephen so thoroughly… will also become so deeply embedded within the depths of your being that He will be able to carry you too, through whatever you’ll have to face and deal with during your deployment in this poor, fallen, very temporary world!
“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the LIGHT. And what you hear (Me whisper) in your ear, proclaim from the housetops!” (Matthew 10:27 TLV, Amplification and emphasis added.)
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Additional Article in this series (available at www.follow-me-ministries.org website)
- Marching Orders for the Stephen Generation Introduction