The Holy Spirit is now releasing into the church that which will ultimately accomplish more than any other outpouring of the Holy Spirit since the Day of Pentecost. He is releasing a consuming passion for Jesus that will return the church to her first love. There is nothing on earth as contagious as this passion for the Son of God; those who have it will infect everyone they come in contact with. The church is about to fall so in love with the Lord she will cover the world with the knowledge of him like the waters cover the sea.

One of the great prayers in Scripture is recorded in Exodus 33:13-16, as Moses entreated the Lord:

Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found favor in Thy sight, let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee, so that I may find favor in Thy sight. Consider too, that this nation is Thy people.

If Thy presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Thy sight, I and Thy people? Is it not by Thy going with us, so that we, I and Thy people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth? (Exodus 33:13, 15-16).

More than truths, and more than power, it is by the manifest presence of the Lord that we will distinguish the church from all of the other religions and philosophies on the face of the earth.

We need more knowledge of Him, and we need more power, but more than anything, we need Him. We need to seek His manifest presence more than an addict would seek his next fix. The Holy Spirit is going to release into the church a spiritual hunger that will be greater than our natural desire for food. We will start to get the shakes if we go a day without spending time with Him. We will wake up hungering for His word more than we will for breakfast. We will spend more time caring for and grooming our souls than we do our outer man. We are going to be a people who care much more for the eternal purposes of God than we do for the temporary treasures of this world.

When we fully enter into what the Lord is about to do, we will not leave meetings talking about great preaching, prophetic ministry, miracles, or even great worship--we will be talking about the Son of God. Great truths draw some, and great miracles draw others, but when Jesus is lifted up all men will be drawn. We must love His truth, and we should know His power, but we want to seek Him above all things, and never let even the best gifts eclipse our love for His presence. Our highest purpose is to be able to say with the apostle that there "manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place" (II Corinthians 2:14).

As Paul Cain once said, "We are all as close to Him as we want to be." The Scriptures confirm this. We can be as close to Jesus as anyone in the Scriptures. The place that

Mary had at His feet, or that John had laying his head on His breast, is available to everyone of us. As Christians we have something much better than Moses did, even though he met with the Lord face to face. We do not just meet with the Lord, we have Him living within us. We can come boldly before the Throne of Grace at anytime! What in our life could possibly be better than coming before His throne, or sitting in His presence?

It is much more than a cliche' that we can do nothing apart from the grace of God--it is a profound truth. The Scriptures reveal four manifestations of grace: l) common grace, which is given to all men, and includes such things as natural talents, 2) saving grace, as no man comes to the Son unless the Father draws him, 3) special grace, which is the empowerment to do the works of God, and 4) the "great grace," which is the highest anointing, or the greatest empowerment that we can have. James was imploring the church to seek this grace when he wrote:

But He gives a greater grace.

Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:6-8).

The greatest grace of God will only be found by those who seek Him so as to find Him.

James continued by telling us how to draw near to God:

Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor? (James 4:8-12).

Repentance from sin and dead works is a foundation of true faith. Repentance is the humility that acknowledges who God is, how far we are from Him, and how desperately we need Him. Repentance had to be preached before Jesus could be revealed the first time, and it will be preached before He is revealed again. A repentant heart is a manifestation of the humility that He gives His grace to. Repentance cleanses our hands and helps to purify our hearts.

As we also see in this text, one of the primary manifestations of the repentance is for

us to stop speaking against each other, and judging our brothers. Criticism has the appearance of wisdom, but it is a deadly, worldly wisdom, and one of the ultimate manifestations of pride. When we criticize someone else we are by that saying that we are better than they are. In fact we may be better than others in some areas, but if we are it is only by the grace of God; it is an affront to God that we should boast about it. Let us repent of this terrible pride that has often caused the Lord Himself to resist us. True repentance may begin with remorse, but it is much more than that. It is changing our behavior, and sometimes taking practical steps to repair the damage that we have done to the Lord's people with our judgments.

Chapters four and five of James address many issues that are crucial for these times. The church is coming to a time of great grace and exaltation, but it will begin with the genuine humility of repentance from many of the issues addressed in these chapters. As the Lord declared,

The proud look of man will be abased, and the loftiness of man will be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty, and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased (Isaiah 2:11-12).

As Peter stated it, when continuing with the same theme as James, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (I Peter 4:17). Then after quoting the same text as James, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble," he added an important insight: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you" (I Peter 5:5-7). Peter is stating that anxiety is pride. Anxiety actually is a pride that implies that we do not think that God can take care of us, but we have to do it by our own strength! Anxiety separates us from the presence of the Lord because it is contrary to the faith that we must have to please Him. If anxiety rules our life, we do not need a therapist, we need repentance.

Power Repentance

One of the most powerful ways that we can humble ourselves is by fasting. The Lord did not say "if you fast," but "when you fast" (Matthew 6:17). Often those who sought the Lord Scripture did so by fasting (Ezra 8:23). Of others it says that they "humbled themselves with fasting" (Psalm 35:13). The flesh wars against the spirit, and fasting is one of the most powerful ways that we can do battle against it, and to humble ourselves to seek the grace of God.

There are a number of different fasts in Scripture. Some fasted from both food and water for a short period. Others fasted from food, and some, such as Daniel, fasted just from certain foods. This indicates that we can be creative in our fasts. We are commanded to humble ourselves, so it is something that we are expected to do, and can be expected to decide how to do it. This does not mean that we should not seek the Lord for His wisdom, but we can start by denying our flesh in what it may be using

to stimulate carnality in our lives. Many would experience a profound transformation in their life if they fasted from television for a time, and used that time to study the Scrip-tures, or pray. Others could stand to fast from idle conversation, seeking to comply with Paul's exhortation: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear" (Ephesians 4:29).

Special Note For Those Planning To Come To The MorningStar Harvest Conference(s) in October

Each of our last three MorningStar conferences has reached a higher spiritual level than the previous ones. We feel that the primary reason for this advance has been the great spiritual hunger with which those attending came to the meetings. Never have we felt such a high level of spiritual maturity combined with such spiritual hunger in a group of people. This not only draws much more out of the ministry teams, it attracts the Lord. With each conference it seems that these qualities have increased, and this is the main reason why each conference keeps going higher. Because of this, along with something that we believe the Lord has shown us, we feel that there is the potential for a truly extraordinary breakthrough during the upcoming October meetings.

If you are planning to attend, we are asking you to come prepared by doing some fasting. You may fast in any way that you feel led, but if you want to join the MorningStar Staff, we will be starting a 21-day "Daniel Fast" on September 28. Daniel fasted from meats, pleasant foods (deserts), and wine (Daniel 10:2-3). Our main prayers will be for the manifest presence of the Lord in the meetings, and that every man, woman and child attending will be infected with a passion for the Son of God that can never be cured. (If you decide to go on a more radical food or liquids fast, you may also need to consult a physician, especially if you are suffering from any physical ailments such as diabetes.)

Our main goal for these conferences--to sit at His feet, and to lay our heads upon His breast so that we can hear the heartbeat of God. We are praying that everyone who comes to these meetings leaves much closer to Him. Together we want to come boldly before the throne of grace, and find the grace that we need to accomplish His purposes in our generation. To do this we are praying that every person will come to the meetings much closer to Him than they are now, so that the manifestation through each one contributes to the greater revelation of Him in our midst.

Also, if you are planning to come please register as soon as possible. At every conference we are having to turn away increasing numbers of people for the lack of space. Registration information is included on the following pages.