Today, tornadoes ravaged New Orleans neighborhoods still not yet recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Both the airport and houses were damaged, a radio tower came down, utility poles fell, roofs were ripped off, windows blown out. The actual headline read, "Twisters Add Insult to New Orleans' Injury"; one resident proclaimed, "Don't ever ask the question, 'What ELSE can happen...'; another said, "I cannot believe this - it's not bad enough we got 11 feet of water...."

The Word of the Lord for New Orleans on August 29th, immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit was as follows:

"Yes, the water came...yes, My winds blew", saith God, but you were not
destroyed. Even man's chosen shelter for safe haven (note: Superdome)
was NOT as safe as "man" had hoped.
I AM Your shelter in the midst of the storm.
I AM your strong tower", says the Lord.
"My light outshines the darkness and will judge all areas of darkness throughout the earth. For nothing secret shall remain hidden in this hour. Even the sinful ways on such a grand scale in New Orleans is thought to go unnoticed," says the Lord. "But, O, how I see. NEVER believe that wicked deceiver who slithers in and out of your garden. He comes to destroy but I come to offer you new hope, new life. It is a new day for New Orleans - embrace Your Saviour! Embrace Your Redeemer! I wish that NONE would perish," saith God. "Come all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Let me wash you with the water of My Word. Let me clothe you in bright new rainment. This is a new day," saith the Lord God of Hosts. "COME".

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear...

Spoken to His Messenger
08/29/05 @ 2:00 a.m.

This was an invitation...an opportunity to change, to repent, and to see a mighty move of God in their city. But repent means to not only say, "I'm sorry", it means to TURN FROM and never do it again. Remember all the times in the Word when Our Lord Jesus spoke those words? "Go your way...and sin no more".

Sin....no....more.

So what has New Orleans been up to? The mayor realizes the hand of God upon that city. A bit over-zealous and without true depth of understanding, he has somehow had his eyes opened to the fact that the Lord allowed this to happen for a reason. The wise who hear, however, then must dig deeper into that and find out what it means when God blows His breath upon a city....because the next step (when you don't already know) is to find out, "Ok...what does God want us to do next? Where does He want us to go from here?" The question is sort of an answer....for the first thing they needed to do is to seekGod! And not just asking Him for direction, but first saying, "We're SORRY we never asked You before! We don't want to do things our way any more so what is YOUR plan?" Therefore, repent. Surrender. Submit. Then don't make any plans until you hear from heaven. They also need to rejoice... to thank Him for His great love and mercy toward them...because truly in the days of the Bible, when God brought judgment, He brought JUDGMENT. Sometimes you could find the rubble, but then there were other times when those walking in rebellion were just swallowed up in the earth with a one-way ticket to hell. God was MERCIFUL toward New Orleans. And, He offered His invitation to start fresh...ridding the city of its demons and strongholds, issuing forth a BRAND NEW DAY.

After the Hurricane, there were four shops that went undamaged (and mentioned on the nightly news)...one was a tavern...one a gentleman's club...one a voodoo shop...one a parade-float shop that made those big pagan things to be displayed along the parade route during Mardi Gras. 'Why were THOSE types of things left standing?', you might wonder. Wouldn't God's judgment wipe all evil away? In His infinite love for us, God gave us free will. We are to CHOOSE right, CHOOSE light over darkness. He cannot make us love Him, just as He will not MAKE us follow after Him (for what kind of love would that be?). These shop owners, even grander - the city, if they had turned from their wicked ways right away, and sought God's face, would have known not to keep these shops even though they were spared. There will always be test of our faith, tests of our commitment unto God. We have to be willing to CHOOSE to do right before Him. But He will not make us.

The latest news from New Orleans also has been that they are once again preparing for Mardi Gras. A celebration of sex, perversion, sodomy, transsexualism, and other abominations before Almighty God. This is NOT a turning from their wicked ways..., as the Lord says, "....'turn from your wicked ways and THEN I shall HEAL YOUR LAND' (paraphrased). It can no longer be 'business as usual', or 'doing that which we've always done'. A NEW DAY MEANS A NEW DAY...NEW...forgetting former things...a re-birth if you will. Submitting to God...allowing Him to change and transform and reconstruct for HIS glory!

This cannot happen, however, if there is no turning from evil.

And so two twisters blew threw town today. It wasn't as bad as it could have been...minimal damage truly, although 'on top of damage', it can make it seem much worse. But the Lord is lovingly asking New Orleans, "Don't you WANT to live? Don't you WANT to do things the right way?" Look what happened to the stubborn Jews when He set them free from Egypt - with their murmuring, moaning, complaining, grumbling against God and God's servant, not submitting, not surrendering, not humbling themselves...God caused their 11 day journey to last 40 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS!

The Lord spoke forth in His word for 2006:

"...to those areas where I have released judgment in 2005, I will be watching to see how You respond - will you respond with repentance or will you respond with hardness of heart and a returning to your old ways???"

There was minimal damage this day. He is once again answering the prayers of His saints, praying for New Orleans, asking for God's mercy. For the sake of how many righteous will He stay His hand next time? Does there have to BE a next time?

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PROPHECIES FOR 2005