This last season I have been a little quiet. God has been stirring something in many of us that has felt more private than public. Although words have been in plenty, they have been mine for process and review. I had to learn how to better throw confetti in a culture that is quick to cancel- compare- or compete unnecessarily.
I hope you will take this journey with me, when you feel ready, and extend more bravos, more cheer, more hooray. People need it. People need what you have and what your life/voice/hands can extend. Your gifts and talents are uniquely yours to give and they are needed for NOW!
You can buy the book at Thanksgiving or read the first Chapter here.
Last week I woke up at 3:22 to my phone dinging to a new email, riveting I know…but my spirit quickened because in Revelation 3:22 it says, ”he who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.” I knew the Lord was just getting my attention to what I was about to read next, Anthropology’s latest update for their new bridal line, ”ALL EYES ON THE BRIDE.” With that, I began to read over the letter to Bride (the seven churches in Revelation) to see what God had to say.
The book of Revelation doesn’t hit all that softly. It’s certainly not sugar-coated as the word ”Repent” lands twelve different times, exhorting us to use keen introspection with ourselves. The chapter calls us to reflect on our reputation, (being dead and numb when we say we are alive), our spiritual temperature (be hot or cold), our focus (you have abandoned your first love) our mixture (other teachings outside of Gods heart) and our toleration of Jezebel (control and deceitful behavior). Yikes, who needs a drink?
The letter is not without a remedy, after each observation is a call to genuine repentance. Turn around, move towards Jesus, and I bet we will be surprised at what opens up to us when we let His Spirit use his divine magnifying glass to surface what is unsettled. I believe the Lord is “fitting” us for new things this season and wants us clean before we take our place. Before a bride would walk to the altar she would first alter whatever is needed. Measurements are taken and things get tailored to fit us uniquely.
I wonder if we might need to make any ”alterations” this week? Relational alterations (mending, forgiving, boundary setting, etc.) financial alterations, spiritual, emotional, or physical ones?
There is nothing more captivating than a bride + groom with unwavering focus on each other. I pray this is a season where the bridegroom sweeps us off our feet. I pray our attention and devotion is singular focused and filled with His presence. And I pray we have plenty in the wedding party celebrating beside us.
The last couple weeks the Lord has been putting this phrase with me, ”April showers bring May flowers.” Meaning: what we sow in one season, we reap in another. It feels like reaping season is about to be upon us. We will be reaping next what we are sowing now. The Bible is full of sowing & reaping principles, a couple come to mind:
“A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring has nothing to harvest in the fall.” (Prov.20:4). Gah, that might feel a little harsh, but I believe we are all “farming” something. Farming or cultivating our own spirits, relationships, businesses, finances, families, ministries, etc.
I feel such an importance that we are to diligently farm, plant, water, and care for the soil God has given us this season = and we will see the fruit of it in the next season…maybe as soon as May.
Psalm 126 says, ”those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. The one who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
There is good coming. Fruit is coming from what you have been sowing in faithfulness. Just wanted to write a quick note to say: Good Job & keep going, or please start sowing. Sow so that you can reap. So your families and friendship can reap. So your own spirit will reap with reward and therefore be a blessing to those around you. Sow, so that ”in due time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up” (Gal.6.9).
It’s sowing season, sow something good…but don’t forget that crap makes great fertilizer.
I took my son to his eye doctor the other day, in truth the eye doctor called because I almost missed his eye appointment. I made note of clock, 10:10 and being prone to symbols it made me wonder what else I might be missing.
John 10:10 reads “a thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
I felt the Lord whisper that the thief is trying to steal perspective this season, trying to rob our lens of the graces God is giving us this holiday. If our perception of abundant living only comes in a nice package, I believe we are at risk. Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through our senses. Often times when our senses are challenged or our comforts threatened, our view can become distorted… skewed.
So I started to reimagine everything this season holds as the abundance Jesus came to give. Not just the evidence of the sweet, but also the challenging. What if the struggles of this season is our abundant living, or at least the transportation to get us there. What if quiet or loneliness, hardship or pruning, small space living, last minute shopping, and all things in between are to be something of abundance. I’m convinced our lens will determine our interpretation of what Gods up to. If the Pharisees have taught us anything in the Bible, it’s that a religious mind can miss the gift of God that’s right in front of us.
God is a good giver. He’s been giving to us since His first spoke life to existence (Genesis) and He’ll keep doing it until we head to our eternal home. He’s got a way of changing the script, doing the unexpected, keeping mystery alive. He’s a God who places a baby King in a manger with peasant people, He entrusts His Kingdom to little children and broken people. It’s perspective.
Let’s do our best to keep our eyes open, ears attentive, wine glasses full (lol), as we ask for the needed grace to see the abundance in our lives.
Ecclesiastes 3:8 says, “there is a time and season for every matter…” Yesterday was the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 11/11. Eleven is the number that often represents transition and yesterday I felt the shift significantly. I felt lightness where there was weight, hope landing where there had been hardship, and ease in place of pressure. I woke up to the change. It was a change without striving or strategy on my end, something I didn’t have to shift myself. I thanked God for the turning and immediately had an image in my mind of cars changing lanes on an interstate. I took that to mean that this shift was not only personal but corporate. That “turning points” were happening for many this week.
A turning point can be defined as “a time at which a decisive change in a situation occurs, especially one with beneficial results.” It’s a critical point, when a low point becomes a high point, an important change. I believe that’s happening for many right now.
Isaiah 11:11 reads, “On that day, the Lord will extend his hand a second time to restore…” (TPT) To Restore something means that the condition has improved.
Hebrews 11:11 reads, “and by faith even Sarah, who was past the age of childbearing, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.”
I believe The Lord whispered these verses to my spirit to stir expectation and point to what He’s doing. I believe that like Sarah, many are waiting to see the things God has said He will do…and I believe that clock has just turned in our favor.
I pray this week is one for the books, where God gets your attention. Just like in John 11, when Jesus walks up to a dead man in a tomb and wakes him from sleep. May we each be aroused by the presence of God and have our own “resurrection stories” to tell.
All week I’ve been seeing pictures of snow plows and then hearing this phrase in my spirit, “dig deeper, I’m clearing a path.” It’s an interesting phrase because work is required from both God and from us. The digging deeper is ours to observe and reflect internally. The clearing of a path is something we can rest in because that’s up to Him to do.
Interestingly enough, I don’t actually feel stuck and at least for this season I can see the pieces coming together from the puzzle God has placed before me. However, I’ve always been a quick learner so when I heard these words for the third time (lol) I grabbed a pen and sat silent.
I sensed that God is purposefully clearing a path where things seem clouded or unclear and removing hindrances where things might be “blocking our path” or at least making it harder to take steps. Hindrance (by Oxfords definition) is defined as a thing that provides resistance, delay, or obstruction to something or someone. I believe God is both revealing the deterrent and then then taking care of it for us. Where there might have been setbacks, delays, or obstructions, I believe the barriers are coming down.
When God seems to be doing a thing, it tends to manifest itself personally for me. I.E. rearrange my space, clean out my closet, this season I have chopped off my hair. I have felt the Lord saying two things simultaneously; to expect abundance and to keep it simple. So I’m holding my arms out for both, simplifying where I can and getting my hopes up for even more. That’s what this word feels like to me, “a both and” situation. Dig where you need to dig and let Him be the One to move the things that need to be removed.
The path will become clear and you’ll get there with less restraint if you’ll be willing to close your eyes, open your heart, and listen to what He says. This feels like an easy thing for the Lord, so don’t stress or strive, hidden things will be made known and the path will open up ahead of you. I’ll be here cheering you on.
”His pleasant paths lead me to pleasant places” -(TPT Psalm 16)
