Today’s Reading:
Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3 NASB1995
The Spirit of the Living God of Truth says,
Beauty is bubbling up from the ashes. Beauty is emerging from the places that seem barren, scorched and dead. Beauty is rising in the places of loneliness, of hollow longing, of heartbreak that have left you bereft. Grace is surging in the barren places, in the dry places, in the places that seem hopeless. Grace is rising, and the winds of fresh hope are blowing the ashes away to reveal something very beautiful emerging, to reveal something covered in My grace rising and emerging and no longer being held down, no longer being held back, no longer being covered and marked by loss, by delay, by defeat. Victory and beauty are rising from the ashes. My fresh wind of hope is blowing the loss, blowing the death, blowing the defeat away to reveal something so perfect, so beautiful, so glorious — something real and not imaginary that you will hold in your hands.
Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.
Isaiah 61:7-9 NASB1995
Some very dear and tender things you have laid on My altar, you have laid at my feet and said, “Lord, can these dry bones live? Lord, they look really dry and dead and hopeless to me. But Lord, can you breathe on these?” You have asked me this in your pain, in your loss, in your desperation. In the dark recesses of your soul you have reached out and said “Lord, only You know. Only You can.” You have laid these treasured losses, deaths, dreams and longings at My feet, and I counted it as an act of great faith. I counted it as a sacred and treasured beautiful offering from your heart to Mine. And now I Am the one causing hope to blow in. It is my breath, My Ruach breath of life that is blowing into the hollow places, into the dry joints, into the caverns of longing in your soul, and I say, indeed these dry bones can live. Indeed, I will make them into a a mighty army like the world has never seen. I will take what the enemy meant for evil, and I will turn it into a powerful multiplied force weapon against him. This gift, this promise, this longing, you will not only hold in your hands, but it will be anointed to rout the forces of hell. It will be anointed to push back the gates of hell. And hell will run shrieking in fear at what I bring to life this day for you My beloved and for My Name’s sake.
I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.
Isaiah 61:10-11 NASB1995
Rise. Take off your clothes of mourning. I Am breathing on these ashes, and beauty, victory and a great anointing is rising from them just for you.
How to Respond
- Get quiet and remember all of the disappointments, loss and desires you have placed at the feet of the Lord. Declare to them, the Lord is breathing on you, and you shall live.
- Pray, Holy Spirit give me eyes to see what You are doing. Help me to see Your breath of life blowing hope onto the scene of my life. Help me to feel that wind of hope and breathe it in deeply. Help me to see the ashes getting blown away to reveal the great gifts that You are causing to rise and emerge. Thank You for what You are doing. Thank You for Your faithfulness, and thank You that Your answer, Your resurrection life on the gift that You are bringing will terrify and terrorize the forces of hell.
- Declare, the Lord is bringing beauty from the ashes in my life. He is pouring out grace, and breathing hope into my hopeless situations, desires and dreams.
- Decree, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I will hold my heart’s desires in my hands. The Lord is resurrecting my dreams, promises and defeats, and I will see them rise from the ashes as something beautiful and victorious that terrifies and terrorizes hell’s armies. The Lord has been so good to me.
For more encouragement from Glory & the New Wine, check out the post from this day in years past:
2023: The Lord Will Recover All, So You Will Recover All
2022: An Extraordinary Desire for Holiness
2021: Position Yourself in Peace and Get Ready to Run
