Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 62
Psalm 92
Ezekiel 37
62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
Isaiah 62:1-5
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,
And her salvation like a torch that is burning.
2 The nations will see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory;
And you will be called by a new name
Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.
3 You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
And a royal headband in the hand of your God.
4 It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;
But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
So your sons will marry you;
And as the groom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.
The Lord says,
It’s resurrection season. I’m resurrecting lives, hopes, dreams and purpose. I Am sprinkling delight in the form of surprises and gifts you didn’t even know to desire. Lift your voice with a shout of triumph! Lift your voice with a sound of praise! The time has come where we’re united through a move of My great mercy and grace. Sing a song to Me with a voice of triumph. Sing a song to Me with a voice of praise. I have set things in motion from eternity past, and everything is moving right on time. All is happening according to schedule. I cannot be manipulated, and I will not be mocked. This is a time where My true lovers rise up and receive their heart’s desire. This is a time of completion, as one season closes and gives way to the next. It is also a time of fulfillment — where promises, dreams, prayers and work emerge as a harvest ready to be reaped.
This is a time that may seem disorienting. Don’t minimize it, and don’t neglect or reject celebration when your breakthrough comes. It may seem a small thing to celebrate, or it may seem wrong to celebrate in the midst of all that you see around you, in the midst of all that you see others experiencing. But celebrate these hard-fought, long contended for breakthroughs. This celebration is a beautiful act of worship and thanksgiving to Me. Don’t neglect the celebration of your breakthrough.
14 And I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 37:14
Tiny visible cracks of light are breaking through into this season of wilderness you have been toiling in. In some ways your wilderness season has been dry and difficult and desolate. But you have dug and pursued and hidden yourself in Me in this wilderness place. Your love for Me and your dogged determination have made the wilderness a beautiful place and a beautiful time, despite the difficulties, the pain, the dryness and the hardship. You have made Me your place of refreshing and refuge in this barren place. And I Am leading you now to what first may appear to be an oasis, but it is much bigger than that. This place is not surrounded on all sides by wilderness. This place is the Promised Land. This place is the time on the other side of the wilderness. This place is the land of breakthrough after breakthrough after blessing after blessing. This place and this time is THE culmination of the hopes and dreams, the desires and the prayers. This is the time and the place we have all been waiting for.
12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees
Psalm 92:12-15
and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.
They flourish in the courts of our God.
14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
they will remain vital and green.
15 They will declare, “The Lord is just!
He is my rock!
There is no evil in him!”
You are nearing the threshold now, hand in hand with Me. I will guide you safely to this new glorious, luscious, fruitful place. You have lightened your load and carried little baggage in this last leg of the journey. It’s a good time to stop and take stock of what you are carrying. Are there any last remaining items that you should discard and leave for the wolves in the wilderness? You won’t need much where you are going. This place is abundant and buzzing with new life and energy, with beautiful, intoxicating fragrances and fruit that delights and amazes. It boasts a bounty of fruits you have never seen or tasted before.
It is resurrection season, and the place and the reality of resurrection will be more glorious and more amazing, more wonderful than what was before. There will be no comparison. We have walked a lot out, and you have shed many pounds of unhelpful and even toxic baggage in this wilderness place. It has been about getting you down to the essentials, so that titles and money and things don’t impress you. It’s been about digging down into the very bedrock of who I made you to be. This has been a whittling away season — a time where we find the very core, very central essentials of you, and cast the rest off as debris. It has been a walk through the refining fire of purification. Look how much purer, how much lighter and brighter and leaner you have emerged. Look at you. You are so beautiful!
10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox.
Psalm 92:10
You have anointed me with the finest oil.
So now that the wilderness has done it’s work, it’s time for the next leg of our journey. This is the time of crossing over into the unknown. You have lived with so many questions. What is next? Where are we going? What am I to do? The answers are the place I Am bringing you now. This is the place and the land and the time of running right into your destiny. So much more is here for you. You have proven yourself worthy and able and purified. All that you stripped off, and all that was burned off by My refining fire in the wilderness would have caused you to fail, to stumble and to self-sabotage in this place of abundance, grace and gifts. It is My glory to bring you, the essential and purified you, into this place of abundance where you will prove that your purification and the testing you faced in the wilderness did it’s work.
You can be successful and carry yourself in My grace because the wilderness made you able. It equipped you, and you have become trustworthy and sure. Fear not, this luscious place of blessing and bounty is not an oasis. It is not fleeting, and it is not limited. It is not surrounded by wilderness on all sides. It is a new land, a spacious place that stretches farther than the eyes can see in every direction except behind you. It’s only in front of you, sprawling in every direction in front of you. Come now, let’s keep moving.
How to Respond
- Sing songs of triumph, praise and celebration, because the Lord is good and He is faithful.
- Declare, the Lord is moving me from this season of wilderness, uncertainty and stagnation into a place of completion, promises fulfilled and great bountiful blessing.
- Declare, the Lord has been purifying me, so that He can lead me into the place of resurrection, fruitfulness and destiny.
- Declare, the best days are ahead of me and not behind me. The Lord is leading me now into the the most glorious days I have ever known.
- Take inventory of your heart and mind. Is there any remaining baggage — hurts, pain, wounds, bitterness, unforgiveness, unredeemed thought patterns that you need to leave behind in the wilderness?
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