The word "memory" has been populating the news headlines, and the Lord has drawn my attention to it. A memory card was credited in flipping an election. A report came out about attempts to try to rewrite different events that happened during 2020 and 2021, but those who remember will know the truth. A study made the headlines about the connection between rest and memories. All of these became examples of how memory is an active informant rather than a passive recollection, and it makes sense why the Lord commands us so many times to "remember."
Recently, God gave me an image of a big tree growing atop a very narrow, tall hill. "How can this tree grow bigger?" the Lord asked me. I replied, "I guess it would need to be transplanted. It can only grow so big with that narrow piece of land." There are some right now that God is doing a transplant work in. As I read about transplanting trees in the natural, some of the process surprised me. In the natural, trees must be prepared for transplanting for anywhere from six months to a year before the transplant even happens! It begins with pruning the roots. You do it months in advance so that the tree has time to heal before the transplant.
As we've watched current events unfold, there is a temptation to feel powerless. The truth is, behind every negative headline and evil agenda is a redemption plan of the Lord. Recently the Lord has been highlighting five responses or postures for the church that partner with the "working all things for good" that He is doing behind the scenes. As we've watched inflation soar, the Lord has reminded me how, in the natural, inflation is caused by deviating too much from the gold standard.
We often think of resting as the opposite of being active. It's no surprise that it's one of the last things that comes to mind when we think of things we can "do" to sharpen our spiritual hearing. Rest, however, is a quiet but essential weapon in our spiritual warfare arsenal. When we are "reborn" spiritually, we are tasked with one thing: to grow in Christ. My 7-week-old son reminds me that growth in the natural typically looks like rest. Infants and children sleep way more than adults for one reason: they are growing. We also sleep more in the natural when we are trying to heal. Why, then, does rest not match our image of spiritual growth?
If you feel like you had some momentum and began stepping into a new season when, all of a sudden, you felt halted, this Word is for you. It's like you're in a holding pattern, and things have not been progressing. God gave me an image of a pool. This pool, like many, had a couple of steps into the water with progressive depth on each step. After that, the pool gradually sloped down and deepened from one end to the other. You have felt a call to "come deeper," but you have not seen any more "steps" appearing in the natural to do so. God says the way into the deep is simply continuing to move forward. Just like the pool vision, you can't see visible steps ahead of you, and you think that because the Lord worked through big steps in the last season that it will look the same.
We all know that feeling - waking up gasping for breath and beaded with perspiration from an intense dream. We wonder, "Did that dream mean something? Was that from God? Am I being warned of something?" If I told you that every thought that pops into our heads isn't always from God, most of you would readily agree. Often, we are more reticent to recognize that the same is true of our dreams. We do have those Holy Spirit-breathed revelations that come to us in dreams. We also have the dreams that bring fear, temptation and distortions from the enemy.
Recently, God said, "I am training up warriors on the mountains." As I began to look up mountain warfare in the natural, I realized that this was a word for the Seven Mountains of Influence (religion, family, education, government, media, arts and entertainment and business/finance). Mountain ranges, in the natural, have been highly desired for their strategic importance; they are natural borders as well as sources of water. Kingdom breakthroughs on the mountains of influence also represent the taking hold of borders. Some of the staunchest divisions between the way society is patterned (ways that follow the Lord versus ways that are contrary to His Word) lie in these seven areas. What flows from them also "waters" society.
The Lord said, "My body needs to remember it has a spiritual immune system - and use it!" As I began to look at how the Lord designed the physical body's immune system, God began to reveal powerful, spiritual protocols for His body, the church, and how we can remember to activate our spiritual immune system. What strengthens the spiritual immune system?
As I was walking through our neighborhood on an evening walk the other night, I was seeking the Lord for guidance on this next season. The Lord told me, "Hold on." Disappointed, I thought, I've just been through one waiting season after another and now I need to hold on? His response was, "You're going from 'hold on' to 'hold on!'" Immediately, I thought of when you get into a fast-moving vehicle or ride. This kind of holding on is not a waiting period but a period of stabilizing during acceleration.
Recently in worship I was closing my eyes, and I got an image of standing in front of a big window. "What do you see?" asked the Lord. It was dark outside, so I honestly replied "nothing." Then the sun began to rise so light illuminated the view. God whispered, "If the day hasn't come yet, you can be looking in the right place and still see nothing." There are some of you who are looking out the window. You are waiting and you are watching for the promises of God, and you see NOTHING. You are starting to wonder if you're even in the right place. If this is you (and the Holy Spirit will confirm for you if it is), God is saying "don't let the TIMING make you feel like you missed it. You can't see what's there UNTIL THE DAY COMES."
Follow Up
