God recently spoke a word to me in a dream- specifically the word "REMEMBER". While half asleep, I woke up saying to my husband:
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will REMIND you of everything I have said to you." I didn't know at the time, but after seeking meaning to these words I discovered this was the verse John 14:26.
He has placed it on my heart to remember, that when we are in Christ- we have His goodness and joy beyond measure. Please keep that close by as I pray you receive these next few words of revelation into a fertile heart that God has prepared ahead of time. God has awoken me into this place of remembrance. It started with a dream in January 2017, and a series of visions, dreams, and an inpouring of understanding, cardinals as messengers and confirming witnesses around every corner that can testify to the sudden transformation of my awareness and heart for YOU, on behalf of HIM. Jesus Christ.
Specifically, He has called me to capture the signs and the seasons so that you will KNOW, AWAKEN, PREPARE and EXPECT. I have a fire in my heart set ablaze to ensure you SEE HIS MESSAGE. I do not want you to miss the meaning of the unfolding events before us, that are here right with us, and are coming ahead. I want to capture signs and evidence for you to consider in this harvest season of our church that Jesus has foretold to help you see God's story. We have eternity woven into our hearts desire, and God has an answer He wants you to understand- for your peace, comfort and joyful anticipation. He is coming soon!
The primary keys to understand Revelations and interpret its symbolism is to have knowledge of historical events and their prophetic occurrence. Prophecy is a promise to fullfill a particular event with signs that serve as mileposts. When you go on a roadtrip- you may not know how far or how many streets go by between turns, but you may know to "turn left after you pass the yellow house" or to "turn right after you see the flagpole on the corner". In other words we typically know "thereabouts" given landmarks. This is how God communicated with us- His landmarks are in signs of the times.
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring" (Luke 21:25)
God sees us. We are the generation that knows His path, but sometimes we are looking down at our GPS and inadvertently missing the landmarks. In essence, when we rely on modern technology screen to the extent of missing the landmarks, we override what has been placed in front of our eyes that was meant to be seen. In this sense, contemporary culture can provide a false sense of awareness.
Take our telephones for example. When we were young, we wrote phone numbers down. We memorized them. Or had them in a book as backup. Today we are the generation that depends on our "contacts list". We click a contact picture, or a loved one's name, and tadaaa the phone dials and they answer on the other end. How many of our contacts do we know their actual phone number? Even close friends we text every day, we have morphed into a culture of quick settings, and surface level dependability.
What about the Word of God? Our eternal GPS that has not only been transcribed and preserved over thousands of years, but we have access to in an app, and in hard copy touchable pages. If we don't take the time to know our dear friends' and family phone numbers by heart, or memorize landmarks for a sense of direction, how do we expect to be prepared with the knowledge of God's important directions. Suffice it to say, we may not know what we are missing.
Proverbs 7:3 says " Bind them on your finger, write them on the tablet of your heart." In other words, take the time to know His promises, His history, His prophecies fulfilled, and the prophecies to come. If we are relying on recognizing these important truths by remaining in our schedules and waiting without expectation, instead of watching and interpreting world events, earthly phenomenons, and astronomical patterns, we are going to miss the landmarks He made available in His word. The confirmation is in the time and convergence of all of these things happening together, and in their prophesied sequence- such as seasons.
SEASONS OF COMFORT
For example, we know that on the first day of winter, we are not guaranteed snow on that precise day, but we know it is "time" to "expect" snow. On the first day of spring, the snow may not all be melted away, but we know it is time to "expect" the blooming flowers of that new season. We all have our favorite seasons- we may not want summer to end, or we may dread the beginning of winter... but we are not sovereign over the seasons- they were created ahead of us and we understand their predictability. So we pack our summer clothes and bring out our fall boots while waiting for the pumpkin spice lattes to appear back on the menu.
SEASONS OF LIFE
In the same way we are attached to certain seasons, we are also attached to the seasons of life. With God's favor, we are children, teenagers, adults, then we are parents with children, teenagers, and we are grandparents. We all look into the window of our lives and see our glory days, our wishes, our hopes, our achievements and future dreams for this life- for us and for our family. The more "seasoned" we are, the more we come to recognize we are not sovereign over time, even as the world markets us youth in a bottle. We are born knowing we are mortal man. Yet we all have the longing for eternity so deeply engrained into our hearts. Why is this?
What if God has a set of seasons with corresponding sign posts along the way for us to calibrate our timelines of expectation, for our joy and protection? But what if these seasons were created so long ago, that they have been lost and overridden by modern culture? What if He said, when you are thereabouts by the Feast of Trumpets after the sun has gone dark and the moons have went red, "look up". What if those instructions were on the inside of an invitation to a dinner party on a date "to be announced"… and it could only be attended by those that accepted His VIP invitation. Once you saw the red moons, the dark sun and the great sign in the stars, the nations perplexed, the waves roaring- you would start checking your mail in expectation for the party confirmation, and preparing your wardrobe so you would be ready.
Matthew 22: 2- "Jesus spoke again in parables saying: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent for those who had been invited to the banquet to tell then to come, BUT THEY REFUSED TO COME."
Typically when we are in a hurry, is when we may least expect our GPS to fail us. It may say you have seven more miles, but the Cornerstone you should have seen will have been four miles back. Nobody wants to miss the ramp to glory and realize they were three miles too late. There are those that will miss His coming because they did not know what to look and listen for, but there are also those that will miss the appointment because they delayed their expectation and missed the invitation that was stuck in the back of the mailbox behind the clutter and distraction of daily life. Only to rush back to the mailbox to find the RSVP date has come, and gone.
"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner... everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' BUT THEY PAID NO ATTENTION and went off- one to his field, another to his business." (Matthew 22:4)
When He comes- He seeks to find us waiting and WATCHING for His invitation to arrive. I pray your eyes and ears are opened, and your hearts are unhardened to His prompting. Being ready daily and in the fields sharing His good news of eternal life won for us. And taking a brand new step deeper into faith and in relationship with Him by spending time in His Word and promises.
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you 'this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place'." (Matthew:24:32-34)
I am writing this with the leading of the Holy Spirit. He is speaking to His messengers- the volume is rising to elevate preparedness, and awareness of the season, and the importance of repentance and getting our hearts and actions right before God. Please seek these out for yourselves in prayerful discernment. But I'll say this- even if one heart comes to be changed with this message- YOU are worth it!