We are going to do a 21 day fast to press back into the LORD. I want my fire back .
And, it seems that this same thing is being discussed everywhere. I know God is on something here. What I heard this am was Joshua and the LORD rebuking satan.
Joshua, the High Priest
1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. 4He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” 5Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.
6And the angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying, 7“Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here.
“Arise, Shake Off the Dust and Put On Your Glory Garments!”
Madeline James, Lexington, KY
One morning, a couple weeks ago, I woke up and when my feet hit the ground I heard the Lord say, “The time is now.” As I began to inquire of the Lord and ask what He meant, He led me to Song of Songs 8:5, “Who is this one? Look at her now! She arises out of her desert, clinging to her beloved. When I awakened you under the apple tree, as you were feasting upon me, I awakened your innermost being with the travail of birth as you longed for more of me.”Know Your Season
Many of you have been in a desert season, but the Lord is calling you forth to arise, saying it’s time—your time. Time in Hebrew is not necessarily equated to a linear time span. Time is representative of a season, or a window or span of time that is open in the realm of the spirit. We can find out more about this in Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 3 talks about times and seasons under Heaven. We must learn to discern the time and season we’re in, and discern the season we need to step into.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Many have prophesied that stepping into 2020 is not just another year or decade, it’s a new era. There is a new Kingdom dispensation getting ready to be released and manifest upon the earth. The books of Heaven are opening up to new chapters. Where many of you have been in a transition, dormancy and wilderness, God has been positioning you to arise and emerge on the scene in this new era.Arise! The Wind of Awakening Is Here
What does it mean to arise? Arise means to “become apparent, emerge, to get or stand up, as from a sitting, kneeling, or lying position.” To go a little deeper, let’s look at the definition of emerge. “Emerge” is “to come forth into view or notice, as from concealment or obscurity,” and “to become manifest.” The hidden ones are coming into view in this season.
How does one arise from the desert and trying seasons, and what does arising do? Let’s take a look at Isaiah 52:1-2 TPT, “Wake up! Open your eyes! Beautiful Zion, put on your majestic strength! Jerusalem, the sacred city, put on your glory garments! Never again will the unclean enter your gates! Arise and shake off your dust! Sit enthroned, Jerusalem! Break off your shackles of bondage from your neck, you captive daughter of Zion!”
There is a wind of awakening that is being released in this season; it is breaking the slumber and dullness of the past season off of you. It’s time to open your eyes and look again. Where your vision has been cloudy and dull, 2020 vision is being restored.What Garment Will You Wear?
As you arise, it’s time to put on your majestic garments of strength and glory. Who took your strength in this past reason? What came to steal the glory that Lord has bestowed upon your life? Garments are significant and identify who you are and what you function in. Sometimes we can allow our season, others, or the enemy to put garments on us that are not ours. What we wear will influence how we carry and see ourselves. Our garments carry our identity, authority, and the anointing and skills needed for each season.
Don’t allow your season to define you. Define your season by walking in who you are in Christ. You were made to carry His glory and shine bright. Don’t let others or your season snuff out your light. When we put on the garments of who we are we shut the door to the enemy having access in our lives.Shake Off Your Dust
In Isaiah 52:2, Isaiah tells us, “Shake off your dust; rise up…” What was meant to bury you in the last season is going to launch you in this season. You have to make the choice to arise. Nobody else can make that decision for you. When you arise you must shake the dust off. The dust is the residue of the trials and situations you’ve walked through.
Residue is defined as “something that remains after a part is removed.” Residue is a reminder. The Lord doesn’t want you to stay stuck or be reminded of the negative. He wants to take the bitter taste out of your mouth.Sit Enthroned
In the next part of the verse, after Isaiah tells us to shake it off, he says to “sit enthroned!” That means once you shake off the residue, then you must sit in your seat of authority.
Ephesians 2:6 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” We have to take the fight to the spirit, and fight from the place of victory and who we are in Christ. Victory isn’t something we strive for, it’s something we walk in. When we walk in victory we can break off the shackles of bondage that ensnare us (Isaiah 52:2).
Beloved, I want to encourage you to arise in this season. Shake off the dust and residue of this past season. Put on your strength and glory garments. Grab a hold of what God has for you and run with it.
Madeline James
Madeline James Ministry
Email: nabispen@gmail.com
Website: www.nabispen.com
Madeline James is an emerging prophetic writer and voice who desires to release the heart of the Father, and be a tuning fork for the Body of Christ. She operates in the seer and revelatory realm. Her heart is to release revelation and wisdom that will help propel and push the Body of Christ forward. Madeline is the author of Rooted In Love, Declaring Your Morning, co-author of Emerge, and the blogger of the prophetic blog Nabi’s Pen. She resides in Lexington, KY. with her husband Richie and their two daughters.
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“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him Who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for My Name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” (Rev. 2:1-4)
Are you losing your first love? Do you need a fresh touch, a fresh encounter with God?
In Genesis 28, Jacob had an unbelievable, supernatural encounter with God. He dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. It was a revelation of God and a prophetic promise. He left the encounter full of awe with a personal commitment to God. But time passed, and life happened. The fire of that experience dwindled. In Genesis 35, Jacob was commanded to return to his place of encounter and build an altar to God. He commanded his family to get rid of their foreign gods and purify themselves. They prepared to revisit the place of encounter. They prepared for a fresh touch.
Like Jacob, God met me when I wasn’t looking for Him. I attended the University of South Carolina because of its reputation as the biggest party school. While home for the weekend, I wanted to date a friend who agreed, so long as we went to church. I agreed. I knew how to do church. I had learned how to grip the back of a pew and fight off conviction. Little did I know I would find myself on my face in that little church crying out to God saying, “Lord, forgive me of all of my sins.” At that moment, my life changed.
I had an encounter with God. I love what God did in that little church in McCormick, SC. But I’m glad it’s not the only time God touched my life. Time passed; life happened. I had to revisit that place of encounter. God has continued to direct me back to those places where I would again encounter Him.Why do we continue to need a fresh touch from God? I love what God is doing in the midst of ministry. But I don’t want to do what I do if I lose the edge of passion and fire for the presence and Spirit of God. Let’s not lose the edge.
I WOULD RATHER WORSHIP IN A BRUSH ARBOR WITH THE PRESENCE OF GOD, LIKE MY GRANDFATHER, THAN WORSHIP IN A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR STAINED-GLASS BUILDING WITHOUT GOD’S PRESENCE.
God loves us so much that He never leaves us the way He finds us. In Him, there is always more. In fact, we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). That’s the only way we can do what scripture says in Mark 12:30-31 and love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength as well as love our neighbor as ourselves.
God is looking to affect our hearts not only our minds. He wants His love to go from our heads to our hearts. He wants to change the way our hearts feel about things; to change the way we respond to situations that exist in a broken world.
All of us, in our entirety, must be wholly given over to God. He wants us to be fully yielded and devoted to Him with abandon. We are called to love God with every fiber of our being. This is what passion for our First Love looks like.
Here are a few reasons we need a fresh touch from God to rekindle our passion:
- We are forgetful. Throughout Israel’s history they forgot the experiences and promises of God. The history of the church shows they forget the history and promises of God. If you study my life you will see I tend to forget the encounters and the promises of God. And if you study your life, you may see you tend to forget as well. It’s difficult to live in the emotion of past encounters. That’s what walking in faith is all about. A fresh touch helps us remember and renews our original passion.
- We are fickle. Just as Jacob’s household needed to get rid of their foreign gods before his second encounter, we too can let our guards down and allow other things to take God’s place in our life. When we do, we need to say, “Lord, bring me back to that place of encounter, to that fresh touch.”
- Life is difficult. Jacob started with youthful energy and optimism. He didn’t have any responsibility. He had an encounter with just him and God. Years later we see him with the maturity and complexity of age. We see him with responsibility and family, and the burden that goes along with those responsibilities. When I started my journey of faith, it was just me and God. I wasn’t worried about anything; it was all so simple. Somewhere along the line things get complicated. Life is hard. Because of the difficulties of life, there may be a point when you may need a fresh encounter.
- We are engaged in warfare. We are in a battle. The scripture teaches it. Life teaches it. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12). We are engaged in a battle. The weapons of our warfare are not of this world. We need a fresh touch because we are engaged in warfare, and warfare brings about weariness. Warfare brings about woundedness.
We need times of refreshing. We need fuel on the fire that is already burning in our hearts. If all you have are a few coals, may the Holy Spirit come and breathe on the coals so they are fanned into a bright burning flame again. We may need to return to an environment where the wind of the Spirit is blowing. I have found the primary ingredient in a fresh touch is a hunger for Him. He will always satisfy hungry and thirsty hearts.
Don’t let the pain of forsaking your First Love have the last word. Let’s determine to live a life made up of passion, abandoned to His love. Paul wrote that “…whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (Phillippians 3:7). In surrender to Christ, we also surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit and we gain a life lived in His love.
Before anything else, you are His; hidden in Him—pursuing God with passion and allowing yourself to become aware again of His nearness to you, His love for you, and His power in you, raising you up into a vibrant life. Today, let go of anything you’re holding onto that may be preventing you from pursuing God with passion.
— Tom Jones