Table Talk | Out of Context

Today at lunch we sat, in our usual fashion, around the conference table that doubles as our lunch table, and talked about life. You know how it goes when you eat with friends chatting like hens in the hen house... A subject comes up.

Today we were giving commentary on the move of God in the lives of women of a particular denomination when the name Stormy O'Martian came up.

DISCLAIMER: I have her books. I love her story and her writing. I believe she is a powerful witness to women in every denomination. BUT, what I shared must be heard in context. This is a cautionary tale that is not true in every circumstance, but sadly is not isolated to Stormie's books. It also happens with the Bible, preachers, and well it is the primary run of rumors... Taking things out of context.

The world stands full of hurting and wounded people. It remains one of the most heartbreaking facts I encounter every day in the service of ministry. They long desperately to be free, see change in their own lives and the lives of their families, but often don't know where to start the journey of becoming free.

A number of years ago I observed the journey of a woman, we'll call her Janet, who struggled in her relationships with her children and husband. She and another woman began to read and pray according to the principles of "The Power of a Praying Parent" as she understood them.

She spent hours on the phone talking and praying. She often raved about how wonderful it was to pray these things over her husband because she knew God was going to change HIM for her. At times it felt like she was saying God would avenge her pain through changing her husband and children.

Legally, in a purely biblical sense, the words she prayed were right. After all, there is sound doctrine and biblical principle behind the writing of Stormie O'Martian.

Still, somehow in all of that - her heart was not right. You see - no matter what the book, the process, the plan or the idea you pursue - if you do not have a humble heart, praying the very best of God for those around you... There is a chance you could miss the mark.

She convinced herself that she should not only pray this over her children, but also over her husband who did not have parents praying over him. His parents, though living, could be found to blame for the ill she suffered from her husband.

Did you get that?

She prayed "The Power of a Praying Parent" over her husband as well as her children.

Can you see a train wreck coming? 

The results were devastating. She became more and more resigned to her position of victim and martyr. She determined in her heart that God would not let her down because she was praying "in agreement with Him" all the good things in Stormie's book. She was certain he would vindicate her against them. She wanted them to come to an awareness of how bad they hurt her and feel her pain with her.

She continually spoke negatives things over and about her husband and children... And, often attributed the worst things to demonic activity. She preached and harped on her children (who were either near or living in adulthood) about the wickedness of their ways. In short, she sucked all the life out of her home with negative attitudes, negative speech and selfish motives.

Does this sound harsh?  Remember... I said this is a cautionary tale! 

A year after she began to pray this book over her family and her household, she was shocked by her family coming to her and saying, "You are toxic. You are hurting us and we want you to move out." 

Not just her husband, but her children as well.

She is now divorced after more than 25 years of marriage and estranged from her children by their choice. She remains wounded, but resolved that God will change her family's heart toward her. And, in a lot of ways, the entire experience has changed her.

She speaks less negatives and has cut out things in her life that she did to escape the pain of her reality. But, in a lot of ways, she is still convinced all those months she spent praying she did what God wanted her to do. Only God knows if that is true.

So what went wrong? 

She failed to realize the point of "The Power of  a  Praying Parent" is meant to be prayed over your children, not your husband. Because of her wounded perspective, she failed to realize that the book was not just about praying change into the lives of those around her, but the intention of the book was meant to change the heart of the mother toward her children and out of that heart the change would overflow into the lives of her kids.

And in the long run, she became so legalistic in her opinions and her attitudes about what her family wasn't that she herself would "PRAY" them into... She lost sight of the power of God to grow them up in a heartbeat if she would simply move out of His way.

Cautionary tales always have a... 

Moral of the story:

Speak Life & Focus on What God is Doing in YOU! 

As I consider all of this, I think of something my daughter said to me around Valentine's Day. I had purchased two cards for my husband that day. This is a tradition in my life. He often will receive two cards because I find it hard to choose.

I brought them in and looked them over in her presence. Both of the sentiments were extremely complimentary and flattering. But, after reading them several times I realized that one of the cards rang very true to our relationship, and the other card spoke to some things I desired in our relationship but had not yet come to pass. I spoke aloud, but mostly to myself... "I'll just give him this one, which sounds most like him today and I will save the other one for next year. In the meantime, I will spend the next year praying these things over him so that when I give it to him they will be true."

My daughter ha-rumped in disgust. I showed her the cards and explained my thoughts. She said, "Momma, that's just mean."

I said, "Wait..."

She said, "You ARE NOT going to tell him that are you? "

"Oh, No!" I said, "I wouldn't tell him that."

THE. OLD. SELF. She would have lorded it over him like a legal document. But this girl, the one who writes about it today she would not dare tell him about it. She would only give him the card next year and pray that he knows she loves him with all her heart and prays God's best for him every single day.

What I realized today as I wrote these words has blessed me beyond measure. God doesn't just want me to pray these things over my husband. He wants me to "Call things that are not as though they were..." (Romans 4:17).  He wants me to call my husband a gift, a wonderful husband, a man who is thoughtful and kind, who gives humbly and reflects the gentle strength of the Lord... To tell him he is a friend who listens with his heart and understands the importance of just being there with a hug and a smile, a companion who leads with love, integrity and faith, making it a joy and an honor to stand beside him because he is my love, my friend, and my companion. And even now, as I wait - I thank God for him each and every day.

Some of these things are true of my husband already. And some of these things lie in wait for the moment when God awakens his heart to them. I am content to have the promise and the opportunity to call forth the greatness and love of God into my husband's life by being a wife who speaks life over him in my heart, in my words and in my prayers.

Lord, Open the eyes of my heart to see my husband as you see him. 

Visit my friend Bridgit and her post on a similar subject: Wearing Someone Else's Armor 

100 Page Views A Day | A Bloggy Give-Away

100-a-day pageviews - Give-A-Way!

I will be giving away a 4x6 original piece of artwork on paper of your favorite verse of Scripture each week.

Entering to win is S.I.M.P.L.E.:

1. SIMPLY visit any post or page on my blog.

2. Leave me a comment on any blog post on my blog.

3. Link back to the Welcome page of my blog on your Facebook, Twitter or blog.

[ Grab this LINK: http://michellebentham.org/2011/01/14/welcome-2/ ]

RESULTS: Each day that my blog reaches 100 page views I will  pull the names from comments and enter them into a weekly drawing. Weekly Give-aways will begin Good Friday, April 6, 2012, and I will post results each Friday morning by 8:00 am!

LET THE PAGE VIEWING BEGIN!

Sign up Today! 

He Calls Me Wildflower

I stepped out into the field white with harvest. My mind raced ahead of my feet to the front steps of the old farmhouse where my Best Friend, the Father, and my Comfort waited for me. I ran my hands along the ripened buds of grain as they brushed against the soft linen skirt covering my thighs.

I found myself giddy and little bursts of laughter began to bubble up from the inside of my heart. Just then, a hand slipped into mine and I looked to my right. My Best Friend came up beside me. The dark curls of his ebony hair glistened in the sun. His eyes captured me with tender affection and safety 

He smiled sweetly at me and I laughed all the more.

"I'm so glad I decided to come here today." 

He laughed, too. "Me, too. We have a surprise for you."

I squealed with excitement."Let's race."

We bolted out through the wheat field towards the top of the hill. As I pressed my legs upward to the top I came up short at the sight of my little farmhouse. The white wash scrubbed away by time and the weather. The floorboards of the wrap-around porch were a faint gray. I squinted my eyes and drew shade over them with my hand to make out what I thought I had seen.  The Father sat in His rocker on the porch awaiting my arrival. I could see the dark blue overalls in the shade of the wood-shingled awning covering the porch. 

Still... I could not put my finger on what might be different. I felt my Friend come up beside me as I continued to try to get my bearings and my breath. "What do you think?"

I paused. looked to my Friend and then back to the farmhouse. Suddenly, my eyes danced across row upon row of brightly colored flowers in varying shapes and sizes had been planted all along the porch on every side of the house. My heart skipped in delight! "I love them..."

He took my hand again and led me skipping down the hill to my Father's side. 

~~~~~

A few years ago my husband and I went through leadership presbytery at our church. Presbytery is a time when leaders who are gifted in the prophetic (encouragement, exhortation, edification and comfort) pray over your names and then come to give you words.

One of the words I received had to do with Wildflowers.

She shared:

Well, Michelle, this is what I feel like the Lord wants to say to you. I just, what I heard was that you were a wild flower, perfect and beautiful. You dance with delight and I am so pleased. Your heart of worship is pure, true and strong. I smell a sweet fragrance around you when you dance. I just heard, “Dance, dance, dance!” I don’t know if you dance, but maybe He wants you to dance. Worship Me like never before! I want to spend time with you and I want you to know Me.

 "A Wildflower is a flower that can be hidden on a hill only for My eyes or it can be for the pleasure of any man. That’s how I have made you. You minister to Me, but you also minister to others. You are soft and sweet and you draw people to you."

I remember my friend telling  a story about God telling her she is a Lily. She said she didn't like that because, "What do Lilies do? Lilies don't do anything - they just be." She, like many of us in this life, learns daily to be comfortable with who God says she is and to embrace the fact that He loves the she Just Is.

Just like my friend, when I received the word about being a wildflower, I do not think I fully appreciated what God was saying to me about how He sees me.

 That is until I read Bridgit's blog  over the weekend.

"God gives attention to Wildflowers" was the title of her post. As I read the Message version of Matthew 6:30-33 I was reminded that Matthew 6 also came up in my presbytery. CAN. YOU. SAY. DIVINE. APPOINTMENT?

Now read Matthew 6:30-33, "“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” (Matthew 6: 28 – 33 MSG.)

The presbyter shared:

Michelle, when I prayed for you the first two words that came so clearly were that you are gifted and that you’re treasured. And, the Scripture was in Matthew 6:21 where it says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”(AMP) And I really feel like what the Lord said to me was You are…Because you have…You know where your treasure is. You know where your heart is. You have chosen to plant your heart in Him, and He sees you as a treasure. He sees you as just a very, very precious thing to be cherished, and He does cherish you.

This sent me on a headlong study of wildflowers in Scripture. As usual, the digging led me to treasure. Funny how God uses a string of seemingly unrelated events to connect me deeply to His heart for me by way of treasure map. Remember scavenger hunts when you were a kid... That is what it felt like as I perused the list of Scriptures in my Bible software that contained the word wildflower.

When God calls me Wildflower.  He reminds me that Wildflowers can be out on the side of a hill in plain view, anyone can see them. Or... They can be set in a vase in the HOUSE where they are enjoyed for a season. Or... They can be hidden in nature - a treasure waiting to be found or simply for the amusement of God.

He has also shown me that Wildflowers are fragile yet resilient. They grow out of rocks, and often in conditions where domesticated plants would not survive. Wildflowers welcome new seasons, they are colorful and inviting, clothed in splendor - they do not labor and spin needlessly for their provision because God takes care of all their needs.

But then, the other day I stumbled upon Psalm 30:11 (MSG):

"You did it: You changed my wild lament into whirling dancing, You ripped off my mourning bands and decked me in WILDFLOWERS." (emphasis mine)

OH. YES. HE. DID.

Now here is the sweet part. Remember my post about being my "Colorful Self?"

After my sessions with Dr. Mungadze Jesus came and gave me a garland of Wildflowers in all the colors of myself to wear around my head. He said, "The colors will always be with you right where they belong."

You see, the colors represented seasons of trauma when my brain protected me from the pain I would have otherwise felt. They represent me - who I am and have been all along - at various ages when trauma and pain came in and my immature mind could not process it. Dr. Mungadze guided me through the journey to unlocking the colors of my brain and discovering that they all - in their unique way represent the beautiful and magnificent creation of God that is me.

HE. CALLS. ME. WILDFLOWER. and I love it. 

For more about my journey with Dr. Mungadze and the colors of my brain visit Self Awareness, Self Observation and Hearing God,  or It Ain't Easy Being Green.

Joy, Anointing and Provision

 

A few weeks ago I was reading Scriptures on trees when I came across this passage:

And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart. ~Psalms 104:15 (NKJV) 

This Scripture reverberated straight through to my heart immediately. I kept thinking, wine, oil and bread were significant to Jesus before His crucifixion and were also prominent in the worship at the temple. HMMMM! I wrote it down and made a note to come back to it as soon as I finished the study on trees. Last night, I began to peruse different passages that include the three elements of wine, oil and bread.



Jesus experienced and imparted wine, oil and bread in his final days on earth.

At the Passover meal, wine, bread and oil are prominent in the presentation and observance of the meal. The same olive oil that was used to accent and prepare meals could also be used to produce light, anoint the priests of the temple for ministry, and  produce medicines and perfume when mixed with herbs and fragrant plants. It was even used in the preparation of the bodies of the dead for burial.

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said,  "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always." ~John 12:1-8 (NKJV) 

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;  for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing. ~Luke 22:14-23 (NKJV)

Anointed. Oil throughout Scripture represents anointing, and it also represents the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Isaiah 61, God promises to give, through the Messiah, the oil of gladness for those who mourn: An anointing of joy in exchange for a season of grief. 

Joy. In the Scripture that drew my heart to these three words, wine makes glad the hearts of men. In the story of Jesus' final hours before his arrest, wine became the representative of His blood that would be shed through beating, suffering and crucifixion. "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. " 

Our former pastor used to say that when someone received Salvation that the angels in heaven were rejoicing over the decision. A sacrifice that brings joy. Lord, restore to us the Joy of our salvation. 

Wine makes the heart glad, the new covenant wine means release, redemption and restoration. That makes my heart very glad.

Provision. Under the Old Testament laws, worship at the temple and access to God always began with sacrifice. Just like when Abraham went up to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his son, Isaac, at God's command. There was a sacrifice required. Abraham believed God would provide the sacrifice and was willing to give up his precious son to be obedient to God. In the end, God provided the lamb for the sacrifice. And, Abraham called that day upon the name of the Lord, Jehovah Jireh - "The Lord will see to it" (Genesis 22). One Hebrew commentary I read on this name of God indicated that from a Jewish perspective. This name of God, Jehovah Jireh, does not simply mean that God will provide, but that He, in Himself, is all the provision we will ever need. He is all sufficient to us in every way.

In a more perfect way, Jesus went to the cross as our provision. He became a curse for us so that we would no longer endure the curse. Scripture tells us that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 2:19). And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 

 The wine brings the joy of salvation, the oil carries His presence, His anointing and His glory, and the bread makes provision that satisfies our every need. All of which are provided to us through Jesus - the mediator of our Covenant of grace.

Five Minute Fridays: Seasons of Change

Today, I'm joining my friend Alex and GypsyMama in Five Minute Fridays! 

GO. Life five years ago… We were, as we are now, in transition.

My family and I were in our second year of grieving the passing of my oldest son, Justin. As spring unfolded our lives were in a season of closing out the old and birthing the new. I stood on the precipice of breakthrough with God and felt Him urging me ever forward.

That season led to a move smaller home, selling one vehicle and leaving my position and our previous church home for the larger doors of Gateway Church. I spent my afternoons working in the After School program taking tuition, sending out notices and preparing Object Lesson notes, and finding the balance of life again after facing my worst confessed fear-the death of my child.

This is also the year that I began my first ministry group to grieving parents. I spent the week of Spring Break that year painting and decorating a room so this time five years ago I was advertising and contacting grieving parents in three counties to let them know we would be available to them if they had a need.

As I prepared to serve the hurting in our community, God did something that has led me to the season of change I am in today. He awakened my heart to the artist inside of me. I started with a few canvases and acrylic paints for the walls and ended up teaching the After School kids to paint from God’s perspective. I love that God moves in mysterious ways… So, here I am jumping into the deep end of the ocean with Him again. STOP. 

That season of our lives turned us upside down and inside out. But, through it we have found our way to a new place, one of hope, joy, love and grace to weather any storm. The last five years have been the most healing of my life.

Stirred Up

I arose early on Saturday morning. After dressing and loading a few of my paintings into the Explorer, I pulled out of the driveway of our small brick home on Pebblebrook Drive and headed for Southlake.

As I drove to our main campus just off of State Highway 114 I caught a glimpse of white- gray clouds streaking across the pale blue canvas of God's sky. Faint yellows and pinks danced across the eastern horizon as the last glimpse of sunrise slipped away. Thank You, Lord, for this magnificent morning. 

My heart filled with expectation. Worship played quietly on the radio as the deserted streets drew me closer to our corporate hour of prayer.

I stepped out onto the blacktop of the parking lot and felt a chill breeze dance across my skin. In another half hour the Pink warriors would be assembled and contending for Heaven to come to earth during Pink Impact.

I carried my paintings through the double set of glass doors and entered the large lobby to the Children's Ministry area on the north side of the building. My feet moved quickly toward the elevator in the broad, darkened corridor that leads to Grounded, the coffee bar, and the grand lobby area near the sanctuary. Anticipation and expectation fluttered all about my heart and soul as I began to pray quietly in the Spirit. "Ah-lee Ah-na, Shautee, emay elah."  

I pressed the grooved metal button summoning the elevator to fetch me up. As I waited,  I watched the handful of staff members moving hastily through the other end of the building. Each of them with their task list setting in motion the events leading to worship weekend at Gateway Church. Thank You, Lord, for Gateway Church. 

The silent moment interrupted by the quiet humming of the elevator as it landed behind the large stainless steel doors beside me. At the ring of the bell the doors swung open and I entered the elevator, pressing the button labeled two before the doors closed and ushered me upstairs.

As I entered the room I noticed the "General" of our chosen group standing at the podium discussing the music she had selected with a tall young man whose curly brown hair appeared damp. I smiled as I walked over to the floor to ceiling panels of glass on the west side of the room and began to arrange the paintings against the backdrop of brown and muted, winter colored vegetation separating the grounds of the church from the large ponds with a trio of fountains shooting water high into the air.

Katherine greeted me and walked to the window. She began to pray in the Spirit as I had been doing while waiting for the elevator downstairs. We talked a bit in between prayers as we waited for the others to arrive.

After setting up my paintings and claiming a seat in the circle of chairs near the door, I looked back to Katherine. Her tall frame standing at attention in the window praying intently. Her hair is a thin layer of tight curls in dark black and gray all around the crown of her head. She wore a turquoise sweater with jeans and her rich, elegant voice broke the silence of the room with rich tones of prayer in a language I could not understand.  Thank You, Lord, for Katherine. 

A few minutes later, Carin entered like a ray of sunshine straight from the throne room of God. Her presence carries both authority and the lightness of joy. Her sweet melodic voice joined in with Katherine's and my own. We walked about, gazing out at the fountains and talking intermittently about the paintings and the beautiful view as we began to stir up the things of God and His Holy Spirit among us in prayer. Thank You, Lord, for Carin. 

A few minutes later another warrior enters the room, and then another until twenty or more make their way in-one by one by one. Women of diverse age, race, style, and position in life mingled together, assembling themselves along the wall and in chairs near the door. A few of us bowed our bodies and our hearts low. Many of us walked about the room calling forth the things we heard God speaking over us as we prayed.

Rich, broad prayer languages circulated among us. Words swirled and danced upon the air, passing through the ceilings and walls - like the smoke of the incense going up before the Lord in the temple's Holy Place.

The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God's holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. ~ Revelation 8:4 (NLT)

Katherine began to speak and pray all in the same breath. She exhorted us to stir up the presence of God, to pray the things of His heart for the women - estimated at more than 5,000 - who will be coming to Pink Impact in a handful of weeks.

God brought Jude 20 to my mind.

Jude 1:20-25 (NKJV)
²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

We called down glory from on high. We welcomed the Lord - invited Him to reveal His glory both that day and throughout the days leading up to and during Pink Impact in April. We prayed for mothers of prodigals, women who've been cast off, wounded, broken, scorned and fragile. We called forth destiny, hope and joy. We prayed down the Holy Spirit in that hour.

And so we stirred praying on and on - non stop for three quarters of an hour. Then Katherine called forth anyone who needed prayer and I went forward. I seated myself in the center of the circle and the many women among us came to me and lay hands on me. They prayed for me and for my request. But, more than this they prayed for the women like me who would be coming. Women seeking destiny and purpose. Women on their way to the next season of their journey. Women who would be prepared and promoted. We asked for revelation for wisdom and for truth.

We warred against the enemy in the convention of prayer. Our faiths, our hearts and our lives linked together with our Savior in common. Our prayers forever intertwined with the lives of those we may never know because we stirred it up.

Others came forward. One to confess while another was suffering physically. Still another came to ask for favor for her ministry and the lives of unborn children. These women who reside so safely in God's heart have found their way into my own as we have prayed together - stirring ourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in the Spirit and believing God for signs, wonders, and the tiniest details of the massive undertaking that brings influence and inspiration to the women of Gateway Church and all the lives we touch beyond our walls.

To Him be the glory, forever and ever. AMEN. INDEED!

Our Time Is Short

'In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. Leviticus 25:13 (NKJV) 

I remember not so many days ago, spending hours daily digging so deep into the Word - so much so I barely came up for air. I would write blog post after blog post and page after page of the brimming revelation overflowing from my cup.

I took a position at our church in 2009 and working full time, being a wife and mom, and volunteering in ministries at my church left little time for me to join in on fun meme's on the internet or to write the deep well of revelation in my blog posts as I had once done. I moved my blog, consolidated it down. But life's pace left little room for the community and the wonder I found typing out my journey with God on the internet pages of the world wide web.

As I started this year, a word had been brewing in my heart for several months. I'd shared it with a few people over the weeks that closed out 2011 and opened up 2012.

The Word is Jubliee.

The year of Jubilee can be found fully described in Leviticus 25. Basically, every 50 years the nation of Israel would come upon a year of Jubilee. The previous 49 would be in preparation for this season of rest, release and restoration.

 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.  And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.  That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. Leviticus 25:9-12 (NKJV)

I knew this word meant a destiny kind of release for me, but I also knew the term of 50 years was significant to the biblical principle of Jubilee. Someone recently asked me if this is my Jubilee year because I am turning 50 and the answer to that question is most certainly not.

Not yet anyway.

I am nearly 42 years young, and seriously considering turning the clock backwards with each new  birthday I greet. So I began to ask the Lord, How can this be my year of Jubilee when I am not yet 50? 

The Lord remains tender and sweet with me, even when I'm questioning what He is telling me is true.  A few years ago I typed up Isaiah 61:1-3 on parchment paper and framed them for a Bible study we did in the women's ministry at our former church. After the study had completed I brought the framed scripture home and placed it on my husband's bedside table. As I asked that question the Lord reminded me of these precious words defining the call of Jesus as the Messiah. But this time I read a little further...

Isaiah 61:1-7 (NKJV)
¹ "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;  to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,  to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."

 And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast.  Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.

As I read these words over and over again God reminded me that in Luke 4 Jesus proclaims these scriptures fulfilled over Himself.

 
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:18-21 (NKJV)

As I read these words in the context of what God was showing me I realized that Jesus is our Jubilee. The Deuteronomic Code and the Levitical Codes established many centuries earlier fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He came to declare Jubilee over each of our lives. Rest, Release, Redemption, Restoration and Revelation come to us in our season of Jubilee.

As I bring this post to a close, I am awash with a grateful heart. God is bringing my season of administrative work in the church to an end and launching on a more uncertain but more wonderful journey into my destiny. In July I will leave my position at the church and return to writing, and explore more of what my art means to me and to others around me. And, I will add to these a blog radio show that will likely begin in late July or early August.

I am excited about this new season of my life. I am the most at peace I have ever been and greatly anticipate the work of the Lord that is coming in the days ahead. Would you pray for me as I make the tranisiton?