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Several weeks ago, I was praying and listening to the spirit of the Lord for what he had in store for the year 2023. I kept hearing the word awakening as I pondered this in my heart and began to ask the Lord what he wanted to say about awakening. This will be a year of spiritual Awakening for His people.
The disciples asked Jesus, why do you talk in parables when you talk to the people? Jesus answered, You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. Therefore, those who listen to my teaching more understanding will be given, and they will have abundant knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even the little understanding they have will be taken away from them. For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them. Matthew 13:10-15 (NLT) 2023 will be a year of shedding. Shedding the covering and revealing the truth of who people really are. For that which has been hidden is about to be revealed, exposed in plain view for all who have eyes to see. It will be the year of release from captivity. Those who have been held captive from pursuing their God-given passions and dreams will be awakened to a new day dawning within their spirit man. Spiritual lack and poverty will become a thing of the past as those who have eyes to see and ears to hear draw near to the throne of God in the quiet place of time alone with Him. He invites you to seek Him while He may be found. Those who seek Him will be awakened to a fresh revelation of who He is and why He came. Remember that without Him, we can do nothing. Only by the Spirit of God will the Seed planted in man's heart reproduce the things of God. 2023 will be a year of spiritual restitution because God is about to restore all that the locust has eaten. But with His promises come conditions, and your obedience and faithfulness to Him and His word are required. So allow Him to open your eyes and ears as He transforms you into the likeness of Him and who He called you to be in the earth while living from the perspective of heaven. Just as Lazarus came forth from the grave still bound in grave clothes, many who profess to know the Lord God as Savior and King have been walking around with their spirits bound up in things of the past and lies that they believe. However, the Spirit of the Lord would say unbind them and set them free! Just as Jesus spoke and Lazarus was set free, so shall you speak, and those who are spiritually bound shall be set free. But before we can live from a heavenly dimension, we must command our souls to be still and know He is God. And then, as Samuel, we can say, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. And others will see, and they will know that the Spirit of the Lord is alive and well on the planet earth through His people. Then Jesus shouted Lazarus, come out! And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” John 11:43-44 (NLT) Stop allowing the spirit of the world to rob you of your God-given inheritance and rise up into your rightful place as a son and daughter of the highest God and King. In reality, the truth of God is known instinctively, for God has embedded this knowledge inside every human heart. Opposition to truth cannot be excused based on ignorance because, from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God's nature have been made visible, such as His eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without an excuse. Romans 1:18-20 (TPT) Ephesians 5:14, Romans 13:11, Luke 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13, Isaiah 55:6, Matthew 9:17, John 15:5, John 12:24-26, Romans 12:2, Colossians 3:10, John 8:12, 1 Samuel 15:22, Mark 11:22, Deuteronomy 32:9, Psalm 46:10, 1 Samuel 3, 2 Corinthians 6:18 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Ps.139:13-16
You were made by the hand of God and given everything you need to fulfill what he has called you to do. But just as a child is developed in the Mothers womb, a child is taught as it grows into an adult. We must be taught by the Holy Spirit as our character is developed. Some of us just as the Isrealites may roam around in the wilderness because of the choices we make. Moses: Character was developed in another culture and life style. Joshua and Calab made a choice and so did the other ten spies. Numbers 13 Joseph’s character was being developed until the time came to fulfill His dreams. Ps. 105:19 A gem in the earths surface will always be a gem but until the rough edges are smoothed off and it is processed to a certain point, it’s value is not recognized by the common person. You will be mine in the day when I take up my jewels and I will spare you as a man spares his own son who serves him Malachi 3:17 Don’t give up on God’s promise for you Do not despise the stepping stones which are developing your character along the way. Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a wine-press to hide the grain from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” Sir, “Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, The Lord brought us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I’m sending you!” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” Judges 6:11-15 (NLT)
Gideon was at the threshing floor at the bottom of a wine-press. The threshing floor is where the wheat is separated from the chaff. The wine-press is where the grapes are squeezed and the impurities are removed from the wine. I believe that it was at the threshing floor at the bottom of the wine-press that Gideon’s heart became positioned to hear the word of the Lord. It was there the angel of the Lord called Gideon who God said he was. “Mighty hero” go with the strength that you have for the Lord is with you. It was there Gideon questioned the angel of the Lord and told him how unqualified he was. Although scripture often speaks of the threshing floor and the wine-press. It is not often that we choose to go to the threshing floor or the wine-press in the spirit realm. After all who whats to be sifted or pressed. But there are times when God calls us to the threshing floor or the wine-press to separate us from the world or our carnal nature. There are times when He just wants to get us alone to love on us and tell us who we are to Him. It is at the threshing floor we will come to realize where the true treasure of our heart is. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19 -21 (NLT) We must go alone to the threshing floor. It is a secret place of the deep and personal revelation of God. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Ps. 91:1 (NLT)
Many have often thought of the trashing floor as a place of correction only. But I have found it to be a place of the deeper revelation of God. As I position my heart to hear His voice in the secret place, I can hide all that He has put within me in the shelter of His mercy and grace. I am drawn to a higher place of intimacy with the Father in the place of rest with Him as He gently separates the carnal nature in me so His spirit within me can shine brighter. May he work perfection into every part of you giving you all that you need to fulfill your destiny. And may he express through you all that is excellent and pleasing to him through your life-union with Jesus the Anointed One who is to receive all glory forever! Amen! Hebrews 13:21 (TPT) Many times in life, we go around the same mountain again and again. Even though our navigation system is the same and nothing has changed, we continue to expect a different result.
Some of us need to change our navigation system because the direction we have been going hasn’t been working. Things can not continue as they have always been, in the way we think, act, feel or move if we are to expect a different outcome. The Israelite's roamed around in the wilderness for forty years on what should have been an eleven-day journey. Deuteronomy 1:2 Before they left for the journey, they were given all they needed to complete it. And even though it took the Israelite's much longer than anticipated, God was with them every step of the way. He continued to provide for them and protect them. Yet they chose to remain in the same familiar mindset to which they were accustomed. Rather than shift their thinking from complaining to thankfulness, they remained in denial of who God really was. They chose to worship idols rather than the God who had rescued them. Because of their mindset, disobedience, and unbelief, only two, Joshua and Caleb were able to enter the promise land. Exodus 1-10 Sometimes we blame God or others for things that happen to us when many times, it has more to do with the decisions we make and the consequences of them. God is a loving God who gives us the freedom to make choices on our own, and with those choices come good and bad results. While the Israelites followed Moses with God's leading out of Egypt, they also chose to disobey, continue in unbelief, and murmur and complain all along the way. Some of us have been drinking from a well of bitterness for many years, yet we continue to seek out other wells that contain the same bitter water as the previous well that we left behind, thus getting the same results. We tend to make the same type of friendships and financial decisions and remain in the same lifestyle we long to escape. Yet we continue to roam around the same mountain yearly, expecting a different result. Maybe it's time to seek the Lord while He may be found. Time to seek wise counsel and abide by it. To seek out new relationships and make new choices. Maybe it's time to speak to the mountain in your life and tell it to get out of your temple and off your land. It's time to leave the familiar territory where your footprint is in stone and move to another unknown place, trusting God to lead and guide you. Maybe it's time to stop blaming others and accept responsibility as your own. So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23 Maybe it's time to change how you think, speak, and live, for this is a new day. The past has passed, and the future is what you make it. It’s time to see things from God's point of view rather than man's. Maybe it's time to enter your promised land rather than remaining in the wilderness and drinking from the well that will always run dry. If you're having problems in this area of your life, I would suggest you read and take to heart the book of Proverbs in the Bible and seek Godly counsel. God is calling His people to come out of the walls of tradition and culture in which they have been trapped. He calls us to step out in faith, knowing that He has promised never to leave or forsake us. He is calling us away from the familiar place, of the way it has always been, so a new move of His spirit can freely fall upon the next generation. Just as God called Abraham to step out in faith and move away from the familiar place, He is calling His people to create a pathway that is lined with a new wine skin so that His spirit may flow freely in generations to come, for they will not be held hostage to their past. This generation will go boldly to the throne of God and will not possess the spirit of timidity in the world. They will stand in their enemies' presence and proclaim the Lord's name. But they first must be released by past generations from cultures, traditions, and teachings that have held them captive. Not all of these things are wrong, but some are of man and do not line up with the word of God. Has God not said - "My people are being destroyed for lack of knowledge. "Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. The glory of God has been exchanged for the shame of idols. Even to this day, the Lord would say just as He said to the church of Laodicea, "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" For He corrects and disciplines everyone that He loves. You are each invited to the place of solitude with Him. You are called to cleanse yourself from what is dishonorable to Him so that you may see clearly, repent and be eager to pursue what is right. That which has always been shall be no more. There was a day and time to observe the culture and tradition of man, but that day has come and gone. So choose this day whom you will serve. The familiar place where you have grown comfortable is no longer where you belong, for God is calling you out into a new day of discovering. A day that will open the doors wide for your children and your children's children, they will be drawn out of the Fami-LIAR mentality into a truth of their own which will be given from heaven above. Because all those He loves, He will unmask and train. So again, I say Choose you this day whom you will serve. Will it be a man and the world's systems, or will it be the Lord? “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” Matthew 12:36-37 “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Deuteronomy 31: 8, Deuteronomy 30:19-30, Matthew 9:17, Hosea 4:6-7, Revelations 3:15-22, 2 Timothy 2:21, Mark 7:8-10,Genesis 12:1-6, Genesis 17:1-15, 2 Corinthians 6:17, Joshua 24:15 1 Chronicles 21:22-30, Matthew 12:36-37 |
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Kathleen M. VonSeggern Copyright © 2016 Treasures of the Heart Ministries
All Writings are Original All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication except Bible scripture, may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission
All Writings are Original All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication except Bible scripture, may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission