His Iron Maiden begins, proclaims the Lord.
Right around this time last year, I began to doubt what the Lord gave to me about the beautiful future of our country.
It looked like the enemy took over, and I feared this evil would usher in the anti-christ. After sitting in these doubts, I started to walk out of the bedroom when the Lord suddenly lifted me with hope again by filling me with this passage of strength:
22 And now, you see, I am going to Jerusalem, bound by the [Holy] Spirit and obligated and compelled by the [convictions of my own] spirit, not knowing what will befall me there—
23 Except that the Holy Spirit clearly and emphatically affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me.
24 But none of these things move me; neither do I esteem my life dear to myself, if only I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have obtained from [which was entrusted to me by] the Lord Jesus, faithfully to attest to the good news (Gospel) of God’s grace (His unmerited favor, spiritual blessing, and mercy).
Acts 20:22-24
If the Church were entering a time of persecution, the Lord would have prepared us with the same strength Apostle Paul witnesses: unmoved by what awaits us. When the Lord calls His own to testify or to be bold in His name, and they are martyred for honoring Him, the Lord has forewarned* them of it exceedingly* is what He gave me. He surrounds them, and they know it! He upholds them with His mighty right arm, and they know it! Every martyr in the Bible was honored to be struck to their death for simply believing in the blood of Jesus! Believing in the sweet Law of Liberty.
Fear is not from the Lord; it is the enemy. Our beautiful Father would not hand His Beloved over without preparing the entire body of Christ in that same strength.
BECAUSE OUR GOD IS BEAUTIFUL!
BECAUSE OUR GOD IS GOOD!
AND HE HAS NOT PREPARED US FOR THAT! Nor will He be preparing us for that because it is not what we have been predestined to endure.
The Lord has called me to make a declaration here:
He has prepared a way for us to victory, liberty, jubilee!
Before He settled me with this, He began to show me the evil that has propped itself up as King will be completely wiped out for a time. During that time is when the Church will begin to rise. Everything He was giving me left me in a state of complete peace and blissful anticipation.
I’m patiently waiting for the sound of freedom and restoration.
A taste of restoration
I was sitting on the bedroom floor playing with my son when I began to think about a conversation I had with my mom. Someone she’s acquainted with said they had prayer in his public school back in the good ol’ days. I was thinking about this, and I said to the Lord, “Prayer in public school … wouldn’t that be a dream, Father …” To my pleasant surprise, He responded by giving me a tune to one of my favorite oldie songs Sh boom Sh boom by The Crew Cuts. Carrying the melody of that song, He filled me with, “Life will be a dream, sweetheart!”
I immediately gasped with absolute elation and ran to the phone to call my mom!
Hope
There was a day when I was swimming in every little gold nugget the Lord was dropping in my ear about the turn-around that would take place and how our country would begin to flourish like it never has before.
Throughout the day until bedtime, I was in such joy, meditating on all the good stuff He had planned for us. Lying in bed that night, I suddenly fell into a deep sleep and began to dream. In the dream, I was standing in front of a baby girl. She was the most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen. She was wearing a floral gown and a floral baby cap on top of her head. Her eyes were strikingly blue. They were absolutely captivating, and I couldn’t stop staring at them. She was sitting on the lap of Jesus next to a round white table. He was wearing a white tunic, yet I could only see from His chest down, so my focus was on this beautiful baby resting on the Lord’s lap.
Everything surrounding them was a whimsical white hue, and I could plainly see this beautiful baby was filled with peace and joy. With a precious smile on her face, she was feeding herself spoonfuls of an all-white Chaboni yogurt.
The Lord suddenly brought me out of this dream. Awoken, I lied in bed amazed with how breathtakingly beautiful that baby was. Excitedly, I said to the Lord, “Wow, Father!! Is that what my daughter is going to look like!?” My mind suddenly went there because I was pregnant with my daughter at the time the dream took place.
He then filled me with, no, the baby I saw was a reflection of me, and those blue eyes were His eyes, and before I fell into this dream, I was seeing through His lenses.
That floral cap and gown was a covering of God’s goodwill, and I was clothed in it. Studying more of the dream, I found Chobani means Shepherd. How cool is that? The Lord is my Shepherd, and I was graciously eating spoonfuls of the hope He had placed inside of me. Yogurt is milk that has been thickened with added nutrients to sweeten its taste. That white round table is me receiving from Him – a grand fellowship with my Father. White is symbolic of purity – and I am washed by the blood of Jesus, and His blood alone has made me pure in His sight. I cannot earn it, I can’t work for it or measure up to it, but He chose me and nothing, and no one can take that from me! And if you’re saved, nothing and no one can take that from you!
That’s what the Lord is calling me to write as laying a solid foundation for our viewers.
“TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD”
Psalm 34:8
I’ve had dreams of me serving white food and eating white food in the past. The Lord has given me that when He presents it in this way, that white food is a fancy feast!
What a confirmation!
He is for you, not against you!
Romans 8:31
He has plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!
Jeremiah 29:11
A staycation affair
The world and the state of our country look much worse than they did when He gave me that beautiful dream and filled me with reinforcement. But each time I fall into fear, I cry out to the Lord, and He reminds me and renews my hope.
It is dawn, He gently whispered to me the other morning.
My dawn is staying home with Him. The Lord has been teaching me how to swing the baseball bat for quite a long time, and I’ve hit my home-run.
He recently gave to me that we have landed on our staycation. “Staycation“ He kept giving and giving me one morning. My place of rest is with Him, and I’m staying here with my Daddy. My anchor of hope. I have formed such a bond with the Lord that I know He is nose-to-nose close to me every second of every day. Instead of running away from Him when I begin to fear, I run to Him! That is precisely the stay in the staycation.
The Lord sees us as running away from Him when we dwell in fear rather than crying out to Him.
“Where are you going?” He lovingly says to me when I drift into doubt. Oh, I love Him. He sets your feet straight on the narrow path, and that narrow path is resting in that He’s done it all.
The Lord is beckoning His children to join in on that same staycation affair with Him! A staycation love affair!
If you begin to waiver, or you’re being filled with fear with what is happening outside, run to Him and tell Him: “Father, I’m afraid of what is happening! I’m afraid of what might come after my family and me. I’m afraid! HELP ME, LORD!” and He will lift you out of your distress. He is our resolute protector in all things! AND HE IS MIGHTY!!
The Lord gave me these exact words waking the other morning,
“He has never had a favorite, but He exalts and crowns those who take refuge in Him”
Take refuge in Him. He will begin to strengthen you each and every time you run to Him. You’ll grow with understanding that you’ve got the mightiest lion surrounding you! AND HE LOVES YOU! AND HE PROTECTS YOU! AND HE NEVER LEAVES YOU! AND HE LOVES YOU! AND HE LOVES YOU! AND HE LOVES YOU!
If you’re saved and struggle to believe in those promises, go to Him about it! He already knows what’s in your heart and sees your unbelief. The Lord is not going to be disappointed with you nor turn His back toward you! In fact, it will be the complete opposite! The way the Lord has placed it on me – you going to Him about your unbelief is like the child who drank too much but made the right decision to call mom and dad to bring them home. A loving parent would rush to pick their child up – AND BE PLEASED they were honest and made the call! Refuge. The Lord will drive you home and exalt you for coming to Him in this way.
You can even go to the Lord and simply place it on Him this way: “Father, I struggle with my faith, I need you to help me with it. I want to know more of you. Help me grow, Father!”
And He will.
The Lord has pressed it upon me to add this: it does not matter how many times you open up to Him about your unbelief!
“looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
HE IS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH!
YOU ARE NOT THE AUTHOR OR FINISHER OF YOUR FAITH!
Oh excuse me! Hold my drink! — I THINK I HEAR LIBERTY BELLS!
“Looking unto Jesus …”
Look to Him, not yourself. We cannot depend on our own flesh to help us grow.
OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE! He is beckoning …
What is He calling out with this known phrase … the scripture He has placed on my heart to share is this,
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Matthew 11:28
In Latin, Olly means olive tree, and an olive tree is symbolic of the Lord’s peace and nourishment. Oxen were used in farming to carry heavy loads. They represent the heavy laden. Start going to Him with your burdens – it’s time to be free!
What His blood did for us IS TREMENDOUS! We are only called to fall on Him time and time again.
When my faith began to soar, the Lord woke me up one night to place this on my heart, “A child becomes a child again.”
It’s what grows within when the Lord shifts you onto walking the narrow path with Him. Your heart begins to sing, He takes care of me!
I had a dream not that long ago where I heard a baby crying, but the sound of the cry was not a sound of despair at all. I could not see anything in this dream. I could only hear and feel. After I listened to the baby cry, I heard the Lord lovingly say, “That’s fake!” Just like a parent would respond to their child, and as He said this, I could actually feel Him remove the diaper I was wearing. I felt that sweaty warmth of a diaper leave my bottom half as He changed me into grown underwear – a pair that I own in real life. After the dream, the Lord showed me that He had weaned me off the milk. Even though I still reach for it at times, already knowing how He cares for me — because I’m His baby, and I always will be.
To give the reader an understanding, the Lord reminds me of when I was in the 1st grade during a school play. My 1st-grade teacher was my favorite teacher. I adored her. The school had gathered to watch the play in the auditorium. I was seated almost an entire row away from my teacher, and I didn’t like that. I wanted to be near her. An act in the play came up, and as I watched, I decided to fake being scared. I wasn’t actually afraid of that scene in the play at all – I just wanted my teacher to hold me because I loved her so much. She came right over, picked me up, and set me right on her lap! I wrapped my little arms around her neck while resting my head on her chest. I loved every moment of it.
Often times … I reach for the Lord in that same way. That’s the baby in me. I just love Him.