Ascending To Favor

Christine Beadsworth

South Africa

 

 

Apr 16, 2009

 

Very recently, a story made headlines which spoke volumes to me. I cannot say this is an explicit Word from the Lord but our lives do speak a message and one particular saint has suddenly burst into view as a new star on the horizon. I am referring to a woman called Susan Boyle who entered a television competition called 'Britain's got Talent' this month. Susan is 47 years old and has had a dream to be a professional singer all her life. Yet she has never had the opportunity to make that dream come true until now. This unmarried plain woman stepped out onto the stage and immediately people began to judge her outward appearance. She bided her time through the judgmental hoots and snickers of the studio audience and judges (headed by Simon Cowell) and then sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. And she brought a worldwide audience to their feet -- to her feet -- with the grandeur of her voice. The judge's mouths fell open in absolute shock and awe. If anyone would like to view the video-clip of this performance, it can be found at:

http://lit4ever.org/privateforum/index.php?topic=1922.msg2164

 

Almost everyone who has watched it has been reduced to tears as they watched a woman who has no comeliness or worldly ways use the gift God gave her. As I looked at her, a thought came to me – It's time for the dreamers to come forth and sing! For all of you who have been dreaming a God-given dream for many years, enduring the ridicule and mockery of your brothers, the time to arise and ascend from the prison of your circumstances is upon you.

 

Susan Boyle has never even been kissed, never mind married. She is a virgin and thus represents those spoken of in Revelation:

 

Rev 14:1 And I looked, and lo, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion. And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands, having His Father's name written in their foreheads. Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from Heaven, like the voice of many waters and like the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. Rev 14:3 And they sang as it were a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousands who were redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:4 These are those who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, as a first-fruit to God and to the Lamb.

 

This first-fruits company on Mount Zion sing a new song! Their lives have been set apart for the Lamb, being obedient to all he has asked of them - and yet they have never experienced fruitfulness and manifestation of all buried in their hearts. Susan Boyle sang 'I dreamed a dream' which speaks of life turning out differently from how one has thought. The words of the last verse are:

 

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

 

How many of those who have been carrying God-given dreams their whole lives without seeing them materialize, have also lost hope like this? Hope deferred makes the heart sick but when a desire is fulfilled it is a tree of life! Well, Susan Boyle's life is a sign which speaks of a new season in God beginning; a season when the hidden riches of secret places are being brought into plain view. God's wealth is His people and He has many hidden treasures shut up in the prison of their circumstances. So toss off that hope deferred and stand up, dust yourself off. Your name is about to be called! The performance of your dream is about to begin! The Josephs serving faithfully in their prison of preparation are being called to step onto the stage and display the glory of all that God has put within them.

 

Susan Boyle has been largely untouched by the frenzy of publicity that has exploded since she opened her mouth that day. She remains humble and grounded and almost other-worldly, unswayed by the praise that is showering her from every quarter. She is a vessel fit to walk in all that God has prepared for her. God is getting the glory because she is not taking any for herself and even people who don't know Him are touched by her gift. Just as Joseph ascended and took a position of rule next to Pharaoh for the benefit of Egypt, so too will God's waiting ones employ their gifts to the benefit of the world around them.

 

The latest news on Susan's historic rise to stardom is that even before the competition is complete, the judges are working to get her a recording deal. She has somehow bypassed all her competitors and the usual rules of the competition and plunged straight into her destiny. This is FAVOR! Favor opens doors for you. Favor lifts you up and promotes you above others. Favor turns you into a queue-jumper!

 

So all you dreamers of dreams that are bigger than your narrow circumstances, be encouraged! In this season that is upon us, God is going to be opening doors and giving you favor with people who have influence and will fast-track you into the manifestation of your God-given destiny. Your dream has not fallen to the ground and died. It is just sleeping. Pick it up and dust it off and warm up your vocal chords. It is time for the dreamers to sing! Weeping may have endured for the night but joy comes in the morning! You WILL see the fulfillment of this God-given dream!

 

Susan Boyle is a signpost announcing the dawn of a new day! Your turn to arise and shine is at the door. Darkness may be filling the earth and dense darkness covering the peoples of the earth but His glory will be seen upon you. As you step into the performance of all that God has promised you, be like Susan and enjoy the experience of all you have dreamed of in the long hard years that have passed by. Enjoy radiating the fullness of the potential that our glorious Creator has hidden inside you as people recognize the gift of God in you! Step onto that stage and enjoy displaying the portion of the revelation of Christ that your life story is destined to tell!

 

Christine

 

Feasting On The Lamb

Christine Beadsworth

South Africa

 

 

Apr 8, 2009

 

The Passover Lamb

 

Precious family

 

Today (8th April) at sundown, the 15th day of Nisan begins. It was on this evening that the Israelites ate the lamb before leaving Egypt. They had killed their lambs at 3pm, which is known as the beginning of the evening in Jewish circles. Let us just read the whole account as the Lord instructed them what to do:

 

Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year...Exo 12:6 And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Exo 12:7 And they shall take some of the blood and strike on the two side posts and upon the upper door post of the houses in which they shall eat it. Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.

Exo 12:9 Do not eat of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs, and with its inward parts. Exo 12:10 And you shall not let any of it remain until the morning. And that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. Exo 12:11 And you shall eat of it this way, with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in a hurry. It is Jehovah's passover. Exo 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Jehovah. Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be a sign to you upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you for a destruction when I smite in the land of Egypt.

 

The Holy Spirit recently quickened some prophetic parallels for the day we live in. Firstly, while the Israelites were busy eating the lamb in their houses, judgment was being carried out in Egypt. Because of the blood of the lambs on the door-posts of the house, God's people were safe and completely untouched by what was playing out in the world outside. Outside the walls of the house, there was weeping and mourning but inside there was feasting by a people prepared for a journey. In the same way, during the shakings and judgment that is beginning to unfold on the world stage, there is a people who are sheltered and immune during this night of watching. They are being kept safe from the hour of trial which has come upon the whole earth. All that is first-born of a worldly womb is marked for destruction in this day; every endeavor of man that has masqueraded as a work of the Spirit will in this season be revealed and brought to nothing. Only that which is redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and born of an incorruptible seed shall remain untouched in this day. This in itself demonstrates the separation of the wheat and the tares. One house will be full of mourning and loss and the blood-stained one next to it shall be full of excitement and feasting as a result of obedience in every step of preparation.

 

Secondly, the Israelites were instructed to eat the WHOLE lamb. There was to be nothing left in the morning. Christ is our Passover Lamb and we have experienced salvation and sanctification through Him. However, there is coming a time when those with girded loins and sandals on their feet will experience more than this initial taste of Christ. They will feast on the WHOLE Lamb and experience the fullness of Christ. They will taste and see that He is good during this night of darkness and judgment. The Spirit of Truth will take that which is Christ's and give it to them and they shall eat it and experience the richness of the WHOLE Lamb which was slain for them. John saw a vision of this Lamb:

 

Rev 5:6 And I looked, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, amidst the elders, a Lamb stood, as if it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

 

There are seven eyes and seven horns which are part of this Lamb that the Church has yet to fully experience. There is an outpouring coming upon the prepared and obedient ones that will cause them to experience the fullness of Christ. The seven Spirits of God represented by the torches before the throne will enlighten and empower those feasting upon the meat of the Living Word, even against the backdrop of tremendous suffering and disaster in the world.

 

We also see this prophetic picture demonstrated during the plague of darkness in Egypt:

 

Exo 10:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. Exo 10:22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: Exo 10:23 They saw not one another, nor did any rise from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

 

There was darkness so thick that it could be felt in Egypt – yet the people of God had light in their houses. And so it shall be again because the Lamb is our light! When darkness and confusion and fear are running rampant in the world, we shall have peace and understanding of the times to know what to do - because we are receiving revelation and wisdom from the seven Spirits of God, the eyes of the Lamb that was slain. We are the city of the living God, the church of the First-Born, registered in Heaven and we do not need the soulish light of prognosticators and newscasters to show us the way!

 

Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they might shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp isthe Lamb.

 

Isaiah prophesies of a feast that shall be offered on Mount Zion:

 

Isa 25:6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make for all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. Isa 25:7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. Isa 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has spoken it.

 

Part of the fulfillment of this is the manifestation and experience of the fullness of Passover as those set-apart and ready according to the instruction of the Spirit feast upon the WHOLE Lamb. Passover was the first feast celebrated in the Promised Land by a people prepared for war and newly circumcised. It will be this receiving of the WHOLE Lamb (our inheritance or land of promise), as the Spirit leads us into ALL Truth, that will equip us to deal with the Jericho that lies ahead.

 

This day, 15th Nisan was a day of feasting in the evening for the Lord's people – and it was also a day of receiving of favor in the morning of that day. In other words, it was a day of the double portion – both spiritual and natural! The day of the Lord's passover is a day of receiving the WHOLE Lamb and also favor and recompense in the natural realm:

 

Exo 12:35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: Exo 12:36 And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

 

The Israelites had been slaves for four hundred and thirty years; used and abused by the Egyptians. Yet the day came when judgment fell and God's people received recompense!

 

Isa 61:6 But you shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you will boast Isa 61:7 For your shame you shall have double; and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be theirs. Isa 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will give them their recompense faithfully in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

 

Jesus began His ministry by announcing the year of the Lord's favor which was a quote from Isaiah:

 

Isa 61:2 To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

 

However when he read it, He stopped after the word 'favor'. There is still a day of vengeance to be fulfilled; a day when the Lord deals with injustice towards His people, a day of restitution when His favor is openly upon His beloved ones.

 

Isa 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

 

The Lord's Passover was a day of the double portion on its first occurrence. It speaks prophetically of another day, a day when darkness is upon the earth and dense darkness upon the people BUT in His house, there is light. In the house of those who have prepared and been obedient, the glory of His sevenfold light radiates and His beloved ones feast upon the WHOLE Lamb and attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ!

 

Be prepared, watch and be expectant! There has been an all-night feast of the riches of Christ prepared for you! Following that is the final course in an amazing menu – you will receive your 'just deserts'. The justice of God will cause favor and recompense to be your allotted portion!

Bon Apetit!

 

Christine