Archive for January, 2014

28 Jan

A season of JOY is coming!

Posted by Pam in Israel Prayer Garden. Tagged: , , , .

Happy Monday!

I am praying that we all are finding joy in our season of deliverance. Today it was quite chilly outside and very windy, which was a disappointment after the beautiful weather we had yesterday. I woke up this morning and was aggravated and irritable because I couldn’t get warm. I felt God telling me that I should do a walk through the garden and I was reluctant to go outside cause, “But God, it’s TOO COLD.” However, I was obedient and God started talking to me about the seasons.

As we all are going through a season of deliverance, I wanted to share with you what He said. If we didn’t have winter – a dark season of cold and death in nature – we wouldn’t appreciate the beauty of the spring. Jesus was resurrected right in between winter and spring – a perfect example of the beautiful light that follows the dark. The promise that follows the storm. Deliverance – a dark season of cold and old things coming to an end in US – is meant to be uncomfortable. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t experience the fullness of abundant JOY that comes out of it. Think about a time when you’ve been sick with the flu or some other awful illness; think about how happy and joyful you felt when you got better, because you were so relieved and thankful to not be sick anymore.

God wants us to find joy in the midst of our struggles. He wants us to hold onto our promises and trust and hope in Him for our future. He has a plan, a purpose and a hope for us, and He will never abandon us.

So during the cold and dark season, HOPE through your struggles. Rejoice in what’s coming! Because the beauty and abundance of what’s coming will be seventy-seven fold better than what we’ve known in the past! How exciting is that?

Here are a few scriptures that will bring you hope and joy:

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten – the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm – my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.” – Joel 2: 25-26 NIV

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. – Job 42:10 NIV

Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. – Isaiah 61:7 NIV

The song in the video is called The Journey, by Leann Squier from the Darkness Turns album, and is available on iTunes.

Blessings!
Tracey

24 Jan

Restoring your vessel so the river of life can flow!

Posted by Pam in Israel Prayer Garden. Tagged: , , , , .

Happy Friday all!

Many of you who follow the blog or have been able to visit the garden in person know all about the water feature in Judah that represents the river of life flowing through us (John 7:38 and Rev. 22:1).

The only problem we have had with this water feature has been leaking. So over the last few weeks, in the dead of winter while nothing else has been going on, Jesus and his crew have been working diligently to repair and restore the waterfall. He had to strip it bare and start over with a new foundation, and rebuild from the bottom up.

You all know that 2014 is the year of deliverance, and all of us have been undergoing all kinds of deliverance, maintenance, and cleansing. You can’t put a bandaid on your wounds and expect them to heal – you must allow God to dig in deep and restore and repair you from the inside out! If you feel that you have been undergoing some serious cleaning out and deliverance, rejoice, because you are in good company! This is a season that God is asking us to shed our burdens so that we can rise up and walk on the water as He has called us to do. We can’t do that if we’re clinging to the past!

I’ve prepared this video of the process of the restoration of the waterfall in Judah, and I encourage you to watch it and declare that God is restoring you from the inside out, and you will be better, more whole, and more joyful than you have ever been! This video is a visual representation of what is going on in the Body of Christ right now. He is cleaning house, and the outcome will be beautiful and a wonderful testimony to God’s glory. Don’t let the devil discourage you during this time! Take heart in your season of deliverance, and remember Romans 8:18 – the pain and struggles of the present cannot even come close to comparing to the joy and life that is coming! Rejoice!

The song in the video is called Lead Me to the Waters and is by James Vincent. It’s on The Portal CD and is available on iTunes.

Blessings,
Tracey

20 Jan

Psalm 23

Posted by Pam in Israel Prayer Garden.

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

13 Jan

Life will find a way…

Posted by Pam in Israel Prayer Garden.

Pam was excited to show me that the Forsythia was blooming this morning in the garden. She mentioned a quote from the movie Jurassic Park – “Life will find a way.” The Forsythia blooming is a promise of spring and life to come after the winter season. Rejoice in God’s promises!

Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.

Isaiah 60:20

6 Jan

God’s Treasury

Posted by Pam in Israel Prayer Garden.

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

Job 38:22-30

1 Jan

Beauty in the Winter Season

Posted by Pam in Israel Prayer Garden.

I ventured out into the garden on this first day of 2014 to see what pretty things I could find amongst the bare trees and dead leaves of the winter season. What I found is that even in the season where everything withers and fades away, there is still beauty to be seen if you look at things through God’s eyes. He sees beauty in us even when we are going through a season of death and deliverance. So even when your trees are bare and your grass is withering, see into the future that God has for you and find the beauty in the ashes. Remember, spring always follows winter!

 

Blessings and Happy New Year!

Tracey