You know it’s a rhema word from the Lord when He explodes a truth to you by using a Scripture you’ve read dozens of times in the past but never really thought of as anything more than an “introduction” Scripture – one of those passages of the Bible that seems to be telling you to get ready to pay attention to what you are about to read, more so than the Scripture you’re actually reading at the moment. Recently, during one of my morning prayer/devotion times, I opened my Bible to the gospel of Mark. I was hungry to read about the power of Jesus – the healings, the deliverances, the breakthroughs! But before I got to any of His miracles, or even out of the very first sentence, the Lord spoke a profound word to me as a promise to His people for this still burgeoning year.
Mark 1:1 says: “Here begins the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (NLT 1996 edition). Previously I have always read right past this to get into the revelation and description of Jesus’ ministry in the earth. But on this day, God wouldn’t let me move past that potent “introductory” sentence. Even the first word was like a stick of dynamite to my spirit – followed by one blast of revelation after another:
“HERE” … Right here. Right now. No matter what you have been through, or are currently facing. No matter how long you have been dealing with it.
“BEGINS” … This is the moment. This is the time. This is your shift. This is when heaven invades and everything starts to change. This is the launch of the new day, the new hour, the new season.
“THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS THE MESSIAH” … The One who loves you, the One who gave everything for you, the One who holds back no good thing from you – this is when He turns it all to the good. Everything the enemy meant for harm. Everything you have endured. All of the hardship. All of the disappointment. All of the confusion. Here is where you begin to see your Savior, Deliverer, Provider, Protector, Redeemer, and Reviver turn curse into blessing, lack into plenty, sickness into health, broken relationships into divine unions, prodigals into devoted sons and daughters, battles into victories!
“THE SON OF GOD” … The firstborn of many, the One who came not only as Messiah but also as Model to show what life is like once we are restored to relationship with our Heavenly Father and all of His Kingdom. Right here, right now, He wants to remind you of who you are and what you have in Him and with Him, all of your days! He wants to re-mind you – change the way you think about things so that you change the way you see and speak about things. All from the perspective of certain victory through the finished work of the Cross!
As the Lord brought forth this revelation out of Mark 1:1, He spoke to me of the winter solstice – a natural witness of this spiritual truth. The winter solstice is an annual astronomical event that marks the longest night of the year. After the winter solstice, every day gets longer and longer. The casual observer might not notice it at first, but from the point of the winter solstice on, light increases. In other words, no matter how dark things are, or how long the darkness has lasted, there is always a point when things shift. A day always comes when light begins to increase!
In the natural, the winter solstice shift from increasing darkness to increasing light is a once-a-year event. But in the spirit, praise God, the shift happens whenever we turn our hearts and minds to the Lord and remember that He is the Light, and that He is always greater than any darkness! This is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants to renew how real, how true, and how powerful this is for us – right here, right now. This was the message He presented everywhere He went. This was the message with which He sent forth the disciples. The words were a bit different – “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 4:17, 10:7) – but the meaning was the same: “No matter how hard, how difficult, or how long your darkness has persisted, right here, right now, it can all shift! Let Me invade this moment and bring the glorious light of My Good News to bear in your life and all of your circumstances!”
I believe that God is releasing a great grace to focus on Him afresh, grab hold of His word anew, and trust and declare that here in this moment of re-energized faith begins our turn-around – the good news of our tests becoming testimonies! This divinely revitalized faith will be marked not only by an expectation that God can show up and shatter the darkness, but even more so by the realization that He already has, through the finished work of the Cross. As we allow this freshly kindled truth to burn within us – worshipping, praising, and giving thanks for it – then right here, right now, we will see the shift into increasing light! Oh, Thank You, Jesus!!
Prayer Directives
Let’s pray that:
- The Body of Christ will be refreshed, renewed, and revived even as the pure river flowing from the Throne of God courses into each of us bringing life, vigor, and vitality.
- The living water of Holy Spirit that is in every believer will spring up and flow afresh (John 4:14). That anywhere the enemy has managed to plug up or block those wells, Holy Spirit will come and re-dig them, bringing forth an even greater abundance of life, love, and light.
- Everywhere the thief has come to steal, kill, destroy, limit, hinder, or interfere in any way, Jesus has come and given us the abundance of life (John 10:10).
- Pray that we will all receive this abundance and flourish.
The very same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in each of us and quickens our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). - We will prosper and be in health as our souls prosper (3 John 1:2).
