I saw Jesus in my dining room the other day. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Him so close like that, and it always makes me laugh while it catches me off guard. I was worshiping and washing clothes, minding my own business. Quietly I heard his voice call out, “Will you let me cut those grave clothes? Ash?” I carried the basket of laundry into the dining room and I walked right into an open vision. He always meets me in this valley. I’ve seen it what seems like a hundred times. It’s quiet and sunny, with a slight breeze that smells like laundry hanging outside on the line. The grass is tall, rustling with the wind and there are spring flowers in different colors that brigten up the atmosphere. In the distance I can see the river flowing down off the mountain. The water appears ice cold and the mountains look like it would take decades to climb them.
As I stepped toward the Lord, I saw this galvanized oval, almost round, but not quite, wash basin in front of me. It was filled just under the brim with this golden oil. It stood only about two feet high and the Lord welcomed me to step toward it. I lowered my laundry basket onto the ground, and looked up to take his hand as I stepped one foot at a time into the basin of oil. I find it hard to describe what it felt like in that moment. I felt humbled, honored, blessed, overcome with joy, while also feeling unworthy, with such sadness and heartbreak for the ones that don’t experience the Lord this way. He longs to know you. He loves you. He wants time with you. I’m no one special. I’m just a girl that loves Jesus, and spends as much time with Him as I can. He’s inviting you to the secret place with Him. He always has.
With both feet in, the displaced oil rose over the top and began to flow down the sides of the basin and onto the ground below. As it made its way down the sides of the basin the galvanized metal turned into this beautiful polished white and gold marble. I stood there as a woman in an old fashioned dress, it was tattered, worn and dusty, the way old cotton fabric can fade after being washed endless times. “Can I cut those grave clothes, Ash?” I heard the Lord ask again. I nodded yes, and as I did, tears began to well up inside of me. The Lord was cutting away the clothes I’d changed into when I was saved a few years ago. The clothes that were the right fit at the time, the clothes of ministry at altar calls, the clothes of deliverance, the clothes of healing, the clothes of walking in the gifts of the spirit, the clothes that were still covering parts of my heart that the Lord was now dealing with. I stood there weeping, vulnerable, exposed and alone, just the Lord and I. Every part of myself exposed in this transparent liquid love/fear gasping for breath moment. Lord, Am I enough?
He smiled at me and started to dip what looked like paper into the oil. Once it had absorbed and was fully coated on both sides, He began to cover me with it like a plaster cast. I couldn’t help but to take a closer look at the pieces of paper and realized that it was the Word of God. I could feel the warm oil running down my forehead, dripping off my hair onto my back, slowly coating my shoulders and down my arms. I felt it dripping off of the tips of my fingers, and down my legs toward the pool of it where I stood. In that moment I was so calm, so empty of everything that wasn’t the spirit. I felt so much peace, I felt the sun on my face. Then I felt the fire of the Lord consume me. As the words began to dry and the paper solidify against my skin it became metal in strength. It was a golden shiny metal, almost looking liquid to the touch. The words of the Bible were etched in every piece like they’d been burned in by the fire of the Lord. The words that Jesus spoke stood out in this fiery red that I’ve never seen in the natural before. Every word of the Bible was covering me head to toe as I grabbed His hand, stepped out and onto the grass again.
“New seasons, new armor, new revelation, new wine skin, Ash.” And just like that I was back in my dining room, crying my eyes out and praising my Lord.
He wants all of you. Don’t hold back. He wants the secret prayers, the conversations late at night. He wants to worship in the car with you and to help you pick out your clothes for the day. He wants involved in the little tiny details of your day that feel so insignificant. It’s in those tiny moments each day that religion turns into relationship. He loves you.
It’s time for an upgrade to your armor, a time for new wine skins and it’s time to glorify the Lord in everything you do.
We can have the anointing and not have enough of the word. We can have the word and not walk in the anointing. The Lord requires balance. When you pair the truth of the full word of the Lord with the anointing and authority given to us with the Holy Spirit, we become spirt led soldiers in the Kingdom of the Lord. Disciples.
✝️📖🧎🏻♀️⚔️🛡🔥
Isaiah 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.
Psalms 23:5 - Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Isaiah 40:1-8
Comfort for God's People
40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry? ”All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Psalms 45:7 - Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
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