The Two Waves

Part one. Prophetic dream.

We are in the final hour. Jesus is coming again soon and the Lord is sending forth a tidal wave of glory that will transform the church and cover the earth. However I have also believed that there is a wave coming that has been sent from hell, for the devil will always seek to usurp, counterfeit and sabotage the move of God.

Through a dream I had early on last year and through revelation from scripture I want to share with you what I believe these two distinct waves are as the Lord unveiled them to me.

This blog post is about the ungodly wave.

In my dream last January I was standing looking up at a huge tidal wave that was about to crash down on top of me. I remember being aware that I was fully dressed in outdoor clothing and I did not appear to be at the beach so there was a definite sense of dissonance and being caught unawares. As I looked up at this wave, looming over me my first thought was “I can’t survive this’ and I was waiting for the crushing impact and the sense of being pulled down, already anticipating the panic and disorientation of being spun and thrown around underneath the water.

But as the wave began to crash down, a declaration rose up in my spirit  ‘I will live and not die’ and I knew that I knew that God would not let the waters take me down. 

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. Isaiah 43:2

There was such a sense of a deep submission to His purpose and call and as I leaned into that in my spirit, the huge wave lifted me up. It was a feeling dream and I could FEEL the sensation of being carried upwards and forwards on the crest of this tsunami. I wasn’t surfing, I was lying on the top of it, arms outstretched with my body making the shape of the cross, totally surrendered. I could feel the splash of salt water on my face but there was such a sense of peace that I belonged to Him and He would never abandon me. I recorded this dream and the interpretation in my journal and I emailed it to my pastor.

“The wave that is coming is not what we think it will be...

There will be persecution, and opposition and attacks that seek to create confusion, panic, disorientation … a sense of being spun around…

BUT  He will lift us up onto the crest of the wave as we humble ourselves and surrender totally. What looks and smells like death will be the very instruments of life... “

Over the following days as I sat with this and asked the Lord about it, I have to confess I had moments of discomfort. I had been hearing for a long time, from the global prophetic community that a tsunami of God’s glory was coming (and I believed it!) but I felt that the wave I had experienced in my dream was not from God. Being a bit of a novice re all things prophetic and being given to intimidation, I became intimidated(!)  the initial email I had sent to my pastor (that the coming wave was not from God!) was followed by apologetic and conciliatory emails as I sought to dig myself out of an imagined hole.

At this point it occurred to me that I really should consult the word of God. (Note to self… make this the very FIRST thing you do).

I discovered that there is a very definite biblical distinction between the sea and rivers. The sea, and large bodies of water generally,  in biblical terms, symbolize the seething mass of humanity; those outside of covenant / the wicked. And there is a consistent pattern in the Bible that shows bodies of water often represent death, chaos, or evil, a barrier to blessing, something that needs to be subdued or something we need to be rescued from as opposed to rain, streams and rivers which are symbolic of Living Water.. a gift from God, water that can be drunk; water that quenches thirst! 

But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. (Isaiah 57:20)

Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters…Psalm 144:7

And my dream was definitely a SEA wave. It came from the natural realm as opposed to the heavenly realm. It came from outside of me not from within me (this is significant and I will write about this in the next post). As I continued to research and listen to the Lord, He dropped the word Leviathan into my spirit. I knew of Leviathan but nothing of significance, other than it lives in the sea! This was uncharted territory for me but the Lord brought confirmation, as the following day Psalm 74 was part of my daily bible reading… 

It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert. Psalm 74:14

...and at the end of that same week, more confirmation, as  I attended a prophetic conference and session 5 was on Leviathan!

Leviathan literally means many folded one, or twisted one or twister… it is described at length in Job 41. I won’t copy the entire chapter, but of particular significance are that:

• It can't be tamed or caught (vs1-10)

• It resembles a dragon (vs 12-25)

• It terrifies even the mighty. (vs 25)

• It cannot be defeated with natural weapons (vs 26-28)

• It churns and stirs up the sea (vs 31)

• It is king over all the children of pride (vs 34)

As stated in psalm 74 (above) Leviathan has more than one head! Revelation 13 speaks of the beast who comes out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads and there were 10 crowns on its horns… You may have read prophetic interpretations of the Coronavirus… that Corona means crown and is a satanic attempt to usurp the Kingship of Jesus and to crown the world with sickness and fear. 

Is the Coronavirus a foretaste of what the beast who comes out of the sea will bring to the earth? Are pestilence and fear, unholy crowns upon its horns? 

God did not send this wave. It came from hell and it is a consequence of a world, and a church (!) in rebellion against God, and of man’s pride in the earth.

When we shut God out we open doors for the King over all the children of pride to come in for he comes out of the sea.. out of unbelieving and prideful humanity. Right now he is coming in wearing a usurpers crown to draw ‘worship’ to himself, for when we fear he receives glory; when we (the church) put the things of the world before God, he receives glory! He is coming in like a flood, creating  panic, confusion and disorientation the world over. There is a sense for many that they have been dragged into deep waters / into something over which they have no control. Many feel out of their depth, that they are drowning in fear and that this virus will claim them as victim. 

As I said in my last post Coronavirus will go but the tsunami will keep coming. And coming. And coming. This is but a foretaste of what the enemy will bring to the earth in these days.

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So what must our position be as followers of Jesus?

SUBMISSION AND REST!!

1: Submission

Leviathan comes out of the sea. He is king over all the children of pride and PRIDE is the wave that will sweep us away!! I'm not talking about haughtiness.. although that too! I'm talking about a heart position that looks to the world and to man for answers and resources. A church that is tarnished and accommodating of sin; a church that has moved away from the full gospel and become bewitched with religion, externals and appearances.

The enemy is bringing chaos and confusion and darkness to the earth, and those who are trapped in it need answers! They need the church of Jesus Christ to be who she was created to be…. To be the voice of God in the earth!!!

When we walk in pride God Himself will oppose us. He is coming back for a glorious bride, not one spotted by the world. He is seeking to purify our faith by shaking and washing the world out of the church and He is dealing with our prideful hearts. He is preparing His church / His bride for what is yet to come. These are unprecedented times and He is inviting us to submit to Him and to Him alone; to humble ourselves and to repent, 

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud  but shows favour to the humble."

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:4-10

Beloved church, we need to return to our first love.  The church has been asleep and lukewarm for too long. We have cheapened grace and reasoned away our sin, and we have been preoccupied with and trusted in man made systems, structures, traditions and psychology. We have used the things of the world to try to attract the world (!) and we have not sought first His kingdom and His righteousness. 

The world is groaning underneath the weight of sin. God LOVES the world but He cannot reach the world through a church that is compromised. The wave is not from God, but He is Sovereign over all and He is allowing it and He will use it, (and other trials!) to expose sin, pride, fear and unbelief in the hearts of His beloved so that He can raise us up as sons and daughters to our rightful place of authority in the earth. 

I have heard a number of leaders and prophets in the body of Christ cite this verse over the last week..

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Chronicles 7:14

To which I say yes yes yes and amen!!!!

If MY people…

As the church of Jesus Christ we must walk in the opposite spirit… in a spirit of repentance and supplication and surrender. We repent not just of obvious sins but hearts that have grown cold towards Him, religious hearts, self righteous hearts, hypocritical hearts. And we repent corporately. If one part of the body hurts. We all hurt! If one part is diseased we all feel it!

I attended the National Day of Prayer at Wembley arena last August and every speaker on the platform came with a spirit and a declaration of repentance… not just for themselves but for the people groups they represented. Beloved we must put Jesus back on the thrones of our lives for He alone is worthy!!! He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and HE is crowned with many crowns.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. Rev 19:11-16

And He came for one purpose .. to destroy the works of the enemy!

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

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2: REST

We are in an enforced Sabbath(!) where the structures and the props and the systems of the modern church have been knocked over. The devil is attempting to isolate and separate but God has another plan!  In His grace and His mercy He is giving us this time. It is a gift of rest to the body of Christ. We must use it wisely and not squander it. God is wooing us back to Him, into HIS rest! Christ has been raised from the dead and seated with the Father in the heavenly places and we have been raised up with Christ and seated with Him there. It is a position of rest and it is a position of AUTHORITY!

All of our doing for the Lord comes from this raised up position of REST!!! Chaos and confusion may be going on around us and under us but we have been lifted up over it into a higher place. We will see  it but it will not come near us...There is no fear, anxiety, confusion or striving in rest. It is a place of  joy and a place of strength, for the joy of the Lord is our strength!! It is a place of absolute safety and of peace that passes understanding. Oh how the world needs to know this peace and the author of it!

When we make the Lord our refuge (a place that gives protection or shelter from danger, trouble, unhappiness, etc.. Cambridge Dictionary) He will lift us up… we will be above and not beneath, we will ride on the crest of the wave that was sent to crush and destroy.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Psalm 91:9-12

Being in this place of rest is not an optional extra for those who follow Jesus. It is fundamental, it is strategic and it is warfare! Divine, supernatural rest and the peace and joy that flow from it are weapons that resist and tear down chaos and confusion and fear. 

How do we rest in God?

We have already spoken of repentance and submission for there is a divine rest that comes from being in right standing before God; but more than that we are actually commanded to strive to enter His rest… Surely this is an oxymoron!??? We have to remember that biblically resting in God is not lounging on the sofa eating crisps; it is not something that comes after a hard days work. It is our FIRST position and it is not passive!

The greek word for strive  is spoudazo… strive / make haste / be diligent / be eager for / be zealous for… in other words.. make every effort .. make it your utmost  priority to enter His rest.. 

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. Hebrews 4:11

We have to be diligent and purposeful to enter into God's rest. Why? Satan will contest it because he knows it is a position of power and EVERYTHING in our flesh will fight it because WE want to be in control. 

So how on earth do we strive to enter His rest??

The preceding chapter in Hebrews tells us what inhibits this rest.. hardening of our hearts, sin, unbelief and disobedience.

“Today, if  you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion” Hebrews 3:15

He is giving us this time of Sabbath, removing busy, busy so that we can hear His Voice and come back to His word!  So that we can repent of sin, unbelief and disobedience, and so that we can cease from our own works. (Hebrews 4:10)

My pastor did a brilliant talk recently on solitude ( I don't think any of us realised at the time just how prophetic it was!) The most profound thing he said was ‘BE THE SOUND’.. He used the analogy of astronauts who undergo training in an anechoic chamber, (basically a massively insulated room that is 99.9% sound absorbent). In such a place trainee astronauts reported that they could hear their own hearts and the blood moving through their heads. They became the sound.

In like fashion, when the busyness of ministry and church life is stripped away from us, when the props of life are kicked from under us we begin to ‘hear’ ourselves. We begin to hear the empty places within our own hearts.. We begin to hear the lack, the need, the fear, the loneliness, the anxiety. Busy is very often the carnal man's answer to these empty places, but God wants us to find ALL fulfilment in Him. That doesn't mean that ministry or being busy is wrong..! We just very often have it the wrong way round. (I have so often been guilty of this! It's just so easy isn't it to wake up in the morning and just get going with your day with maybe a cursory nod towards Jesus and a hurried 2 sentence prayer… but this is not abiding!) We must be purposeful and diligent to come to God DAILY!!! to find our rest (peace, joy, hope) in Him and in His presence, we then live out of that place, being rooted and grounded in love. It is the faith-rest life.. 

Oh friends we can do so much FOR God outside of His rest… we can wear ourselves out with our ministries and programmes and busyness… but busy won't survive in the days to come.  Everything that can be shaken is being shaken and only that which cannot be shaken (our faith!!) will stand….

And THIS is the victory that has overcome the world.. Our faith!1 John 5:4

In my dream I could see myself lying in a cross shaped position of absolute surrender to Jesus on top of the wave and I could FEEL the momentum. In that position of total rest and surrender I could FEEL that I was being carried… more than that ...propelled!! forwards and onwards and upwards into Him, into destiny, into His call on my life, into freedom, into opportunity, into breakthrough, into wholeness, into healing, into His power, into LIFE....

I could see that the very thing the devil had sent for destruction had become an instrument of life. 

I want to prophecy over you, that if you will repent and submit to Him in this season, if you will make the most High your refuge, if today you will hear His voice... He WILL lift you up. The shackles of religion, fear, depression, addictions and secret sins will break off you in Jesus name. His supernatural peace will surround you and bear you up. Liberty will come and the very thing sent to destroy will become LIFE to you.. For this is the season where you will encounter His heart and His purposes for your life in a brand new way and you will be caught up into His supernatural rest.  

Look! Yahweh now reigns as King! He has covered himself with majesty and strength, wearing them as his splendor-garments. Regal power surrounds him as he sits securely on his throne. He’s in charge of it all, the entire world, and he knows what he’s doing!

Lord, you have reigned as King from the very beginning of time. Eternity is your home.

Chaos once challenged you. The raging waves lifted themselves over and over, high above the ocean’s depths, letting out their mighty roar! Yet at the sound of your voice they were all stilled by your might. What a majestic King, filled with power!

 Nothing could ever change your royal decrees; they will last forever! Holiness is the beauty that fills your house; you are the one who abides forevermore!

Psalm 93 (TPT)