The Lord continues to speak to me in this season on the heart that He has for the Bride of Christ. In Song of Songs 8:6, Solomon’s bride expresses her deep love and devotion for her bridegroom, saying, “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.” Similarly, Jesus Christ is jealous for His Bride. Out of the jealous love that He has for her, the Lord is allowing His fire to purge and purify anything in His Bride that does not align with His truth. He is exposing unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors—things that have held us in bondage—in order to bring us into a greater place of freedom that we have not previously known or experienced. However, we should not fear the process, for like gold, the Bride is being purified and fortified, even in the fire.

I hear the Lord beckoning His Bride, saying, “Come up higher! Call upon Me, and I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).” I truly believe that God is releasing fresh revelation in this season.  The Lord is roaring His freedom and His truth into the very areas where the enemy has sought to keep you bound and impoverished in your thinking. Can you hear the sound of chains breaking, and the rattling of prison doors being opened? Beloved, no longer will you live below your potential; the Lord is calling you upward to a higher place, for you are seated in heavenly places with Him (Ephesians 2:6). 

I sense that the Lord is also saying to His Bride, “I know how the enemy has sought to wear you out in this season, seemingly throwing at you one problem after the next. Yet, he does not know that the process and fire that you are going through is making you stronger. Like a butterfly coming from a cocoon, your wings have been strengthened in the struggle, and now you will soar to new heights with Me.

“My Beloved, you have been purified like the precious gold, even through the refining. Rejoice at how far you have come, for truly nothing has been wasted. I have been using every circumstance for your good, as you have allowed Me to mold you and shape you as a potter does with clay. I tell you the truth, you will marvel at how far you have come, as I have been with you through it all.

“Do not focus on the past, rather move forward. Indeed, I am calling you up higher. I have collected all of your tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8 NLT), and the very tears that you have cried have been watering and fertilizing the harvest that shall soon spring forth. Truly, I have taken your sorrows, and I am giving you joy.

“Can you hear the love song that I am singing over you, My precious child? Continue to embrace the process, and receive your new-found freedom in Me. You are no longer a slave to fear, rather you are a child of the Most High! Rise up in renewed strength and vigor, and be confident that I, the One who has started the good work in you, will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). Come up higher, and step into your new place of freedom today, because it is for freedom that I have set you free (Galatians 5:1).”