Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. | Lamentations 3:22-23

My Child, I am the Glory and the One who lifts your head. Even now My heart of compassion is being extended to you. My mercies are new every morning, and they never come to an end. Even in your weakness and in your times of struggle, My strength is being made perfect in you (2 Corinthians 12:9). Receive all that you have need of today, for a bruised wick and contrite spirit I will not deny (Isaiah 42:3).

Do not fret or fear the future, rather receive the grace that I offer you for today. Be assured that there will be new mercies every morning. I am calling you to trust Me and leave the future in My hands, having full confidence that I have a good plan and outcome for your life.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Refuse to be weighed down by the cares and trials of this world, rather in all things give Me thanks. Continue to look to Me, for I am making the crooked places straight. I will help you navigate through the unknown as you continue to have childlike faith and trust in your Heavenly Father. Put no confidence in flesh, but look to Me, for I am faithful. All things are being upheld by Me and through Me (Colossians 1:17).

I am perfecting all that concerns you, My lovely one. Nothing can ever separate you from My great love (Romans 8:39). Know that, indeed, I am at work in your life, and all things are coming together for good. Trust in Me, Beloved, and receive My new mercies for today.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. | Isaiah 61:1-3

In this season, the enemy has sought to bring down many with discouragement, despair, weariness, and hope deferred. He has sought to deceive you, trying to convince you to come into alignment with his lie that breakthrough will not happen in your life. Yet take heart, for the exact opposite is true! Even in what feels like chaos, I hear the Lord saying, “Put on a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” It may feel as though there has been an increase in the warfare that you have been experiencing, but the Lord is exposing the enemy’s plan. Breakthrough is happening now, and it will soon manifest in your life.

I recently saw a picture in my mind of many in the body of Christ, bent over by the weight of heavy chains (a symbol of burdens) wrapped around them. When they tried to take a step forward, the enemy would throw yet another chain around them, and they staggered under the added weight. Shortly after I saw that picture, I was reminded of a fascinating story that I had once heard:

As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well,” he said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size of rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

– Author unknown

I believe that the Lord is using this story as an analogy for the body of Christ in this hour. I hear Him saying, “I have given you strength like the elephants. The chains that the enemy has sought to entangle you with can easily be tossed off. The enemy has no real power to keep you bound, as he is just grasping to keep you in alignment with his lies. As My people open their mouths and give Me the sacrifice of their worship, truly the grave clothes and shackles will fall off of them; they will be adorned with new, beautiful garments of praise.”

It may feel as though your joy has been attacked in this last season. The enemy knows that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and he has been doing everything in his power to try and take that away from you. However, I sense that the Lord is releasing the fresh oil of His everlasting joy in this hour. The Lord is washing away the pain of the previous seasons, restoring and redeeming the times that the locust have eaten (Joel 2:25). As you give the Lord the sacrifice of your praise, rivers of living water will flow through those parched places of your life, bringing new healing and refreshing that will cleanse and renew your spirit.

Lastly, I hear the Lord saying today, “Reinforcement is coming; help is on the way.” I believe that the Lord would say, “My favor is going to be released and extended to help you for your next step. Be encouraged! I am lining things up, bringing the provision and assistance that you need to fulfill the call that I have placed on your life. The puzzle pieces are coming together, and I am going to divinely order the next steps that you need to take.”

Continue to posture your heart in a place of humility and trust, and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Let His joy and His strength rise up in you, for the Lord is going to make your crooked places straight, and do for you what only He can do. Enter into the Lord’s rest today, and continue to put on the garment of praise.

“… Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).

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).”

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” | John 8:32

The Lord is doing a deep work in the heart of His Bride: exposing lies and replacing them with His truth. Many are in the middle of this process, and it may feel uncomfortable. However, know that the end result will be worth it all.

I see such a freedom coming to the very places where you were formerly held in bondage. The Lord is ridding His Bride of unhealthy thought patterns and revealing the truth of His Word to her in this hour. Your loving Bridegroom is reminding you today that indeed, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

I am reminded of an arrow. In order for it to be launched forward, the arrow must first be pulled back. You are not going backwards, but rather the Lord is getting ready to catapult you forward into your destiny. Just like the arrow, as you feel the tension of being pulled back, you are simply gaining the momentum that is needed in order to be launched forward! Resist the lie of the enemy that would seek you to believe that you are going backwards, and that there is no hope for your future. The truth of the matter is that you are getting ready to soar to new heights with the Lord, and He is about to launch you forward!

Great and mighty things are coming swiftly, as this has been a time of preparation. You will soon see how the Lord has been working behind the scenes all along, lining things up for your good. What your Abba Father has planned for you is bigger and greater than what you could ever imagine! Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him (Psalm 34:4-8).

Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. | Matthew 9:17

Do not fear the transition that is happening all around you, rather fully embrace what I am doing in your life. I am not taking away from you; I am adding to you! Though you may currently feel hemmed in and confined, soon you will spread out to the right and to the left, and I will enlarge your borders and extend your tents (Isaiah 54:2). I am going to expand you and entrust you with more, but in order for Me to add the new into your life, you must be willing to let go of the old. The stretching can be an uncomfortable process, but it is, indeed, preparing you for the new that is getting ready to be poured upon you.

In this season, you have been learning to steward well the ‘little’ that I have entrusted you with, and it has prepared you for the ‘more’ that I am getting ready to release upon you. As it is written in My Word, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).

Though things may feel chaotic presently, know that you are in your birthing process, even now! Birthing is a messy and uncomfortable place of transition. Yet—just as a woman in labor has great pain and travail—once a child is born, the mother forgets the pain. Truly, you are on the final stretch, and your pain will soon give way to great joy!

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world (John 16:21).

Be encouraged, My people! A new and glorious day is going to burst forth!

Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace (Luke 1:78-79 NLT).

I remind you in My Word that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Even in what may momentarily feel like disorder, know that My divine order and purposes are being established in your life. I am working everything for your good (Romans 8:28). Trust Me in the process, and do not fear the transition. For surely, you are birthing your promise!

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. | Habakkuk 2:14

Recently, as I was in a posture of prayer, I clearly heard the word “tsunami.” Shortly after, I felt the Lord lead me to look up the word’s definition. As I researched some more, this is the definition I found, according to Oxford Dictionaries:

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” | Isaiah 62:1-3

There is much angelic movement and heavenly activity that is happening behind the scenes. Truly your season has shifted, and you have entered into the new. I believe that the Lord would say to you today, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19). Do not look back; now is the time to move forward!”

You have stayed the course and have refused to give up on the promises He has given you, even in the face of onslaught. The Lord of Hosts is honoring your faithfulness and endurance. As it is written in the Book of Psalms, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me” (Psalm 138:7).

“Rejoice!” Again, I say, “Rejoice!” Praise the Lord for all He has brought you through, and all that He will continue to do. Even now, the Lord is parting your red seas: those very things that have stood between you and your promise. Take heart, for you will cross over with great ease and possess the land!

I believe that the Lord is networking you with like-minded people who have the tools that you need to carry out the God-given vision burning within you. All that has previously been held back from you—that which has seemed impossible—will now come bursting forth with little to no effort on your part. Simply stand still, and see the deliverance of your God (Exodus 14:13).

Today I prophecy that there will be no more delay. You are coming out of your tight and confined place and into a wide, spacious place of victory. The very promises that you have been and contending for and have held onto for many years are going to manifest NOW! Your season has radically shifted, and explosive breakthrough is going to manifest. Truly, “you will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours” (Psalm 128:2). The Lord is going to give you double recompense and restoration where you had once experienced tremendous loss and heartache. Indeed, He is calling you by a new name. 

No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married (Isaiah 62:4).

Again I tell you, you have shifted into your new season, and tremendous breakthrough is happening now. Get ready, get ready, get ready! For you will stand in awe of all that God is releasing upon you. 

“Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people . . .” (Amos 9:13 MSG).