And the LORD answered me:"Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it."
Habakkuk 2:2
Habakkuk 2:2
The Alabaster Wineskin
~Kathi Pelton
(from "Oceans in the Desert") The past two months I have been seeing in my spirit a new wineskin, but had no words to describe what I was seeing other than to say it was seamless and the word, “Oneness” was the best representation of what I was seeing. Then, yesterday I was caught completely by surprise when the Lord took me into an encounter where I saw this new wineskin up close. Rather than it looking like a wineskin made from goat skin this one was alabaster! The new wine that was being poured into it was from the liquid fragrance and perfume that came forth from oneness with Him and one another that was now prepared and being poured out. I saw this perfume filling this alabaster wineskin that will once again be poured over the feet of Jesus by His bride— filling the atmosphere of the earth with the fragrance of oneness. Then the world will know! “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:23 This fragrance of oneness will fill the atmosphere and prepare the world for His return— bringing in the great harvest. The world is longing for the revelation of oneness and its fragrance. For those transformed by this oneness— no longer will theological opinions and differences separate us, denominations or ministry banners will no longer separate us, race and social status will not separate us, borders and oceans will not separate us…for God has drawn us into a oneness and I hear the same words that are spoken when a man and women are married, “What God has joined, no man can separate!” Just as nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, nothing can separate us from the oneness He is creating within His bride with one another. Still, I was wondering how a wineskin and alabaster could be joined. I asked the Lord that question and when I did I saw His Bride and I heard the words, “Just look at her alabaster skin— so pure, soft and transparent.” I had forgotten that often we will refer to a person or baby as having alabaster skin. This is what alabaster skin means, “If you say that someone has alabaster skin, you mean that their skin is very beautiful because it is so white and smooth.” Then I heard the verse, “…that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:27 Is the bride the alabaster wineskin and her oneness with God and one another the perfume that fills it and is poured over the Bridegroom’s feet— filling the earth with the glory of the Lord? Is this how the world will know? Has this quarantine been the hidden chambers where the bride is dressed and prepared for all to see? I am undone by the beauty of what the Lord is doing! Only He could do such a glorious thing. The Lord had spoke to me that 2020 would have the theme, “Not by might, not by power but by My Spirit” says the Lord. This is surely proving to be true! Thank you, Spirit of God, for doing in us that which we could not do for ourselves. We love you! Once again, we thank all of our readers and faithful followers that have risen up to stand in the gap at this time to support this ministry financially. You have blessed us and sustained us through this time that travel has been suspended. We pray for you and your households daily! |
Who(se) Are You?
~Jeffrey Pelton
(from "Freshly Pressed") “Wow. Look at this! This is an aspen. You can tell it’s an aspen because of the way it is.” The Neature Guy, Episode One. If you recognize the really neat quote above, then you are familiar with Lenny Pepperbottom and his series of silly (and very funny) videos on YouTube. It’s a silly statement, but like all silly statements, sometimes within them you can uncover truth. You can determine what a tree is by the “way it is”: it’s appearance, habitat, type of leaves and bark, etc. You can also tell about a person because of they way he or she is. (I’m not referring here to taking a posture of criticism or judgment.) Does the person live vibrantly, with a sense of expectancy and hope? Or does the individual trudge through life, barely existing, waiting for a joy that never really appears? History has long been made by men and women who live with passion, and courage, and hope, regardless of circumstances and irrespective of their abilities and talents. These are heroes who have prevailed in the midst of dreadful calamities, or who have overcome severe personal disabilities, or have chosen to discard lives of privilege to serve others selflessly. We honor such people for their extraordinary accomplishments and their indomitable spirit. We wish we could be like them. Of course, I am ordinary. You are too. But we all desire to be heroes, which is why our culture has diluted the concept, the word itself, so that every small act of kindness or performance of civic duty is now referred to as “heroic.” We are heroes if we volunteer to feed people at a homeless shelter once a month or we pay our taxes on time. These are good things to do, but I don’t think it feeds the longing for the heroic that stirs within each of us. I have good news for us. We belong to the Hero of heroes, and in his eyes we, too, are heroes. You belong to Jesus. So do I. Maybe that sounds crazy, because you don’t see him as anything other than a Jewish teacher who lived millennia ago. But it doesn’t change the truth that God the Son, the Word, is the Creator of everything that exists; nothing was made that he did not make. That means you, me, squirrels, elephants, blue whales, oak trees, the Himalayan mountain range, the earth, the sun, quasars, black holes, super spiral galaxies, superstrings, Higgs boson particles. Go up and out, further and bigger and deeper into infinity; or down and in, burrowing into the tiniest infinity; God is there beyond it all: reaching far beyond the most infinite expanse; existing in detail below the most infinitely tiny quantum vibration. This great personal God created you, and he created you for wonder. You were created to be a wonder. You have a purpose. You are not an accident. We hear that often in our culture nowadays. It is common parlance in all sorts of “reality” shows and therapeutic sound bites and feel-good social media posts. “This is what I was born to do,” we hear people declare, whether the “this” is singing or acting or playing baseball or forming corporations or flying jets or mud wrestling. Something within all of us speaks to us from the deep places: “There is more.” Why the relentless drive? And why do we think we were “made” for anything, “born” for any particular purpose? The drive to excel, to exceed our limitations, to throw ourselves headlong into a great and noble adventure that takes out outside and beyond ourselves, is a part of our human condition. I find no explanation of that, except that God made men and women in his image, and placed eternity and a realization of that great and noble identity within each of us. Much about our present world condition argue against this. That doesn’t make it less true. I won’t argue that it is hard for many of us to believe there is something significant about each of us. It doesn’t appear to be true. But deep inside, each of us knows it is true. And, just like the aspen tree in the silly video I quoted, you can tell you are made for something more, something wonderful, because of the way you are. What do you dream of? When do you truly come alive? How do you see yourself living for something greater and grander than some mundane day-to-day existence? Perhaps those dreams and ideas are markers placed into your very soul by a loving Father who desires for you to flourish and know his goodness and lovingkindness as you reach higher in passion and zeal to accomplish more than you ever dared to dream. When you are alive and flourishing under the mighty hand of God, led by his good and gracious Spirit, you are living authentically and have more to give than you thought possible. When you live this way, you will not be dismayed by setbacks nor seduced by successes. You will not cease advancing in the face of turmoil or shrink back to find tranquility. The adventure before you beckons, and you do not fear the unknown or long for the soft couch of the familiar. Frederick Buechner wrote: “Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC) Reach out to Jesus and discover who you are. We will look at you and say “I can tell you are a child of God because of the way you are.” 
The Yielding: A Lifestyle of Surrender Newly reformatted, with a new afterword by Jeffrey and Kathi Pelton. This book is a fresh look into a life of yielding, which gives a renewed mind and greater trust in the mercy of your heavenly Father of Lights, who sets you free and catapults you into oneness with Jesus that is beyond what you could ever have dreamed possible. "The Yielding is a road map for the heart in the pursuit of intimacy. It inspires, compels and inflames fresh surrender to the one your heart longs for..." ~Ben & Jodie Hughes Pour it Out Ministries To order from Inscribe, write us here. Or purchase from your favorite book seller: The Yielding (print) IndieBound Bookshop Barnes & Noble Trade BAM! (BooksAMillion) Amazon Trade (eBook) Nook Kobo Smashwords AppleBooks Kindle
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