A year ago today, April 20, 2016, we stood in a crowded stadium in Hamilton, Ontario with a handful from our church. 12,0000 people all there to enjoy the music and worship God. OUTCRY Tour 2016!
During the OutCry concert put on by Hillsong, 12 pastors were handpicked to come up on stage with Pastor Brian Houston to be prayed for. We were one of them. As we climbed on to that big stage and stood there before 12,000 people… it was overwhelming. Pastor Brian prayed for each individual couple and for the city they represented. Off in the distance, to my right as we were on the stage, I heard these words, “We love you Pastor Dave,” that was our church. That night something special happened in the spirit. Something came alive and we became a target.
The only thing I can say in looking back is that we were marked. That night, as we stood above the crowd, in front of the people, God put His finger on us and the devil took notice.
If I told you all the attacks we endured since that moment… it was an attack against my husband’s integrity. The enemy used people to turn on us and try to divide us. The enemy tried to split us up as husband and wife and pitted church vs pastor. Some tried to take us down and out… and some were like Phygelus and Hermogenes in 2 Timothy 1:15 and gave up and abandoned us. But a lot of people in our lives became like the House of Onesiphorus and refreshed us [2 Timothy 1:16]. God brought people from the four corners of the Earth to encourage us. Those are the people I need to spend my time and energy remembering. Looking back, this night at OutCry was not the beginning of the end, it was the beginning of something new.
God spoke to me [through someone] that the summer of 2016 was the start of a new revival, a time of many changes. Specifically ministering to the spiritual outcasts who have been pushed away by unloving Christians [goats]. It was the start of a new revival that will come in 3 waves. Not everyone has spiritual discernment; only those who have ears to hear and have been seeking the Lord will catch this new wave.
As I’ve said for the past 365 days, it is time to celebrate!
• The first wave is purity and cleansing.
• The second wave is power encounters and healing.
• The third wave is the harvest for those who have been rejected by Christians.
God said His church will prevail!
Exactly as was spoke over us in July, in October when we attended the Supernatural Conference in Las Vegas at The Church LV, God revealed strategies and His plans for our next season, plans that were hidden until now. We finally received the picture on the box for the puzzle pieces.
Read more about the prophetic words we received about our summer and fall 2016, “A Time for Major Change“. I wrote about it in November 2016.
In December [2016] I spend some time searching my heart for my “ONE WORD” for 2017. God what did you want for my life for this following year? The word, “HEAL” came to mind and I couldn’t shake it. Weeks later I decided, it wasn’t a coincidence. It was my word.
At the beginning of January someone reached out to me and said, “GET YOUR HOPES UP! Your due season is overdue. Do not give up. The Lord has not forgotten you. Expect the Wind of Change to blow heavily, it will remove debris and uncover hidden treasures.”
A couple weeks later [January 22] we took some of our leadership team to hear Pastor Mark Francey preach. He was doing a Leadership Workshop at our friend’s church. At the end of the workshop he started praying for people. He called my husband and myself up front. As he was praying, he prophesied over us about bitter waters being made sweet, from Exodus 15:22-26. The Lord said, what God started, He would finish. We have tasted good water [in October in Vegas] and we would become producers of it. 2017 is going to be a year our church / family / marriage who knows what it’s like to produce good / sweet / fresh water. It was POWERFUL! You can listen to his whole message here, he speaks to us specifically around 1:27:06.
The next day at church, at end of the last worship song, one of the names for God, Jehovah Rapha, came to mind so strongly that I spontaneously spoke it out loud. Then during my husband’s sermon the scripture verse Pastor Mark shared with us kept rolling around in my head. Before the service ended I decided to google for an image to go with those verses…
Right?!!
There’s no such thing as coincidence in the Kingdom of God.
It’s been a full year of God speaking and God directing our every step since that moment on the stage in 2016.
February word: it’s a time of transition and uncertainty, but God is aware of our needs and He has us covered.
March word: major changes in relationships, associations, locations and ultimately it will bring new assignments to you. Get in position to receive more of His Glory and presence. [In March we decided to partner our church with ARC Global Churches, and the BothAnd Network.]
A couple of weeks ago [April 4, 2017] we met a couple for the first time who pastor a church in Brantford. During the dinner they asked to pray with us.
They had this to share:
A picture of a tree where some branches had died and some had been pruned back but to focus on the little green shoots pushing through. “A new seed has been planted, you’re in a germination stage, the stage right before the pollen (more life) spreads.” A few other things were said, which were bang on, i.e. that our church is beacon for the lost and other things my husband has been talking about to our church for the past 2-3 years!
This is the second time since October (in Vegas) a vision of a tree, which appears to be in distress, but has new life growing, has been shared with me.
April word: The Lord is restoring lost fortunes, land and callings. He is fulfilling promises that have been spoken over us long ago. New wine, new oil, new water!
Over the past year God has been guiding us to the place He wants us to be. Looking back… His hand has been visible every step of the way! I am grateful for those who can also see what God is doing and have stayed by our side (or those who’ve supported us from a far) in anticipation for the new season. It always takes time between what you sense in the spirit and what you see with your eyes. Time to get things in order and make the changes necessary so that what God wants for us as a church and as a family can take place. I don’t begrudge those who couldn’t see what God saw, who got caught up in the gossip and the drama, who took on the offence of others, and those who gave up and disappeared from our lives. I lost my way in the midst of the chaos, so I totally get it, but I can honestly say now, for the first time in a long time, I’m excited to see what comes next.
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It is important we become sensitive to the spiritual atmosphere around us. We need to learn to discern what is from God and what is not. Developing that discernment only comes with practice. All of our spiritual experiences, and everything that we do, needs to be laid on the foundation of knowing God better.
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” – Ephesians 1:17
