Friends, be encouraged. You are coming out of a wilderness season into something new.
(Graphic by James Nesbit via www.jnesbit.com)
At the time of this writing, we are in the Days of Awe—the ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur. The Jewish New Year (which began at sundown on September 25th) creates a great opportunity to pause and reflect. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah is also called “The Day of the Sounding of the Shofar” (The Feast of Trumpets), “The Day of Remembrance,” and “The Day of Judgment.” Each of these names signifies important aspects behind the divine purpose in designing the change to a new civil calendar year.
Rosh Hashanah traditionally deals with divine remembrance, with several books opened by God on this day, one being the Book of Remembrance (see Mal. 3:16). It also ties in with the judgment and rewarding of believers. The Day of Remembrance was a day for Israel to remember God, who He is, and all that He does, and in reciprocity God remembers His people.
It is also on this day that the Book of Life is opened, at which time God holds a trial. Hence, it is called The Day of Judgment because it was known as a time when a heavenly court sits to review each person’s life. Obviously, repentance then becomes extremely important in association with this feast.
In one of my recent articles, I referenced this passage (Mal. 3:16-17). I wrote how I heard the Lord say, “There’s been a tremendous refining process among the body of Christ, and especially among those who have already been tried and found as gold. For these are those of whom it has been said: ‘”They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”’” (See Mal. 3:17; see also Mal. 3:2-3; Zech. 9:16.) To these I heard the Lord say—”All the signs and wonders in the book of Acts shall be yours!”
Just recently the Lord directed me to the passage in Luke 4 in which Jesus was tempted by Satan (4:1-13). If you recall, it was after Jesus came out of this time of being tempted in the wilderness that His launch into ministry truly began.
As I prayed and meditated before the Lord concerning this passage, the Holy Spirit brought to mind a Scripture that He has been emphasizing to me for at least a year now—Song of Songs 8:5a (NKJV), which reads: “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” It was then that the dots began to connect between all these Scripture passages for me.
Friends, be encouraged. You are coming out of a wilderness season into something new. I heard the Lord say, “YOU’RE COMING OUT OF A SEASON OF GREAT TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS, AND INTO SOMETHING BRAND NEW THAT I HAVE PREPARED FOR YOU!!”
Posted on Charisma Magazine.
Diane is a writer, speaker and minister ordained with both Christian International and Generals International. Her articles are regularly featured on The Elijah List, as well as platforms like Charisma Magazine, Charisma News, Intercessors For America and others. She and her husband, Allen, co-founded Starfire Ministries with a vision to see the kingdom established beyond the four walls of the traditional church. They host a podcast with Charisma Podcast Network, and serve as Church Mountain, Regional, and Montana Coordinators for the Reformation Prayer Network, and as Media Mountain Leader/Facilitators for C.I.’s Culture Influencers.
