Today’s Reading:
1 Peter 2
Isaiah 55
Deuteronomy 28
“So keep coming to him who is the Living Stone —though he was rejected and discarded by men but chosen by God and is priceless in God’s sight. Come and be his “living stones” who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God. For now you serve as holy priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices that he readily accepts through Jesus Christ. For it says in Scripture: Look! I lay a cornerstone in Zion, a chosen and priceless stone! And whoever believes in him will certainly not be disappointed.”
1 Peter 2:4-6 TPT
I heard the Spirit of the Living God say,
I want you to shine in a way the world can’t ignore. I want you to rip off the old garments from the last season, fling them aside and be clothed afresh with priestly garments, have your feet shod afresh with priestly shoes. The priesthood of My persecuted Church is rising. Those who have been hunted, mistreated and whose lives have been come against by dark forces of evil, decay, and greed for devouring — they will now become the hunters. They will hunt for all that has been lost, broken, stolen, dismantled and destroyed. They will rebuild the desolate heritages. And they will call on the Lord their God, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth for repayment in full, for recompense. What qualifies them to do so? Having traveled that long, lonely road. They have gone the distance required to demand repayment in full.
“But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world. For at one time you were not God’s people, but now you are. At one time you knew nothing of God’s mercy, because you hadn’t received it yet, but now you are drenched with it!”
1 Peter 2:9-10 TPT
Open your eyes. Your ideas about the persecuted Church are narrow. Mine are much vaster, much wider, much more encompassing. Livelihoods threatened, heritages threatened, generational wealth and boundary lines threatened — that is persecution. I Am rising up and settling accounts. I Am prepared to settle accounts with those who have gone the full distance, who have traveled the lonely road. And this is a time of favor, restitution, recompense and justice. What you have seen cannot be unseen. But it can be diminished by fresh joy. What you have experienced and the tears you have cried will not un-happen, but I will use them to mark your character, your judgement and your heart for the good in ways that touch many generations.
““For my thoughts about mercy are not like your thoughts, and my ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so my ways and my thoughts are higher than yours. “As the snow and rain that fall from heaven do not return until they have accomplished their purpose, soaking the earth and causing it to sprout with new life, providing seed to sow and bread to eat. So also will be the word that I speak; it does not return to me unfulfilled. My word performs my purpose and fulfills the mission I sent it out to accomplish.” For you will leave your exile with joy and be led home wrapped in peace. The mountains and hills in front of you will burst into singing and the trees of the field will applaud! Cypress trees will flourish where there were only thorns and myrtle trees instead of briars. These will stand as a testimony to Yahweh’s renown, everlasting signs that will not be cut off.”
Isaiah 55:8-13 TPT
The road has been long and oftentimes lonely. But I have traveled it with you. I have sent fellow lonely travelers to meet you from time to time. Be encouraged. Take heart. Today is the day of a fresh start, a new beginning. The old garments for the old mode of being the tail and the trodden are done. Rise up my beautiful warrior. Be shod afresh in My love with these priestly garments. And recover all. Recover all, and I will add to it. This is a new day.
How to Respond
- Pray, Lord help me to see my life circumstances from Your perspective. Help me to see the long, lonely road as one that qualifies me for recompense, repayment and justice. You did not create me to be the tail. You did not intend for my name, my character, my life and livelihood to be mercilessly trodden upon. You created me for victory. Help me to rise up and receive all that is owed to me for the persecution, destruction, loss and suffering that the enemy has wrought in my life.
- Declare, “The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,”
Deuteronomy 28:13 NASB1995 - Decree, God’s ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I will rise up and shine. I will rip off the garments of defeat and allow the Lord to clothe me afresh in priestly garments of victory and grace. The Lord will settle my accounts and demand repayment on my behalf. The thief will be made to repay seven times what he has stolen. I will allow the Lord to use all that has taken place in my life to bless and not curse and to make a positive, godly impact on future generations.
For more encouragement from The Glory & New Wine, check out the post from this day in years past:
2025:
2024:
2023:
2022:
2021:
