Once upon a December :)

Restoration's coming :)

(to be continued...)

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 Update: Fall 2013

Don't breakdown. Breakthrough! ...We are about to breakthrough! =)

"There's still time to shortcut to Gold level... Your chance starts now... A challenge worth its weight in Gold. You have been selected to participate in The Gold Event where you could fast forward to Gold level. Join the event and earn 12 stars between now and the 31st ... Join now."

-That was in an email from Starbucks. It's obviously about coffee but when I saw it different things jumped at me:

• "There's still time" - This was actually encouraging. It was a reminder that God never gives up on us and His grace is enough for us and for what He has called us to do on this earth. But yeah, we still need to partner with Him and say Yes to His will and His way and that means turning around when we go off the course and realigning our gaze to His face. And really it's all about relationship. Intimacy with Him. He restores our souls and also uses us to do His work of restoration on this earth.
• "The Gold Event"- This immediately reminded me of the "Pimp My Ride" post and a prophetic song I posted there called "Shine!" ♫ My bride! It's all about that wedding day! I'm preparing you to shine! You're gonna shine in righteousness and holiness!...There's gonna be a wedding. It's the reason that we're living. To marry the lamb! ♫ In that post I shared a revelation God gave me of the times we're living in and what He is up to in us, the church, his bride, through the illustration of the "Pimp my ride" show. Take a read. But basically, we are living in the last days and God is setting apart his church for further purification and molding... He is preparing us for the rapture (Jesus is coming back for a pure bride) and we also need the modifications because He is preparing us for greater works - He's going to fill us with soo much of His glory and we're gonna do greater things than Jesus did. What's "The Gold Level"? that's when our bodies are totally transformed. Fullness of God. Fullness of Love. "When He appears we shall be like Him.""He who begun a good work in you shall carry it on to completion at the day of Christ." God revealed to me more about that in the Beauty & the Beast "To be human again" post, I included revelation I got when I watched the movie and Scriptural confirmation as well as other sources of confirmation. "...the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." (Romans 13:11)
• Then what's with the "Short-cut?"/"Challenge worth it's weight"?/"Fast forward"thing? Well God has been reminding me that when all is said and done, everything boils down to LOVE. That's what it's ALL about. Even in the "Pimp my ride" post He told me, "Love is not just the tool that Jesus uses to transform you but it is also His goal for pimping your ride. Bearing more of His Love to be able to give out more of His Love to others." And if that's the goal then it's also our security deposit as well as our ticket. But many times we get distracted from loving God with our all and loving others like Jesus loved us (sacrificially). Many times we get wrapped up in our own lives and issues and totally forget about our neighbor and those suffering around us. Many times we get all religious and forget it's about relationship with God which involves loving Him and obeying Him. I don't know about you but when I notice that I've done this (not walking in love) I feel bad and beat myself up. But God's like, no stop beating yourself up, there's still time so just surrender your burdens and sin and I'll put you back on track. So it is surrender that is the shortcut to restoration. Not just in our relationship with God but with others. God isn't individualistic, He's all about community. Jesus wants us to lay down our lives for others. That's real love and it's that kind of surrender/sacrifice that will restore relationships -with each other-> the body of Christ, as well as the lost to their Father. It reminds me of Misty Edwards' song, ♫ When it's all been said, when it's all been done, when the race is run, "Did you learn to love?" That's what you'll ask of me.♫
• K last point. What's with the "earn 12 stars between now and the 31st ... Join now."? And why am I even combining this starbucks revelation with this Anastasia post????

Royalty. Restoration. Sign of the Endtimes!

So in the Anastasia post, I shared Fall of 2012 God taught me stuff through that about myself but like I mentioned in that post He also taught me about family and this post was meant to be about that. But all I did was share the two videos and two words. "Restoration's coming!" There's a lot I have to share about family but I'll keep it short for the sake of this post.

"12 Stars" when I saw that it reminded me of the twelve tribes of Israel. So what does "earn 12 stars mean'? Well something that's earned is something that's wanted so bad that you're willing to pay a price for it, something of significance. In Anastasia, the girl Anastasia grew up in an orphanage and couldn't recall her past, and more than anything she wanted to be reunited with her family (that's why she sung the Journey to the past song at the beginning). She also sung the "Once Upon a December" song twice... once wishfully by herself and at the end when she was reunited with her mother, the Queen, they sung it together. She faced a lot of challenges as she was on her journey to find her mother. Most of the opposition came from Rasputin who was caused to awaken when Anastasia returned to the old palace and agreed to let Demitri help her find her royal identity and family. I like this a lot because it clearly shows spiritual warfare... the forces of evil strongly at work to keep us from learning our royal identity found in Christ... yes identities in Christ and that applies to all believers; but in addition, in the REAL Identity post God was showing me that He is doing "A New thing" in the desert. He is awakening the people of Israel who have been scattered all over the earth (and it's not just people who know their Jewish heritage but other people who are unaware since that info wasn't passed down). And in that post God was showing me the big picture about what's going on in the world but especially in America and right here in California, right here in Santa Barbara,...different groups of people who may have some different tribes of Israel somewhere in their bloodline and how when these groups of people unite there will be an explosion of God's glory like never before! post: One New Man.

That's cool right? Yay! unity and revival!  Wohoo! Yes that's great news but it's also meant to awaken us to the times we're living in. In the Bible the restoration of the tribes of Israel is a clear indicator of the endtimes... Check out the prophetic books, the restoration of Israel usually happens towards the end of the book and it's usually after a chapter talking about judgment/distress/shaking. We are going into a season of great harvest and great joy. God is going to restore Zion's fortunes. He's taught me a lot about this through his Word and also through some events in my life and in my family's life. The time has come! It excites me more than anything but it also grieves me because I have been distracted from sharing all that God has been showing me and preparing y'all for what I see coming soon. If it's time for restoration then it's also time for judgement of the nations. 

"God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years."But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions." (Genesis 15:14)

"He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite." (Exodus 3: 6-8)

"earn 12 stars between now and the 31st"??

I know with the example of my family, a few years ago God gave prophetic words about my family through Shayne and Matt Sloan back when I was a Bible study leader in InterVarsity... we were doing listening prayer for each other and Shayne got a picture of an empty house and what she described was the apartment we were living in and I took that to mean that we were going to move out. Then Matt shared his vision, he saw a picture of another house and I didn't recognize it. I took it to mean that God was going to give us a new house. Then like in the vision we ended up moving out a few months after that but not to a new house... but with my sisters... stuff happened... lots of stories I haven't shared... and now it's come to that time that she wants us to move out by January. So the "between now and the 31st" could mean 2 different things, either:

1. This provision will happen by the end of 2013- Not just for my family but also the bigger picture of God restoring fortunes to Zion. As exciting as this is I really hope and pray that this is not the case, not yet. In the Hiding Place post I shared a dream that I had in the Spring of 2012. My mum, lil sis and I were driving from Anaheim to my other sister's house in Murrieta when suddenly an earthquake hit then the ground our car was on was elevated and it looked like we were on pride rock from Lion King. Pride Rock  represents rest, restoration and the promised land as I described in that post but from the dream it seemed like this would happen during a time of distress. I'm beyond excited for the blessings that are coming but my heart really breaks for this land and I'm praying that God gives us more time to be prepared for what's gonna take place.
2. It could also just mean that God wants me not to wait for the new year to start a fresh and give my all. I can do that now. I have so much I haven't shared... so much confirmation I've gathered this year and different styles for different audiences. Please pray for me to rest in Him, to be still and let all that He's given me to share to just flow.

I may have totally lost you in this post, but if you didn't get anything out of this, all I'm saying is we need to seek God with all our hearts, we need to pray and interceed (posts: Time to SEEK! and A Call to Fast), we need to unite and fight using weapons of spiritual warfare. "The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)

You can check out this clip, got lots of confirmation from it. I'll talk about it in another post.

♫ I can feel a breakthough coming! I'm feeling like a breakthrough is coming. I can see... A breakthrough is coming, coming for me. Cause my heart, it was made to fly. Destiny can't be denied I'm tired of waiting. I am overdue for a breakthrough. I can feel a breakthrough coming. I can feel a breakthrough coming ♫ http://youtu.be/JdKzOy6C5MY

But like I said before, the shortcut to restoration and breakthrough is surrender. Laying down our burdens and our all before God so He can fill us up with more of His Spirit and it's the Spirit who operates in and through us bearing fruit... but also laying down our lives for others, freely giving what we have freely received. Lord help us! Check out Christafari's version of: ♫ I surrender all. ♫