Better Than Before
Many prophetic words have been released since the coronavirus, but one by Bishop Bill Hamon of Christian International especially resonated with me. In March he prophesied, “This time of coronavirus God is using to check us out to see if we are going to maintain our faith, be brave and courageous like Joshua and Caleb. Those who manifest the right spirit and attitude, God is choosing them to be the ones to manifest His glory in the new awakening!”
Recently, this word was quickened to me again. Not only is Bishop Hamon one of the most accurate and proven prophetic voices today, but I, too, have sensed the Lord is watching His saints.
2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJV) says: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” Perhaps, especially now, the Lord is carefully observing us.
I’ve heard the Lord say, “There’s hope out there.” Just as there has to be that slight connection to spring, or else none of us would make it through a long, hard winter, the Lord wants to breathe fresh life into areas where you’ve experienced loss. Like a dormant plant that sprouts new growth at the first sign of spring, the Lord wants to breathe new life and hope into areas where the coronavirus has affected you. The Lord would remind you that He can redeem, He can restore—He can make things better than before!
A Wave of Healing
There are so many areas where people have been affected by this virus. Whether it’s actual loss of life or health, financial and economic loss, or the many cancellations and postponements of every type of event and happening imaginable—countless hopes and dreams have been dashed or hang in the balance.
For me and my husband, personally, we’ve had to cancel travel plans to visit one of our children stationed in the military overseas; we’ve had to postpone a 40th wedding anniversary celebration our children planned to surprise us with, and, like so many others, we have had our share of personal financial concerns as well as questions about the long-term overall economy.
Yet in the midst of this, I’ve heard the Lord say, “It’s going to be a good few weeks.” The challenge then becomes attitude. Each day I remind myself—by the grace of God—to expect the next few weeks to be good. I remind myself to praise and thank the Lord in anticipation of what’s coming. I choose to refuse fear, worry and frustration, and to operate out of faith, hope and positive expectation. Some days it’s easier to do this than others, but I’ve made this determination nonetheless. What about you—will you make this same resolution?
For several weeks now, I’ve been hearing the Lord speak of something coming. I heard, “There’s something coming, and it is a move of My healing.” Again, more recently, I heard, “There will be a wave of healing after this ends.”
Remember, according to the prophet’s word it will be those who manifest the right spirit and attitude that God uses to manifest His glory in the new awakening. Malachi 4:2 (NKJV) has recently come alive to me, “But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.”
Friends, you can expect to see a great move of healing released as a manifestation of His glory. I believe this to be, first and foremost, actual physical healing, but there will also be healing of finances and relationships, as well as lost hopes and dreams. And those who have exhibited the right attitude will be those who ride the crest of this wave.
A First-Fruits Mentality
Recently the Lord reminded me of a story from the life of Rees Howells, the great intercessor. There is much about this man’s life and ministry worth noting, but nothing impacted me quite like reading the account of his first “healing.” He had been in a place of prayer for six months regarding a particular woman’s healing, but basically—to put it bluntly—the woman died.
There is more to the story than I can relay here, but according to Howells the Holy Spirit later revealed to him why it had been necessary for the woman to die. It was so that, “‘…[N]o flesh should glory in His presence.’ In a great position like this, God would not be free to use it through a person who had not first ‘died’ to it. It is death first and then resurrection. As the first-born and the first-fruits were to be given back to the Lord, so the first case of healing, the first-fruits of this intercession, belonged to the Lord and had to go to the altar.” [Grubb, Norman. Rees Howells, Intercessor (CLC Publications, Fort Washington, PA, reprinted 2013), pg. 79-80.]
He prayed for a consumptive woman for six months, but she died in the end. However, she died in victory. As Howells interceded for the sick he began to hear God’s voice more clearly, and he came to know what God’s will for the sick person was—life or death. I sense the Lord looking for a mindset of first fruits among us. The whole idea behind first fruits is that in the end, you will gain more than you sacrifice—you will be given back more than you lost. That’s because the sacrifice of first fruits causes a blessing to rest upon your household (Ezekiel 44:30). But first, you must give something up.
Kingdom 101
The Lord has supernaturally and repeatedly directed me to the same two verses over the last few weeks. The first is Matthew 6:33 (NKJV), “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The second is Micah 6:8 (NKJV), “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
When events take an unexpected turn and we feel apprehensive or confused, the Lord uses the most fundamental biblical principles to ground us. He is looking for those who are operating out of basic Kingdom principles like the ones found in these verses. It is my conviction that the manner in which you handle this outbreak will determine, to some extent, how the Lord will use you moving forward when it’s done.
My prayer is that we will not see a continuation of this outbreak—we will not see further spread. But regardless, the Lord has a Kingdom to build. The truth is, sometimes your own plans of what things are going to look like have to cease and then the Lord gives you something better. Will you trust Him in this?
Diane Lake
Starfire Ministries
Email: info@starfireministries.org
Website: www.starfireministries.org
Elijah List Publications
528 Ellsworth St. SW
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250