Category: prophecy

Colorful letters spelling Happy Birthday on a wall
Christian living, Family, prophecy

A Birthday Reflection Redo – Some things I’ve Learned in 55 years

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For those who read my original birthday reflection, I jumped into the subject of prophetic words. It felt like that would be a better blog onto itself. So, I’m doing a little rewriting here, and I’ll give more attention to the prophetic word subject later, when we can dive deeper. So, here you go.

You know you are getting a bit older, when you start referring to things happening in “decades”. It happened this morning. I mused about how long it has been since we have gotten an accumulation of snow in the south like we have right now. Five to six inches is quite a lot for us, “southerners”. Yet, as I thought about the last time this had happened, I thought, “Well, that must have been at least a decade ago.”

“A decade ago.” “Two decades ago.” “Three decades ago.” Yikes.

And so, here I am a little over five and a half decades of life lived, thinking a lot about what I want the rest of the decades of my life to be like, realizing that “the longer I live, the less I seem to know”. That famous quote is true, because the longer I live, the more perspective I gain, which shows me the more room I need for growth. The more understanding I have leads to perceiving how I really don’t know as much as I thought I once did.

I am going to bullet point some things I have been learning about in the past 55 years of living. I say been learning because again the more I think I got it, the more I seem I have to learn. A new curve ball gets thrown that makes me refine my perspective. I will flesh out some of these statements over the next few months, as the Spirit leads me to do.

Words and their meanings really matter. Over the course of the this past decade, (Remember, I’m older now and can refer to life through that lens, ha!) the meaning of words have been morphing and changing. I’ve been informed of this phenomenon many times by my younger generation friends. One thing I’ve really noticed in our culture is that there is a tendency to group several meanings of words under one word, which blurs the meaning. This causes confusion and opens the door to misunderstanding and even abuse. Take the word “autism”, which I’ve had a crash course in recently due to a friend who has it. The meaning and application of that one word is extremely broad, so much so they had to call it an “autistic spectrum”. Other religious examples that come to mind are “prophetic” and “forgive”. There is also a ton of abuse that has gone on using scriptures or Biblical principles, as they are weaponized against people to control or manipulate them. If you want help with that, take a look at Rebecca Davis’s Untwisting Scripture book series. In all this, the importance of understanding the meaning of words and how they are used is paramount. This requires us to stop and ask good questions, and not just assume the meaning of things.

God doesn’t command us to forgive, unless a person is repentant. He does command us to love and to pray for people. I’ll dive into this one more in the future, as I am unlearning and relearning some things about this.

Creativity is a huge component in healing our brain, our body, our emotions, and even our Spirit. It causes our brain to shift to a positive place, where connections can be made to help us process out trauma and pain. You can refer to come of my previous blogs on this. Start with “Exploring Our God Given Imagination: Part One”.

Love. Joy. Peace. Faith. Even things like Unity. These are actually forces that move and change things. Everything else will fail, except for love. Think about that. When we get caught up in attacking one another, cursing each other, placing one other in “camps”, we are giving into the work of the enemy. Yet, when we turn away from that, and truly love people, which is an action that begins with patience, we can literally change atmospheres. One act of patience, kindness, gentleness can defuse explosive situations, and restore unity. We don’t really understand the power of it. Love is patient, kind, gentle. See 1 Cor. 13 for the definition of what love really is.

Unhealed pain that we refuse to allow into the Light of God, that we nature and hold onto, leaves the doors wide open to the enemy to come in and harm us. One of the main temptations that get thrown our way, and seems so right is to take false responsibility over things that aren’t ours to do. As soon as we put our hands on what is meant for the Holy Spirit to do, we become our own mini-gods, and control and elitism are right on the heels. According to Kathie Walters, every move of God has been stopped by someone taking false responsibility. That’s huge.

Seek justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God. If we follow this recipe, then we will stay balanced in the tossing waves of the storms we are in as a society. Justice is the foundation of God’s throne. Last year, particularly, God consistent spoke to me that justice is coming and being done. Personally, I went on a journey of reporting some crimes that I had experienced as a child, at the beginning of last year. Again, this is one I’ll dive into later, but there were some important lessons learned in that whole process. Our legal systems may not bring justice as it should, but God will in His time.

Sitting in the mercy seat is essential for dispensing justice and judgments. See the blog I wrote entitled “The Two Thrones” for more of this.

Sometimes, you just have to let go. Freewill is REALLY important to God. As much as you want to help someone, and you want to love someone, you can’t force anyone to do anything. In fact, you truly can’t have LOVE, if you don’t have freewill. When someone chooses to leave, you have to let go. Letting go is also an act of TRUSTING GOD.

“BE like the CENTURION,” rang in my Spirit on New Year’s Day this year. That meant to me that it’s not up to me to fix things, or fix people. I don’t even have to be present. All I have to do is believe that Jesus knows what HE’s doing and has the authority to do it. All I have to do is ask Him, and BELIVE Him. Our FAITH in Jesus is what moves the mountains, and we all have a measure of it.

Sometimes, I just need to listen. What people need more than our instruction and “great wisdom” (a little sarcasm here) is to be heard and seen first. Then, that may open the door for us to share our hearts too. I’m too fast to jump in with advice, because of wanting to help. It’s so easy for me to get into fix it, momma-mode. And almost every time, it’s not received and causes relational stress. Most of the time, people know what they need to do. They just need a safe person to share with.

We have to have a true north – a compass in life or we will wander off and get lost. There is truth that is unchanging and is stable to stand on. As a believer in Jesus, that for me is found in my relationship with Him and in the scriptures. If I veer from that relationship and/or His word, I become like that ship tossed about on a ship in a storm.

Sometimes, we just need to REST. This is a constant battle in me. I want to do. I want to fix. I want to take action. Finish a project. I hate it when people I love are hurting, and I can’t do something about it. Yet, Jesus consistently had to pull away from people Himself when He was on earth and rest. He had to go rest in His Father’s Love and know His Father’s heart. That’s how He knew what the Father’s will was at every turn, because He was in constant fellowship with Him. If we try to do life, without staying in the Ps. 91 place, abiding under the shadow of His wings, we will quickly burn out. Jesus didn’t respond to the needs of people. He did whatever His Father did. He pulled away. And He responded to faith.

Identity. Identity. Identity. It’s in those times of RESTING in the heart of God and meditating on His word, that I find out who He has created me to be. He already knows the future; therefore, He already knows who I’ve become in Him. These times of experiencing God define me. He reveals to me my identity in Him, which is uniquely mine, because He has created each of us with a divine blueprint of who we are in Him, and what HE has called us to do and be. Knowing this and remembering this, keep me on the right path towards life in Him. And in turn, I learn more of who He is. And how much He truly love us, which changes me more to be like Him.

Well, I think that’s enough to chew on for a few months at least. Thank you for reading and allowing me to share a few things I’m learning on the way. I pray it helped you.

Hopefully, I have a few decades left to live on this earth, and I hope I can live them well, in timing and relationship with my Lord and Savior, obeying His will. I pray I can do that with a little more perspective than before – with a bit more understanding, that only walking with Him through time can give. And if I have gained any wisdom, that I can share that in the right way, at the right time, so that it can help someone else on their journey with Jesus.

That’s my simple birthday wish.

Grateful for each of you. Love to you all.

A hand holding a small green seedling
Class, Family, God encounters, Newsletter, prophecy, Uncategorized

Mustard Seed of Faith

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Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains! Let’s talk about what that looks like in our monthly Encounter Classes!

Charismata Marie Weaver smiling, with colorful artwork behind her

For August, our normal, monthly classes run on the first Sat. at 9:00 am et set, and the third Sunday, at 7:00 pm et..

This month we will be taking a look at what faith is, and how to walk in it.  I’ll be sharing about a mustard seed faith time in my life.  Our time with God will be focused on encountering Him with our faith, and our creative art time will depict what that looks like.  I hope you will join in this special time together.  

If you have not signed up yet for the monthly encounter classes, you can go to the Encounter Class page of our website for more information or to the sign up. 

It is a monthly subscription where you can either sign up for once a month, or twice a month, and can be paused or stopped at any time.  The classes are also recorded for your convenience.

Hope to see you soon!

Much Love, 

Carolyn

Mark Your Calendar!!!  On Saturday, November 18th, I will be doing an in-person Encounter Class, and a Premiere ART SHOW with worship and prophetic story!!!  
The Location will be at Wendy’s Mountain, close to Traveler’s Rest, SC.  This will be a ticketed event.  Details to follow in September.  
Hands fitting white puzzle pieces together
God encounters, Newsletter, prophecy, Uncategorized, Visions

When the Pieces Begin to Come Together

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One step leads to the next.  Just take the next step…
About ten minutes into a recent conversation with Wendy Manzo, prophetic artist, and author, my eyes welled up with good tears. (www.WendyManzo.com)

I realized in that moment the reason why God started me on this healing journey with art, probably 14 years ago…

Lying on my side in my bed, I was so tired of living that every breath became more shallow as it took everything in me to fill my lungs again.  As a sweet peace descended over me, I honestly thought I’d wake up in heaven in Jesus’s arms.  I had no energy left to fight the raging battles within my own mind, nor to raise the three precious babies peering at me over the side of the bed. 

Yet, God had other plans.  Within a week, a friend’s words prophesied over me that I was sinking in quick sand, and the more I fought to get out the deeper I sank, but Jesus would throw me a life line and pull me out.A few days later, I heard the words of my Savior say, “Pick up your paint brush and start painting your freedom.”

What I didn’t realize then was that when we partner with God in the creative process, it is spiritual warfare that breaks bondages off of us. It’s more than just a healthy way to process your emotions.  Creating is who God is.  Creator.  Abusers intentionally shut down the creative process for a reason.

I’ve lost count of how many people have told me that their abusers threw away their art supplies as a child and forbade them to create.  Yet, when engaging with God in the creative artistic process they come back to life.  Why?  Because creativity is a powerful, God-given force to bring life and to set people free.

I further believe out of my own experiences and out of others that the creative process in using our God-given imagination is a connection point between earth and heaven.  The part of the Lord’s Prayer where Jesus talks about “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, is talking about manifesting the kingdom of heaven here on earth, and one way to do that is through the creative process, as we sense things of heaven and manifest an expression of that on earth.  As we do, we are yielding to the Holy Spirit in us, and allow Holy Spirit to work through us to release heaven here.  

Flash forward from the almost taking my last breath moment to about four years ago… I wake up from a dream about saving a woman and her child out of sex trafficking, to seeing a vision in my mind’s eye of me teaching art classes to survivors.  As I focused in on that vision, I heard a booming voice inside, “Teach others what I’ve taught you.”I had no idea of how to do this.  I had no examples to follow.  But I’ve just taken a baby step forward, then God says step here, and then step there, and then step over here, I’ve started to see the puzzle piece begin to fall into place.  

Somewhere along this journey, I’m finally coming to understand that one significant piece in my healing journey was the rope of the creative process in painting my freedom that helped pull me out of a pit of quicksand, and give me new hope for the future.  I began to heal.  And now so, I throw the rope out to others through classes, through the books, through the one on one talks.  And Jesus slips one more piece into the puzzle to wholeness.  Isn’t that wonderful!

This is what my story, my business is all about.  It’s way more than just learning to paint a picture.  It truly is healing hearts through arts.  

Won’t you join me on this journey?   Check out our sample class on the Encounter Class page on our website. I’d love to have you join us on this healing journey together.

Much Love,

Charismata
Waterfall cascading through white mist
Christian living, Family, God encounters, prophecy, Uncategorized, Visions

No Shrines This Time

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A year and a half ago, I stood on the grounds of where part of the second great awakening occurred – the home of the Cane Ridge Revival, which is less than an hour from Ashbury, where the current outpouring of God’s spirit is just starting.

While walking the grounds at Cane Ridge that day, I felt like I was in two places at once. Standing by an old worn, wooden fence, I could almost see the fiery preacher standing on the mound in the middle of the cow pasture. In the center of the grounds stood an antique, 1800’s camp-meeting building which was now enshrined in a more modern structure. This revival had begun when different denominations had gathered together to pray in unity. Amazingly, the Holy Spirit fell and the flow that came from it affected the world.

More on the Cane Ridge Revival – https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-45/revival-at-cane-ridge.html

As I’ve listened to the reports of the Ashbury revival getting underway, what has stood out to me is that no one man is leading it. It is being led by Jesus. It is primarily the younger generation, multi-cultural, multi-denomination all in unity making room for the presence of the Lord in ongoing worship for ten days now. It is spreading fast like a wildfire, an outpouring like Niagara Falls (see Kathie Walter’s post about that on Facebook).

Recently, when I’ve been on college campuses, in my Spirit, there has been this overwhelming anticipation of God showing up. I also just wrote about this next move coming through the younger generation here – https://blossomingheartsstudio.com/2023/02/01/designed-with-purpose

The Lord has been saying for some time now through many voices that God’s spirit will be poured out in many places, some you would not expect, in homes, in businesses, in churches, on college campuses. It reminds me of our own journey of finding the Holy Spirit in multiple different places. From Episcopal to Methodist to Baptist to Charismatic to everything in between God’s spirit is on the move. For more of our own journey, read here. https://wholeheartedwomen.org/2019/04/27/unexpected-journey/

Back to the day we visited Cane Ridge, as I came around the corner of the building which housed the original camp-meeting structure, the Holy Spirit boomed in my spirit, “This next move of My Spirit will not become a shrine! No man will be able to put their hand on it. No man will be able to claim it and make it about them or their kingdom. I am done with man’s shrines!” No lie, as I careened around that last corner of the building and sauntered up to the locked, wooden doors, I squinted to read the words on the plaque in front of the building. There, imprinted in pewter, were the words “The Cane Ridge Shrine”. I gasped.

This next move will not have man’s hands on it. It will not be about a man or a man’s kingdom. It will be about Jesus. It will be about Jesus’s Kingdom. And it will sweep our nation and the world, beginning with our youth, like the most huge waterfall gushing rapidly.

We are entering the age of the Waterbearer (the Holy Spirit) being poured out without measure, and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah roaring. The enemy can not stop that.

This, my friends, I believe, is the beginning of what we have been waiting for, longing to see our whole lives. Don’t try to control it, put a dam on it, or manipulate it in anyway. Just jump on in it!

With much love and anticipation

A tall waterfall in a green forest
Christian living, Family, God encounters, prophecy, Uncategorized, Visions

Designed with Purpose

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The first section of this blog is the second part of the word I felt the Lord gave me at the beginning of December. (There are several parts to it, which I believe the Lord will have me release at different times.)

The words are as I heard them in quotation marks, because I want to honor God’s voice as I perceive it, and don’t want to add my own interpretation to it. Following that though, I do feel prompted to flesh it out a little. Obviously, I am human, and I may be off, and this is not the canonized scripture, but I believe it carries the heart of the scripture. I also look for outside confirmation of words, and it was immediately confirmed. This is as I heard it.

“You are truly at the brink of the greatest outpouring this world has ever seen of. My glory.  My Holy Spirit is being poured out with out measure in this last time.  There will a great wave, a great influx of soul.  Like the waves of the oceans, they will be swept into the kingdom.”

“This generation, this generation that has had identity theft coming against them, this generation though they have been turned over to the enemy for a season, this generation will be the ones to rise up and throw that Jezebel lying spirit off the balcony.  Eunuchs did it in my Word, and again those who have lost their sexual identity, these very ones will run to the Lamb of God, be forgiven of their trespasses and rebellion, they shall know their true identity in Christ, and they will cast off the Jezebel that has sought to steal their identity to cut off their generations.  That pride flag will be torn down, and a spirit of humility will sweep this nation.”

This generation has certainly had identity theft committed against them, and many, many have bought it hook, line, and sinker. I truly believe as this generation of young people have the blinders pulled off their eyes, and they begin to see that they were deceived by agendas that have sought to steal, kill, and destroy them – not just their sense of self (of their individual identity), but also to cut off their generations (families from being formed and babies from being born) – that they will rise up and throw off that lying spirit as the Eunuchs did to Jezebel in 2 King’s 9:33.

What do I mean by identity theft?

In 2022, a suspension bridge in India that had been designed and built during the British rule many decades before collapsed with 100’s of people plummeting into the river below killing over a 100 of them. The bridge had been structurally sound when built, but in recent times fallen into disrepair. Engineers had shut down the structure to repair the damage, but they did so in a hurry, and with no regard to things like weight limits. After a short few months, the bridge was reopened right before a festival. As hundreds crowded the bridge, the cables began to give way under the weight crashing into the water below.

Much like this bridge, God has an original design that works, and it has worked and will work for eternity. His original design is family – a man and a woman in covenant procreating children. Over time, mankind has damaged that structure, creating pain and hurt from broken covenants, abusive behavior, etc.. This has caused the need for repair. Instead of going back to the original design and restoring the bridge to what the original intent was, we have tried to in our own rebellion against God, or even with the belief that God no longer exits, made the bridge the way we wanted or to different standards, even changing the look of the bridge entirely, and as a result it doesn’t hold weight. It will eventually collapse, because the structure is not sound.

What does Jezebel have to do with it? I really don’t like throwing around the Jezebel spirit word, but Jezebel. as the person in the scriptures, was a cruel, manipulative, controlling ruler. The spirit of this age many times has those controlling and manipulative attributes. In scripture, Jezebel even intimidated the prophet Elijah who had called fire down from heaven, causing him to run, questioning his call and identity. That spirit always cause identity theft. Isn’t that the same thing happening today? People questioning their identity, their calling, floundering around not knowing who they are, why they are here, and what they are to do with their lives.

Some would look at God – the great three in one – and say well, where is the design of family in God? Yet the Trinity is actually the perfect picture of what family is supposed to look like. This may rock your thoughts a bit, but study this out for yourself. God is family. He didn’t procreate the Son. He was always already present in the Godhead, but consider this. God is three in one – God, the Father; God, the Son (Jesus); and God, the Holy Spirit (mother). Now, wait a minute. God is not female? Right?

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew pronoun for the Holy Spirit is in a feminine form, meaning the Jewish culture attribute the female qualities to the Holy Spirit. Some qualities listed about the Holy Spirit are comforter, helper, friend, wind, the dove, peace-giver, the one who hovers, gives life, and creates. Sounds like a mother to me? In Genesis, the word says that God created man and woman in His image, which is a male and female image. The Trinity represents the purest form of the perfect family structure.

I understand that some may read this and say that I’m not educated or that I’m judging people. The fact is I have several people who I love dearly who have lived alternative lifestyles. I have seen the short and long-term fruit of those who have accepted the changes in original design. In fact, I recently asked an honest question to a precious friend who had been in an alternative lifestyle for decades. My question was in all these years, have you known anyone in your circles that have had good, long lasting fruit, meaning long term peace, love, joy, happiness from it? She thought and thought. Her answer was “No. Everyone I know is still searching to fill that hole in their heart. Everyone I know is dealing with depression, suicide, drugs, alcohol, etc., and are searching for peace.”

To the opposite, I also have seen that as people have received the true love and truth about who God has created them to be as a daughter of God, that their sexual identity automatically begins to changed intended for it to be. The way they think and feel begins to change, and their lives begin to bear good, long lasting fruit, like joy, peace, love. Depression, anxiety, suicide fall away, as they live in who God created them to be. Sexual identity is almost a by-product, as they grasp their calling as a son or daughter of the living God.

I too have gone through some of those changes, because having been raised in a extremely sexually abusive environment, being female for many years did not felt safe to me. So I believed that it was safer to carry extra weight, and to dress down. This is super common among abuse survivors. Yet, as I realize more and more who God has created me to be and that I’m safe being a female, I feel more comfortable in my own skin. I desire to wear make-up and look pretty.

I don’t come from a stand point here of pointing my finger. My heart is full of compassion for the people standing on the broken bridge. In fact, a person who identified as A-sexual recently asked me why did I think I had authority to speak into this topic. My answer was pretty simple. I do understand many of the thought processes that lead to those beliefs, and I have compassion on those who don’t understand who God has created them to be, because I’m still growing in that myself. I know how strong lies,and hurts can be driven into a heart. But I know the healer of the broken heart, and I’ve seen how He can change lives around, and give people a whole new identity in Him.

I firmly believe that God created us – all of us with design – a design that was actually made after His image. Gen. 5:2, Mark 10:6 Obviously, mankind has screw that up through many things – drugs, genetic manipulation, rebellion against the original design, etc.. And sometimes, there is not a pat, easy answer to the screw ups. Mankind has sought to reinvent the bridge. It has since the beginning. Pride resulting in rebellious fists against the creator has led to many falling to their death off a broken bridge that can’t hold weight.

Yet, this is why Jesus came. He came to make a way for us to be back in a family. A real family. A way to be back in fellowship and relationship with the perfect Father, Mother, and Big Brother. And when we find our place in that family, He will show us who He has really created us to be.

I believe in this generation those blinders will come off, and this generation will be able to see truth, and they will throw off the lies and the agenda that has sought to destroy them and their generations. That will happen as they come to know the real Jesus, who loves them and cares for them like no other, and who has made the way for them to be apart of His family.

Part of this great move of God I believe will come from just this – thousands and thousands realizing their true identity in Jesus, throwing off their pride flag, and humbling themselves before God, receiving true love, so perfect that it casts out the fear and manipulation and the lies. I’ve seen it with a few. Many more are going to follow. God will raise them up, just as He did those Eunuchs, and they will overthrow the very system that has held them captive.

 

Ruins of an old stone abbey on green grass under a gray sky
Christian living, dreams, Family, God encounters, prophecy, Uncategorized, Visions

A New Hope Rising

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This post gently touches on themes of grief and the loss of a parent. Take your time, and be kind to yourself as you read.

Recently, I was at a funeral – my mom’s funeral.  As the lid of the casket closed, two of our former pastors solemnly walked through the doors to greet my sister, who they had come for.  I meandered across the room shaking hands, and receiving thoughtful glances as I made my way to greet my old friends.  Unknown bridges had been burned in the past, but we had not been the ones to light the fires to them.  Once torched, we had sought several times to rebuild, to reconcile, but to no avail.  

It had been almost a decade since we last met.  As I approached them yet again with a welcoming hug and a greeting of genuine, “It so good to see you,” it felt like I had just hugged an icicle – hard, cold, unresponsive.  Not a word was returned. 

Later, I wrestled with all my ball of knotted up gut responses in the presence of a trusted friend.  With many tears, I talked to Jesus and encountered His presence.

I sought reconciliation still with these pastors.  “Jesus, maybe if I just write one more letter.  Maybe if I just trying explain one more time where our hearts were, why we left when did, etc., etc.?”

There are only a handful of times that I have seen Jesus truly angry, like turn over the tables in the temple angry.  Honestly, in scripture, the only time I read about Him that angry is when He encountered the religious leaders of His day.  He never seemed to be mad at the prostitutes, or the sick, or the demon-possessed, or the dishonest tax collectors, or even the Roman dictators.  But with the religious leaders He commonly said some scathing comments about them.  “White-washed tombs filled with dead men’s bone” would probably qualify as some of those type of comments.  

So, I found myself begging for reconciliation with these former pastors to Jesus, who seemed really, really angry.  The answer I got was well, not what I expected, but it went way broader than these pastors really fast.  In fact, this message is not really about these individuals at all, but they seemed to be representing church leadership in general.

He has repeated this message over the course of the past month and a half, different ways, but over and over again to me.  Even this morning, the directive has been to write this down, and share it.  There is no desire on my part to throw these particular people under the bus.  The reason I mention them at all is for context. For whatever reason, His answer to me was a firm “No,” to seeking further reconciliation.  It was more like “It’s time for me to intervene.”  

Please understand.  I’m not saying any of this as a judgment statement against all churches.  In fact, in this engagement with the Lord, I kept feeling like I needed to ask forgiveness because I got them in trouble, which was silly.  I hadn’t done anything to cause them pain, though evidently they had thought so.  I also quickly realized Jesus’s words were not just directed towards them, but the American Church in general.  Also, my family and I do meet in the corporate environment with other believers, and it is wonderful.  The following is not meant to be a blanket judgment across the American Church from me.  I have a healthy respect for the scripture that says, “Don’t judge, lest you be judged.”  I know I miss the mark all the time, so this is just a reiterating of what I have heard that He has been saying this past month, and feel now is the time to share it.  

In my mind’s eye, I saw the tip of an huge iceberg floating in the sea, and then the finger of God came and tapped the tip, flipping the entire iceberg upside down, so that huge, immense bottom was now above water and was visible for the world to see.  Then, I heard these words.

“Those who have represented my church, who have represented me, in their pride, in their arrogance, who have offered fake fire, and a puny god, who made my kingdom their kingdom, who have made their name great instead of my name, their day of judgment has come.  Only the tip of the iceberg has been shown, but I am tipping the iceberg upside down, and the world will see the giant iceberg underneath.  It must be done, or the American’s destiny will not be fulfilled.” 

“The shaking in the four walls has only begun.” 

“Exposure.  Exposure.  Exposure.”

“You have called for the judgment on the broken in this nation, you have turned your eyes away from the needy, the bleeding.  In fact, you have been disgusted by the little, hurt lambs, while instead you have fed the wolves.” 

“Enough is enough.  The tables are turning.  The tables are turning.  I will cleanse my house of this witchcraft, of this wickedness.”  

“They have misrepresented my heart.  They have caused the little ones to stumble .  The children cried for a rope to pull them out of the pits, and instead they have offered them a noose.  They have brought judgment on themselves.”  

“Don’t look to the four walls anymore.  Don’t try to be like the old structure at all.  Yes, there is some good still there. Yes. I am still using organized churches, but a shift is coming and is already here.” 

“Millions have been driven out of buildings, out of the man’s kingdom structures, and into their homes.  I am and will pour my spirit out in the homes, businesses, in the street. The enemy won’t contain my spirit behind four walls anymore.”  

“On the contrary, my ecklessia will return to her roots,  house to house, home to home, family to family, heart to heart.  I will build my true ecklessia.  Not with bricks, but with living stones, with me only as their chief corner stone.”

Yesterday, I sat in a movie theatre with tears streaming down my cheeks.  In front of me on the big screen was a church that had been partly destroyed by the Civil War.  The bell tower had been damaged with the bell itself now covered in ashes laying on the floor in the center of the shell shocked nave.  “Mama always said that the bell of the church is the voice of the church which rings out hope, but look the church has lost her voice,” said the character in the movie as he looked at the structure.  (Paraphrased)

The stark scene reflected the feelings in my heart.  “The church has lost her voice,” I repeated in my head.  And yet as the movie continued, the scenes changed to later showing the same fallen bell, covered in ashes and snow.  As the wind blew across it the words “ New Hope” appeared.  

There is no power in a church building unless the Holy Spirit resides there.  The traditional church were my mom’s funeral had been held was as empty and cold as my former friend’s hug had been.  

How many lost souls have found only condemnation, a list of do’s and don’t’s, a bar too high to jump, a noose to hang themselves on; instead of a rope to be pulled out the dark pit they have fallen into, and a gospel that is empty of good news.  

Our Hope has been, is now, and will always be found in Christ alone.  “He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.”  

In this season of civil war, A New Hope is and will rise out of the ashes of the destruction of former institutions we called church.  It will be the true Bride of Christ, the true Church, the true Body of Christ arising with the real Jesus as our leader, our lover, our Bridegroom King.  He’s not done with the American Church, but He must clean house, and rebuild His true church to restore Her voice.  Only He can do this.  It may not look like we think it will, but He can and will have His Bride, His Church.  

God truly loves you.  He relentlessly is chasing after the rejected ones, the ones who have been judged, ridiculed, and left on the road side to die.  He came to seek and save those that are lost.  

A great harvest is coming, but they will come because they have met the real, true Jesus who loves them with a love, so pure, so strong, so compelling.  Our New Hope is found in the true Jesus alone.  

Ironically, when I was a child, my mom used to sing this little song about a bell ringing. “If I had a bell, I’d ring it in the morning. I’d ring it in the evening all over this land. I’d ring out justice. I’d ring out freedom. I’d ring out a love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land.” (paraphrased)

Let the bells ring out Hope again!

The movie referenced is “I Heard the Bell” by Sight and Sound Theatre 2022, and the song is “If I Had a Hammer” lyrics © T.R.O. Inc., Tratore/ Songwriters: Lee Hays / Pete Seeger.

Silhouette of a person dancing in a field at sunset
Christian living, Family, God encounters, prophecy, Visions

The Day I Danced Out Of Church

blossomingheartsstudio

Something was wrong.  I knew it, but couldn’t put my fingers on it.  

Sure.  There were things in the natural that I saw that weren’t sitting right.  But this was something deep below the surface – something not visible – like slimy things hidden in dark places.  

As soon as anyone asked questions, tried to turn the light on, their flashlight was tossed out – X-ed out – including ours.  

Yet, the problem seemed even deeper than one place, one building, one enterprise.  It gnawed at me.  The Holy Spirit had been stirring things up in us for months.  

“When Heidi comes, you will know for sure…” the Holy Spirit whispered inside.  

Heidi Baker is someone I respect highly, and she was coming to our neck of the woods.  After an infamous talk entitled “Don’t Eat Your Family,” (a rebuke regarding Christian cannibalism – verbally tearing your family apart), she pointed towards the back doors and said, “It’s time for you to dance right out of here.”  

I turned to my husband in shocked surprise.  “I think she’s talking to us.”  It was a few weeks later, but…

Then, came the moment.

The moment I thought I’d dread.  The moment I walked out of those doors – out of the same place I had said my vows with my husband, raised my babies, walked through for the last twenty-six years of my life.  It was surreal.

Yet, the oddest thing happened.   

I caught the glance of a friend from across the auditorium, threw my arms around her neck, and instead of tears of sorrow, joy bubbles began to pop up inside me, making me laugh like a little girl.  

It was almost embarrassing, except I didn’t care.  Like I’ve heard about in the natural (because I’ve never actually been drunk) when you are drunk, you don’t care what others think.  

In fact, I could not stop laughing, not even when the well-meaning elder glumly offered his last words to me.  Heaven must have been rolling, because I could not contain myself.  

Kindly, I patted his arm, and managed to say, “It’s OK,” snicker, snicker.  “We are gonna be just fine.”  His shocked look said it all.

I held onto the pew as more laughter bellowed out.  I kind of slid across the back wall, holding myself up with my hands, and with a slight skip in my step pushed open the doors, as I met my family in the foyer.  

Does that count for dancing out?

So, why am I telling you this?  

And no, I’m not going into a church bashing session, so you can let out a deep breath now.  

It’s more about something that has been changing and is changing in me.

It’s far greater than me though.  It is a change, a shift that I believe will eventually effect us all in some way or another.

I learned a long time ago, that anyone, and I mean anyone, especially me, can go stupid.  And yes, in my opinion there was a bit of that stupidity that happened in that season at that church.  Quite honestly, since I had been in a leadership position, serving on the prayer team as a leader, I had briefly become apart of it all.  

Yet, the problems that church went through aren’t isolated issues, because of one rogue leader.

It’s a problem I’ve heard about countless times and has shut down every move of God.

I first began to see things differently when I went to hear a woman I had never heard of speak in a hotel room – well, not much bigger than one.  She was unlike anyone I had ever met before, and she carried a presence of God that demanded attention or her peels of laughter did.  It was both, actually.  

By the second meeting I went to, I was up on the front row, because I was trying to prove to myself that what I was sensing from this woman was real.  As I sat there, it was as if someone stood behind me, took off the top of my head, and poured new information in.  

The speaker wasn’t even talking about the church and church structure directly anyway.  She was just retelling lots of amazing stories of God moving in miraculous ways, but her point was that He wanted to move in everyone’s lives this way.  

Now, I “knew” that, but I guess I’d not really “seen” that, and what I had been experiencing in our church situation had become more of a pyramid structure of performance.  

All of a sudden, in front of me, instead of pyramids, either right side up or upside down, I saw a level playing field.  Yes, each person had an important position to play and everyone used their gifts in unity for the winning score for the team, but there was only one coach, and it wasn’t the charismatic leader in the front.  It was Jesus.  He was calling the plays.

This rocked my world, so much so that without even saying a word about any of it, I was kindly dismissed from the leadership role I had held.  I don’t think it was coincidental, but probably providential.

God wasn’t done though shifting my mindsets.  And still isn’t for that matter.

Shortly after this, we were on vacation.  On my morning stroll with, I was having a little talk with Jesus, and I was telling Him all about our troubles.  I began to ask Him what the structure of the church was supposed to look like, what was His intentions.  All I could see was the mess men through the ages had made of it.  

It was like God would begin to move and pour out His Spirit, and bam, someone would grab the glory and move of God and try to make it their own.  That is a very simplified way of looking at things, but basically that what seems to happen over and over and over again.  

Kathie Walters says as soon as someone says God is moving HERE, in US, like WE have anything to do with, it’s done.  God will move somewhere else, because He refuses to have men’s hands on it.  He knows what men will do with it.  Make it their own.  

So, I digress.  

I was having a hard time seeing things through a positive frame at that time of kicking sand.  So, again, I was asking, “What’s it supposed to look like?”

As I shuffled my feet near the ocean’s edge, I had a matrix moment.  I didn’t see numbers break through scrolling in front of my face, but as I asked the Lord what His idea of what His church should look like, I began to see something very different in my mind’s eye.  

At first, I saw what looked like bubbles or circles.  Then, as it clarified more it was like cells, lots of them, interlocking, exchanging energy, living, breathing, growing.  Honestly, I was stunned.  What did this mean?  

I pondered the cell image, and as I began to ask questions, the Lord began to speak about it.  

It wasn’t about a certain church building or land that the Lord wanted to pour His Spirit on.

It wasn’t about a man’s kingdom or enterprise at all.  It was about His body, His Bride.  

All the cells were comprised of families of people, believers from all over the world, functioning together as one body, in unity, answering to the head, Jesus.  It was and is an ever moving, growing, expanding, beautiful body of Jesus.  

What we had become involved in was seemingly a one man show, an enterprise as it was put to us.  

The move of God had morphed into a man building his kingdom, because he claimed the move of God as his.  He took off the gloves of humility that the Lord had instructed him to keep on, and touch the Holy, held onto the glory, and made it his own.  

What the leadership had wanted was a charismatic leader who would take their God-given dream to make it a reality.  Though I believe their original intent was good, in my opinion, it cost a lot of people a lot of pain, as building any man-made kingdom usually does.  

Some structure is good.  Throwing off all restraint is not.  That leads to chaotic anarchy.  This is not some rebellious attitude that all forms of leadership are bad and should be over-thrown.  That’s fascism.  

Yes, even family needs structure.  There are relational lines and some rules laid down by the law of love that we abide by, and as we mature and grow, we should all be flourishing in a culture of honor, in mutual submission, not lording over each other.

The parents want their children to out grow them, to excel and succeed in life.  It is an ever growing, living, thriving unit.  

When one hurts, we all hurt.  When one celebrates, we all celebrate.  When one falls, we all go down to help the one who is hurting.  

There are boundaries and consequences in family –  in learning to grow up.  In fact, if we lovingly held people to some consequences and did not look the other way, we might have a healthier family unit, and abuse would not thrive.   

This is what it was meant to be, what it was meant to look like  – a lot like love. A lot like washing feet.  A lot like lifting one another’s burdens.  It’s what Jesus said would make us irresistible to the world – the way we love each other.  

After I danced out, the Lord took us on a six or so month journey of going to almost every denomination and some non-denominations.  

You know what we experienced?  

His Spirit alive and moving in them all.  All of them had a piece, a beautiful color to weave into the master design.  All of them…. 

So, whether you go to St. Such and Such or Bedside Assembly as we used to call it in college, or whether you have believers in your home or meet at a coffee shop, the Holy Spirit desires to be poured out through all of us, for all of us to be the living, breathing, growing thriving body of Christ.  

It’s not about the four walls, the great programs, the charismatic apostle, the amazing sermon, or the women’s luncheons.  Those can be good things, as long as it doesn’t become a self-gratifying social club, and those things aren’t stealing your focus from Jesus, your time from true intimacy with Him and others?  

These days, I still find myself seeing the Kingdom from a much broader, life giving view.  

We fellowship on a regular basis with other believers, because it’s important.  Isolation is not a healthy course in the long run.  We need each other.  We need accountability.  I know I do.  

You are a king under King Jesus.  You are priest under His Priesthood.  There is no Junior Holy Spirit.  We all get to play on the same field together.  

Until we come together as one body, as one Bride, I don’t really think we can accomplish the full mission that we are here to do.  

Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and let Him pour His Spirit out on all of us, not just the church leadership.  When we are looking to them instead of Christ, it is a lot of expectation and pressure to put on them anyway.

Who knows?  Maybe you’ll find yourself dancing out of some pyramid one day to healthy family cell outside of traditional structure or maybe you’ll find your family cells within more of a structured environment?  

The point is we are all the body, the Bride of Christ.  He is our head, and we answer to Him.  

We walk in love, honor, and mutual submission with all our brothers and sisters, honoring and developing the gifts in each one we meet.  That’s family, and a Kingdom Family is what we are called to be.

Red stage curtain lit by spotlights above a seated audience
dreams, prophecy, Uncategorized

What’s Behind the Curtain

blossomingheartsstudio

I don’t usually post others dreams, but this one really seemed important and was told me by a teenager who I’m close to. Discern for yourself if this from the Lord.

8/29/21

There was a big red and gold room with a lot of people in it giving money to someone hidden, but they did not know what they were giving too. There was a ginormous red curtain, and all the people wanted to see what was behind it. But they only showed two people standing at a booth behind a small portion of the curtain. Then a person was walking through the room. He seemed like Jesus to me. I saw in like holograms, gold coins, and as he walked through they pored in representing the money the people were giving. Then he got to the curtain, and then roared, and a big wind blew back the curtain. I saw half of a Buddhist statue. Later all the people came together again and the man was standing on a gong and swung it, and the statues’s head came off and fell in front of the people, and they were all terrified.

White blossoms on a tree beyond a black iron fence
prophecy, Uncategorized, Visions

The Uprooting

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I have been prompted for the last few days to share a small portion of a prayer event that happened on March 15, 2020, the day before our state shut down because of the pandemic, the day before the world seemingly screeched to a halt.  


The Lord’s timing is often very different than ours, and in writing this, I am not going to try to interpret it.  Some of it seems clear.  For other parts, the meaning is still obscure.

 
I serve on a prayer team for my state, and we have been prompted to pray over certain cities in our state at different times for specific reasons.  I don’t feel led to share all of those details, but here is what I can share.   


On February 21, 2020, I awoke from a dream of being in a large church that had a huge pipe underneath that was tiled with white ceramic tile.  I kept trying to see something else, but kept being led back to this pipe.  


After I woke up, I heard “Prayer walk by starting at the church, then go the slave market, and end at the port.”


I asked, “Which church?” 


I heard, “The Episcopal”.


I knew in my spirit it was the oldest church in Charleston, with Charleston itself being one of the oldest port cities in our nation (The city was founded in 1670).  I immediately looked it up, and the church is St. Michael’s, and is located at the corner of Broad Street and Meeting Street on one of the four corners of what they call the “Four Corners of the Law”.  The court house is across the street, City Hall to the right, and what was the Postal Service, but now the Federal Court building diagonal.


I heard, “Take salt and sprinkle at each site as symbol of purifying the land.”


Salt is commonly used in the Bible symbolically for different ceremonies, etc…

 
On the day of the event, my husband and I arrived before the rest of our team, and felt led to walk the route in reverse order, noticing several landmarks that we had not known would be on the route.  The first being a gentleman’s club on a back street, and then the original property of the first masonic lodge in Charleston, which is now a bank.  We continued onto St. Michael’s, but waited in a city park across the street, which was adjacent to City Hall.

 
In the middle of the park stands an Egyptian Obelisk as the center point.  Then to the left, a large statue of George Washington on which is a plaque to honor him that lists on the bottom our first President’s membership in the masonic lodge, as well as another society club.  All this is history, but all seemed very connected.

 
There were huge, ancient oak trees lining the walkways.  These were the kind with moss draped over the branches that reach out in all directions touching the ground in some places – fantastic climbing trees.  Those trees had seen a lot in the history of that city.

 
As we walked the path between the trees back out to the gate to sit on a bench to wait, I began to see an open vision and hear in the Spirit a chant. The chant began low, like to a drum beat, and grew in strength.  It seemed as if the trees themselves were chanting.  “Pride.  Honor.  Dignity.  Pride.  Honor.  Dignity.”  It repeated over and over and had strong feeling of “Elitism”.  It seemed to represent the city and our country even in some ways.  It wasn’t a good feeling, yet the chant continued.


All of a sudden, as if I could see an overlay over the trees, I saw a huge hand reach from heaven and grab each tree, yanking them up by the roots and flip them up side down. 


Immediately, I heard, “Everything is getting ready to get flipped upside down.  I have to go to the roots in this country and uproot the evil that has been present from the beginning for this nation to survive.  I have to go to the foundations.  For this country to fulfill her destiny, I must uproot the things that have been here from the beginning.”

 
To say the least, I was a bit shaken at what I had just witnessed.

 
As my husband and I left to walk across the street to meet the rest of the team, the trees were in full bloom next to the gate – an early, first sign of spring.  I took a picture, which is the picture I used for this post. 


As we passed it, I heard, “I will keep my promises for this country.  Its destiny will be fulfilled.  This is a sign that I will fulfill my promises.”

To my surprise, the trees blooming are Crabapple trees, which have long been associated with marriage, love, and fertility. The beautiful confirmation this brings is for this entire prayer assignment the Lord was emphasizing that He is married to our land.

 
At the front of the church we meet the team by four, prominent pillars.  Again, I heard the chant begin, yet added to it was “elitism”.

 
Then I heard, “Rename the pillars.”  So, I simply declared the opposite of what I had heard in the chant and put salt at the base of each.  “Humility.  Love.  Peace.  Joy. “


My husband read out loud the scripture from Isaiah 62:4  “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land be called Desolate any more.  But you shall be called Hephzibah (My delight is in her), and your land be called Beulah (married); for the Lord delights in you, and your land be married (owned and protected by the Lord).

 
Each person with us carried an important piece to the prayers we prayed that day, and there were many more details to this prayer walk that are not apart of what I am supposed to share, so I will save that for another time.

 
As we were leaving the city around 5:15 pm, we heard on the radio that an earthquake was felt north of Charleston.  We later found out there were several more that evening that began in Centerville, SC then to Mulberry, NC to Flat Rock, NC to Newbern, NC, and finally to Mascot, NC.  The one in Mulberry especially caught my attention, as it is a tree that was brought here from China in the early 1700 to help silkworms produce silk. George Washington was said to have bought its fruit from Prince’s nursery.

 
The following day, our state shut down for the pandemic, and the world as we knew it has changed.

 
There have been many times in the last year and a half that the Lord has reminded me of the things He showed me during this prayer walk.


The most impactful thing for me was seeing that hand grab the trees and just yank them up.
The process our country and really the world at large is in this shaking of the foundations, this great hand reaching down, grabbing those trees by the roots, and flipping them over to expose the corruption that’s been in the foundation, so that it can be dealt with, so that we can fulfill our destiny in this country.

 
I just don’t believe that He is done with us yet.

 
Yes, it is going to continue to get messy.  Evil doesn’t like exposure and will fight like hell (excuse the pun) to stay rooted.  Yet this is the Lord of the Angel Armies that is allowing this process to happen.  And He promises He will prevail.

 
He will keep His promises to and over our country, as He uncovers and uproots evil systems that have been in place as it seems since the beginning of our country.  So take heart.  Keep your eyes on the Lord.

 
We triumph through the finished work of the cross and the word of our testimony.  He already has won, and He already knows the future, so no matter how messy it gets, we can trust that what He is at work doing is ultimately for our good, to fulfill His good plans and purpose for us.