Intro From Julie A. Smith:
I'll never forget August 5, 2012. I had what I'd call a "Come up here" experience with God. I was actually in my car driving home from the store when it started. His presence flooded my car – it was thick. It truly felt like being under an open portal and I knew it was a holy moment. I wasn't sure what it was all about yet, but I knew I wanted to get home, get on my face and worship Him. When I got home I started praying, worshipping and asking Him what this was all about. In a vision I saw an open staircase and I knew He was calling me higher. I knew this was a time of new revelation, deeper intimacy, instruction and preparation. I actually wrote in my journal after this experience that day, "I feel like God is calling us to the mountaintop for instruction of our destinies, like Moses, and this is a holy moment in time."
The next day I read through Julia Loren's word she had sent in. I was shocked and excited that she had a similar experience which echoed mine. It just confirmed to me the season of "sweetness and awe" we are entering into.
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Julia Loren:
The Season of "Sweetness and Awe" is Upon Us
God is not so far away as you think. In fact, He is as near to you as your own heartbeat. But sometimes, the events of life seem to distance us from the awareness of His presence and we feel cast into a wilderness. In the wilderness, we tend to tune into the bitter taste of life rather than the sweetness. However, it is in the wilderness that God speaks most clearly and opens the portals of heavenly revelation.
Recently, the Lord revealed to me that we are entering into a season of sweetness and awe. He showed me how we can position our hearts to become an open portal to Heaven – where God infuses us with His presence and revelation abounds – flowing to us and through us in naturally, supernatural ways. We can position our hearts to dwell in His sweet love and remain there – no matter what life throws at us.
"My Love"
The key to this came in a stunningly, simple thought during my morning prayer time recently, "Sometimes you need to pray My Lord and bow the knee. Mostly, you need to start your prayers with My Love and open your heart."
For the next several days, I changed the language of my prayers, calling Jesus "My Love". Immediately, I felt His presence drawing nearer. But I didn't expect the heavens to open the way that it did.
Later that week, I found myself hiking in the mountains on a beautifully sunny, summer day. I hiked 5 miles up a mountain following a cascading river up to the waterfalls at the top, about 9600 feet in elevation.
There, at the top, I was shocked to see two berry bushes growing alongside each other beside the river. My eye was drawn to the raspberry bush – a single, ripe berry left on the vine. I was as stunned to see this growing at this altitude as Moses must have been to see a burning bush in the wilderness. Alongside this bush was a blueberry bush full of seemingly ripe berries. I ate the blueberry. It was so bitter, I spit it out.
Then, I ate the raspberry and it was so sweet that tears came to my eyes. It seemed to be a gift from My Love. And I realized that we can eat the bitter or the sweet in the thoughts that plague us in the wilderness. The bitterness makes us wander apart. The sweetness draws lovers closer.
Lovers see the signs of love wherever they travel. Paying attention to these signs and wonders cause you to tune into the personal, intimate ways God speaks to His beloved – you! And it positions your heart to receive greater revelatory encounters with Him and walk in a supernaturally, natural way. Like Moses' encounter with the burning bush, new direction often becomes clearer in the wilderness and destiny unfolds through the oddest signs along the trail.
The Thunder of His Power
As we move into the sweetness of His presence, we exit the wilderness of circumstance. On the drive down the mountain, the presence of Heaven came into the car and I pulled over by another mountain stream. Just as I got out of the car, thunder literally burst around me, shaking me to the core by the vibrational force of the sound.
I was reminded by a passage in Job, And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power? (Job 26:14).
The thunder of His power catapults us out of our wildernesses, shatters the realms of darkness, releases the awe of God and reminds us that My Love and My Lord are indeed, the same. I believe, God released that sign of a thunder clap to reveal that the revelatory realm of Heaven is thundering our way. It is a realm that releases the awe of God through signs and wonders – and through us as we walk in His authority.
Sweetness turns to awe as intimacy turns into authority.
A Portal of Heaven
But Heaven wasn't through with me yet. A little bewildered, I got back in the car and drove on. Within 30 minutes, a portal of Heaven opened up and flooded the car with the presence of God. Sweetness, awe, authority and now the open portal of Heaven released the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.
In the weeks following that extraordinary day of encountering God on the mountain and in the car, the presence of the Holy Spirit seems to be abiding with me and the revelatory realm has been re-opened to me. Dreams, visions, and new direction have, once again, become the mainstay of my day and night.
As in any authentic visitation, the outward expression of this season of sweetness and awe is manifesting to others. The presence of God is being released like a thunderclap awakening the awe of God in the hearts of those I meet as I go about my day. People I come into contact with at work or on the street suddenly open the secrets of their hearts to me or spontaneously talk about God. I walk in a higher level of authority to speak into others' lives, to step out to heal the sick, encourage the weak, and shatter the strongholds of the enemy in peoples' lives.
As I wrote in my book Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Power, as we live in tune with His thoughts and His peace, deeply encompassed in His love during the days to come, we will become ambassadors carrying His power and shifting the atmospheres around us. When we walk in the sweetness of His love and presence, we cannot help but release His awe.
"We shift out of the climate of fear that has stretched over the earth due to economic woes and disasters. We can be prepared for the difficulties of life and live with our hearts at peace and even rise up to a higher level of authority that will calm not only the inner storms but outer storms with the power of Christ in us." (From my book Beyond 2012)
We are entering a season of sweetness and awe. And if you want in – start your prayers with "My Love". And watch for the signs of His love breaking through to you every day along your wilderness path. Let your heart become an open portal of His love. It won't be long before the awe of His power thunders around you and you find yourself walking IN THE FULLNESS of Him, not just alongside of Him; carrying His authority to release the realm of Heaven on earth.
Julia Loren
Julia Loren Ministries
Email: juliascribes@yahoo.com
Julia Loren is a prophetic author and speaker who resides near Seattle, WA. Her books include Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Power, Supernatural Anointing, and Beyond 2012.
