From the desk of Steve Shultz:
This is a word in season—accurately timed in my view. But it's also a paradox. On the one hand, we are almost all beginning to be repositioned throughout the Body of Christ (and I would find it hard to discover someone who isn't in some way being repositioned by the Lord AT THIS TIME).
At the same time, and though it's always been the case—we are FINALLY beginning to SEE Him "come through" on His promises. Yet to add to our paradox, repositioning is hard and we have more work to do. We find ourselves, perhaps, more than ever—asking God to take out those "little foxes" that spoil our walk with Him. My guess is that this resonates with many of you.
Here are some incredible resources, by the way, to help you along these lines:
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Choose Life
by Lou Engle, Kim Walker, Jason Upton, and More
$15.00
Music CD
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Kathi Pelton:
Springtime is Here! We are Moving into Desire Fulfilled
Calling Forth the Beloved
Song of Solomon 2:9-16
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind the wall of our house, he looks in through the windows, he glances through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing (of birds) has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
(So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me) O my dove, (while you are here) in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
(My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire) Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards (of our love), for our vineyards are in blossom.
My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies.
These beautiful and intimate verses from Song of Solomon, chapter two—are descriptive of the time that the Body of Christ is in. In the past season it was as though our Beloved was behind a wall, peering at us through a window or the lattice of the structures that we had built or walls that had been erected. These structures, though initially created because of hearts desiring to serve Him, had become fortresses that, over time, erected walls between Him and us. Many of them even kept us from His deepest longing—unity. They kept us independent from one another and focused on building our individual ministries rather than corporately as one Body and one Bride seeing His Kingdom established on earth as it is in Heaven.
But as His longing for us increased and the timing was upon us, He called us away with Him, out of our old structures and fortresses and into His desire—that we would be one as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One.
...That they all may be one, (just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You), that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.
I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one (even) as We are one: I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and (definitely) recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them (even) as You have loved Me.—John 17:21-23
There seems to have been a shift in the Body of Christ as we entered 2010—a repositioning that has called us out of our old systems and mindsets and old structures, and in some cases even our existing ministries.
For some, the walls may not have been tangible ministry structures but walls erected within our hearts due to disappointment and hopelessness. Either way, our Beloved wants to be face to face with us so that He can breathe upon us once again with the breath of life and intimacy.
Intimacy has been a key word for many years in the Church and there has been an intentional pressing into relational intimacy with the Lord, as well as a greater understanding and awareness of His longing for us. But still there have been walls, even if only made of lattice. A time of coming away with Him and getting face to face with the One, who longs to share the mysteries of the age with us, has arrived. A time of corporate unity and seeing His corporate Bride engaging in intimacy with Him is upon us.
The Winter is Past
For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing (of birds) has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
Our spiritual drought is over! Though there has been a long season of the cold winter rains, these storms have produced a cleansing and a time of saturating our dry ground. Now, it appears that the season of singing is upon us. If we were land, I would describe the past few years as years of drought with dry grass and hardened soil. But as we have entered this new year and the spring of 2010, it feels as though the ground is softened with the saturation of His rain, the trees are in full bloom, and the grass is vibrant green. Even the rivers and streams are bursting with the fullness of the winter's downpours. We are ready for fruitfulness!
God sent us a plentiful winter that healed many with the downpour of His cleansing, love and restoration. But now our spring has begun and the time of singing has returned to the Church. It is a time of rejoicing, of releasing songs of love and thanksgiving to our God. It is a time to see the blossoming of the vines and know that a plentiful harvest is coming. I see us moving from a time of hope deferred to a time of desire fulfilled.
There is still rain, but it is a spring rain that refreshes. There is a rain of blessings and refreshing that beckons us into the fields together to see what He is doing. If I could paint a visual picture for you, it would be of Jesus standing in a field of blossoming trees with a warm spring rain gently falling, causing the blossoms to glisten with His light as the dew rests upon them; and He is calling His Body together to meet Him in this place.
The Fig Tree
The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
In the mountainous regions of Israel, by December the fig trees have all shed their leaves. They remain bare until about the end of March when they begin to bring forth their tender leaf buds. At the same time, in the leaf axils, tiny figs appear. These are the early signs of spring in Israel.
We are in the early stages of our spiritual spring. Our fruit is not ripe but the signs of the birthing of fruit and harvest are upon our branches. Though the world still goes on in all of its turmoil, there is something that is happening with God's people that gives us great hope and joy.
His Body is blossoming and signs of fruitfulness are upon her. But this time, rather than every one having their own field, it is as if we are running to His field where there is only one root system—Jesus. We are becoming those who respond to His desire for unity (as we read in John 17), and are laying down our names, individual ministries, our crowns in order to fulfill His longing for one Bride that moves and has her being in the unity and movement of the Godhead alone.
Individually we are allowing all the walls of self-protection and self-preservation to be removed so that we no longer relate to Jesus from a distance but we surrender to His embrace. I believe that between now and June we will see more and more of the Body of Christ responding to the longing of the Lord to be one with Him and with one another. Great fruit will come from this, and the world will know that we belong to Him.
"Let Me See Your Face and Hear Your Voice..."
(So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me) O my dove, (while you are here) in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Is the face and voice of the Bride of Christ an individual's beauty or sound? No, it is multi-faceted because it is made up of the beauty and sound of all who know and love Him. The beauty of His Bride is like a flower garden with many varieties, colors and fragrances, and yet still one garden. The sound of His Bride is like a symphony of music playing one song, yet with many instruments. He is longing to see our face and hear our voice together. He has been preparing us in the clefts of the solid rock—hidden from public view—so that we can learn to move together and love more deeply.
Like a Broadway musical, there is an extended period of coming together as a cast to learn how to move together before the stage curtain is opened for all to see. We are learning to move together, to not jostle one another or break ranks, but as a Warrior Bride we follow our Commander as one army.
They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord thunders at the head of His army; His forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey His command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?—Joel 2:7-11
Catch the Little Foxes
(My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire) Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards (of our love), for our vineyards are in blossom.
In the great love and mercy of our God, He has awakened our love and desire. As we have been touched, there is a cry that the Lord would remove all the "little foxes" that spoil our love and cause our fruit to drop before it is ripened. For each of us the "little foxes" may be different. But anything that exalts itself above the purity of love must be removed so that our vineyards are not destroyed before they yield their fruit.
This is a time to be asking the Lord to remove all those "little foxes" from our lives, our families, our ministries and relationships. This is our time of blossoming and coming together as one Body and one Bride. We are His Beloved and He is ours.
My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies.
Let us run together,
Kathi Pelton
Light Streams Ministries
Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net
