Year 2020: A time to be set free and receive your double portion!

The Lord says:
"I am your everlasting light and your glory! This is the time to declare your time of mourning is coming to an end, and your dreams that have gone wasted will be revived! For I am setting you free! I am setting you free from your 'prison' and bondage. I am setting you free from those tricky situations. I am showing you a way to be set free, and I am redeeming those 'wasted' time of yours!"

This is the Part 2 of what the Lord has spoken regarding Year 2020. Part 1 was released on the 1st January 2020. The key chapter to read (and receive by faith) at the moment is Isaiah 61. This chapter begins with Isaiah 61:1 (NLT) saying, 'The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed'.

Indeed, people of God, this is the time to be set free - free to be who you are meant to be in God's sovereign plan!

What are the areas in your life that need to be set free?
- Health problems
- Financial problems
- Family feud
- Bondage and curse
- Tricky situations (difficult situations to deal with, and seemingly no way out)

Whatever your situation may be, the good news is the Lord has a way out for you! Look to Him and believe that your time to be set free has come! He will know how to set you free from your 'prison', and He will know how to redeem whatever 'wasted' or 'lost' time of yours!

Isaiah 60:19-20 (NLT) says, 'No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon
to give its light by night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set; your moon will not go down. For the Lord will be your everlasting light. Your days of mourning will come to an end'. These two verses are beautiful 'pictures' of knowing that the Lord has become your everlasting light and your glory, instead of you looking to the physical world and physical creation for the answer to your problems.

As you can see, Isaiah 61 (the chapter to read at the moment) comes right after Isaiah 60 (that speaks of the Lord being your everlasting light).

Because the Lord has become your everlasting light (that never dims), you can therefore boldly proclaim 'your days of mourning has also come to an end'. Hallelujah! Isaiah 61:7 (NLT) then says, 'Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor. You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours'. See how Isaiah 61 ties up with Isaiah 60 here?

Let's look at one example in the Scripture - someone who had seemingly 'wasted' or 'lost' his time, his dreams, and even his opportunities. His life then got from bad to worse (from being a slave to being a prisoner). Yes, he's none other than Joseph. After sharing his dreams about how his brothers would bow down to him, his brothers hated him even more! (Genesis 37:5-9) Speaking of releasing words at the wrong place and wrong time, to the wrong people! He was then thrown into a pit by his brothers, sold as a slave in Egypt, and later on ended up in prison, being falsely accused of trying to rape his master's wife! (Genesis 39:19-20) Things certainly did not look good at all at that point of time!

But God! What was seen by the world as 'a totally hopeless case' eventually had a turn around! With man, it may be impossible; but with God, all things are possible! Joseph's moment of being set free finally came! Pharaoh needed someone to interpret his dreams, but none could interpret the dreams he had - not even the best of all the magicians or wise men in all of Egypt! (Genesis 41:8) It was then that someone (i.e. the king's chief cup-bearer) remembered Joseph, and told Pharaoh that Joseph had the ability to accurately interpret dreams. Pharaoh immediately sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the prison (Genesis 41:14). The rest, of course, is history. Joseph went on to become the person he was meant to be in God's sovereign plan, and in fact, the earlier dreams he had about his brothers bowing down to him actually came to pass!

Interestingly, during that time in Egypt, Joseph had two sons - Manasseh and  Ephraim (Genesis 41:50-52). 'Manasseh' ('Menashsheh' in Hebrew) means 'causing to forget (past troubles)', and
'Ephraim' ('Ephrayim' in Hebrew) means 'double fruitfulness'.

For the record, number '20' in Hebrew numeric means 'redemption, attainment, crowning (honor)'. So, '2020' surely means 'double redemption, double attainment, double crowning (honor)'! Indeed, this is the year of double honor and double portion!

People of God, like Joseph, your time of being set free has also come! Look not at those 'wasted' or 'lost' time of yours, but look to the Lord who makes all things beautiful in His time! Know that you are set free for such a time as this, because the Lord has a plan for you to enjoy double honor and possess double portion this year 2020. Amen!

A time of pruning before you see good fruit

I heard and released these words from the Lord recently:
"I am the vine, and you are the branch. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. As you connect with Me, like the branches to the vine, there will also come a time of pruning. But fear not the pruning, and despise not the pruning! For the pruning is not to harm you, but so that you will bear more fruit!"

'Pruning' is not a bad thing, or something that you should dread. If you understand this principle of pruning, and if you allow the Lord to do His pruning work in you, the next thing you'll see is fruitfulness.

As a matter of fact, when you abide in (or connect with) the Lord, there will always be occasions (or areas in your life) where He will prune you. It is in order to make you more effective in life (or ministry).

In John 15:1-2, Jesus says, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

And then in John 15:4-5, Jesus says, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

The word 'abide' here is 'meno' in Greek, which can mean 'to connect, to stay, to remain, to endure, to dwell, to continue, to be present'.

The vine is a climbing plant in the grape family, and the vinedresser is someone who cultivates the vineyard.

The word 'takes away' here is 'airo' in Greek, and in this context, means 'to put away (from its initial position), to lift up, to bear up'. Psalm 3:3 says, 'But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head'. He is the One who lifts up your head when you are down.

The word 'prunes' here is 'kathairo' in Greek, literally meaning 'to cleanse, to purge', from the word 'katharos', which means 'clean, clear, pure'. As you can see here, 'pruning' is good for you, because it clears you from any hindrance to your fruitfulness in life!

To understand 'pruning' better, let's do a little study on the characteristics of the grape plants. Grape plants are vigorous plants and (therefore) need to be pruned, removing more than 70% of its branches in order to get the best production of grapes. Pruning is normally done in winter time (dormant time), just before growth begins in spring time.
Source: National Gardening Association, United States of America.

Here are some definitions of 'pruning' found in dictionaries:
1. To trim the tree by cutting away some branches in order to encourage growth.
2. To cut the unnecessary parts in order to make the tree more effective in bearing fruit.
3. To cut away branches that have borne fruit before, but have now become old/hard/deadwood, and therefore cannot bear quality fruit.

What are some of the areas in your life that the Lord 'prunes'?
Fear, griefs, sorrows, hurts, insecurity, worries, anxieties, bodily ailments/infirmities, uncontrolled anger, and the list goes on.
These are negative forces that debilitates you (i.e. makes you weaker), takes up your time and energy unnecessarily, and hinders you from growing healthily in the Lord.

Don't resist the 'pruning' of the Lord
In John 15:1-2, the Lord has promised to cut away every area in your life that has no use, no purpose, and brings no benefit, so that you can now move on to bear more fruit in life. See the heart of God here? Never meant to harm you, but always in view of what is good for you. This is the heart of your Abba Father in heaven who loves you and spares not even His own Son to die for you (Romans 8:32).

Beloved of God, let Him take away all those fear, griefs, sorrows, hurts, and even condemnation from your life today. Isaiah 53:4-5 says, 'Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed'.

Indeed, this is a time of pruning before you see good fruit in a brand new season of your life. Amen.