What does the Lord say for the coming year?

In recent days, I've been seeing visions of orange color, and this color stood out among other colors. The Lord then said to me, "Find out the meaning of orange color in Hebrew, and this will be what Hebrew New Year 5781 going to be like for My people! This will also be what Year 2021 going to be like for My people!"

I said "Wow!" Because this was the first time the Lord spoke this way - to release His words for a new year by finding out the meaning of a certain color in Hebrew!

You see, every color in Hebrew has its meaning and significance. For example, 'white' is the color for 'purity, holiness'; 'black' is the color for 'the fear of the Lord, abundance'; 'blue' is the color for 'revelation, blessing'; 'green' is the color for 'new life, healing, renewal'; 'red' is the color for 'life, atonement, courage'; and so on. 

How about 'orange' color? It is the color for 'perseverance, strength, power, harvest, change of season'. 

As a general information, the Jewish New Year (or Head of the Year) called Rosh Hashanah usually begins about three months ahead of our Gregorian New Year. So, the Jewish New Year 5781 precedes Year 2021 in our Gregorian calendar, just as the Jewish New Year 5780 preceded Year 2020 in our Gregorian calendar.

So, what does the Lord say to us in this new year? It has to do with the meaning of the color 'orange'!   

- The Lord is calling His people to persevere in this change of season! 

- The Lord is getting us ready for the great harvest of souls!

- The Lord is releasing His supernatural strength and power!

The Lord said further, "The key to walk in the fullness of My purposes and plans for you in this new season is to be purified, sanctified, and set apart! Spirit, soul and body! Mind, will, and emotions! Just like Daniel and his three friends who would not allow themselves to be adulterated and contaminated by the world! To fear God, and not men!"

The Lord also said, "The key to go through this next whole year is to be like Daniel! To never compromise in your walk with God, and to stay away from every form of idolatry and contamination in the world! To stand strong in the Word and in the Spirit no matter what!"

Remember, the next whole year is the year you are to:

- persevere in this change of season, no matter what!

- get ready for the great harvest of souls!

- receive His supernatural strength and power to do His will!

It is a 3-fold instruction from the Lord as you prepare for Year 2021!

Apart from the above, the Lord has also said clearly, "Be like Daniel!"

If you look at Daniel chapter 1, you'd see Daniel and his three friends chose not to defile themselves (Daniel 1:5-8). As a result, the Lord honored them, and in all matters of wisdom and understanding in which the king examined them, the king found them to be ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in the king's realm! (Daniel 1:17-20)

In Daniel chapter 2, Daniel interpreted the king's dream when all the magicians and astrologers in the entire kingdom of Babylon could not! Indeed, the Lord was with Daniel and showed him many deeper things! Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon at that time was so impressed that he put Daniel to a high position, and made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, plus being the chief over all the king's wise men! (Daniel 2:46-49)

In Daniel chapter 3, the king made a gold statue and sent messages to all the governors and officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. And those who do not bow down to worship the gold statue will be thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:4-6). However, Daniel's three friends did not want to defile themselves with such worship, and they did not bow down to the gold statue (Daniel 3:16-18). As a consequence, they were thrown into the fiery furnace. But you know what? They came out unscathed! The king was astonished, and he said to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." But the king answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:24-25) See? The Lord was with them through the fiery furnace! 

Let's fast forward to Daniel chapter 6 now. By that time, there was a new king called Darius. And Daniel was chosen to supervise the officers of this king's kingdom and to protect the king's interests. So, it means Daniel was highly valued by the king! However, other administrators and officers in the kingdom tried to find fault with Daniel. But they couldn't find any. They then realized the only way of finding grounds to accuse Daniel would be something related to Daniel's faith in his God! (Daniel 6:4-5)

So, you know what they did?

They advised the king that he should make a law that will be strictly enforced, that for the next thirty days, any person who prays to anyone except the king will be thrown into the lions' den! (Daniel 6:6-7) Daniel was found to continue worshiping his God, the Lord God Almighty, and therefore he was found guilty of disrespecting this new law! As a consequence, he was thrown into the lions' den! And you know what? The Lord God sent an angel to shut the lions' mouths, and Daniel too came out unscathed! (Daniel 6:19-23) 

People of God, like Daniel's three friends who were not harmed in the fiery furnace, and like Daniel himself who was not harmed in the lions' den, the Lord will also know how to protect you no matter what happens in this world, as long as you do not defile yourselves and as long as you keep putting your trust in the Lord! 

Interestingly, the name 'Daniel' is 'Daniy El' in Hebrew, meaning 'God is my judge'. Indeed, the Lord God Almighty is also the God of justice, and He will know how to bring justice to those who are pure and undefiled before Him, and to those who put all their trust in Him. Amen!

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Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy!

Psalm 126:5-6 (NKJV): Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

While I was praying for someone the other day, I saw a vision of a hand pulling a piece of tissue out of a golden tissue box, wiping the tears from that someone's eyes. And then I heard these words, 'Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy'.

I would interpret the 'gold' color in the 'golden tissue box' as 'the divine touch of God', coming from the very throne of God directly to those who need it.

Let's go back to Psalm 126:5-6 now. The background of these two verses is about 'being set free' from bondage and captivity, as God's people began to see their weeping being turned into rejoicing. Here's what Psalm 126:1-4 (the verses prior to Psalm 126:5-6) says, 'When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed (i.e. dream came true). Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations (Gentiles), "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the South (Negev)'.

Indeed, this is a time of reaping and rejoicing for many of you who have been 'sowing in tears'!

Last Sunday morning, I heard and released these prophetic words to the congregation regarding the current time and season they are in:

"There's a new strategy that I am releasing to My people in this time and season! A strategy for My people's breakthrough and victory! And I am releasing a new way, a new approach, even a new formation! The wind from heaven is blowing to bring forth such in the physical realm. The old is gone, and the new has come! This is a day to declare your reaping time has come! For those who sow in tears shall reap in joy!"

And then I heard and released further:

"And I am releasing a new sound, a new rhythm into your life and spirit today. A new sound, a new rhythm for a new season! Allow Me, and watch how I am going to bring you into the next level you have been asking for!"

The word 'reap' in Psalm 126:5 is 'qatsar' in Hebrew, meaning 'to harvest (grains)', from the same Hebrew root as 'qatsats', meaning 'to cut off, to chop off'. As a matter of fact, when you use the sickle to 'cut' ('qatsar') in the harvest field, you are effectively separating the 'useful' from the 'useless'. The grains (i.e. the useful parts) would then be used to make bread (i.e. food) to feed (bless) many, while the useless parts would be burned. So, 'separating' here is a 'picture' of your 'consecration before the Lord', or 'being set apart for His works'. In other words, a harvest time (or reaping time) would always come together with a time of consecration before the Lord, or being separated (set apart) unto God!

People of God, if you ask me what is the time and season at the moment in the spiritual realm, I would say we are in the time and season of crossing the 'threshold'. A 'threshold' is 'a piece of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway', and is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as 'point of entering or beginning something'.

Get ready therefore! And get yourself consecrated before the Lord! For the Lord will begin to do great things for you too, just as it is written in Psalm 126:1-4!

In this new season of the Lord, there's also a new sound and a new rhythm that the Lord is breathing into you. Receive by faith! Flow with this new sound and new rhythm from Him, and you will see there's no struggle in everything you do. Why? Because it is the Lord who sets it! Interestingly, right after Psalm 126:5-6 comes this verse in Psalm 127:1 that says, 'Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it...' The word 'build' here is 'banah' in Hebrew, meaning 'to appoint, to set (things) up'. In other words, 'unless the Lord is the One who appoints (it), or sets (things) up, God's people will labor in vain'!

Your part is to flow with His plan and in His direction, and you will begin to see your breakthrough and victory!

Some old 'set up' and old 'strategies' that used to work in the old season may not work anymore. In this season of 'change' and 'crossing the threshold', there's going to be a new way, a new approach, even a new formation being released from heaven. In fact, for some of you, there's even going to be some re-positioning. Be willing to adjust, and allow Him to change you. To put it simply, be willing to embrace the change He has for you!

Bear in mind the Lord doesn't change things for no reason. He changes things for you (at certain junctures of your life) so that you will always be at the cutting edge, effective in all that He has called you to be (or do)!

This is also a time He is releasing many new strategies for His people! Take time to listen for His voice as you read the Word and pray in the spirit. By the way, 'a strategy' can be defined as 'a plan and direction in a war, a battle, or an operation'.

For some of you who have been feeling 'overwhelmed' by the 'tasks' that you have in your hands, take heart, because the battle in this end-time is not yours, but the Lord's, just as in the days of Jehoshaphat (read 2 Chronicles 20:15). Meditate on 2 Chronicles chapter 20:1-30, and allow the Lord to re-assure and encourage you.

Last but not least, I would like to bring to your attention Isaiah 6:1-8, a key and crucial 'threshold' for Isaiah's life and ministry. These verses describe how the Lord brought Isaiah into his new season, and from that time on, he (Isaiah) never looked back, and went on to become a great prophet of the Lord. Again, it all began with a time of consecration before the Lord!

Isaiah 6:4-7 says, 'So I (Isaiah) said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal... And he touched my mouth with it, and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged."'

People of God, likewise, allow the Lord to burn away the 'useless' as you prepare yourself for His new appointments in your life!

Isaiah 6:8 then says, 'Also I (Isaiah) heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I (Isaiah) said, "Here am I! Send me."' Interestingly, the word 'send' here is 'shalach' in Hebrew, which actually means 'to appoint, to use, to bring (on the way), to shoot forth'.

May you also say the same to the Lord today: "Here am I, appoint me, use me, bring me (on the way), and shoot me forth (to where you want me to be, and what you want me to do)!" In Jesus' name. Amen.