| Joel 2:21-22 – 14 January 2019 |
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
NKJV
This new year is going to be so filled with the wonders of the Lord, and He is inviting us to expect His “marvelous things” to begin to manifest in our lives. The Holy Spirit is speaking to us as we stand at the beginning of 2019, and He calls us into the new thing Abba God has in store for us. It may be difficult to believe for the manifestation of God’s marvels if you had a rough time during the past years, or you struggled to overcome some specific issue like an infirmity or a financial challenge. However, this is a new beginning, and if you choose to disconnect from every possibility of negative expectation and open up your heart to God’s goodness again, there is a new thing springing forth for you. Instead of fearing a bad outcome, we can choose to rejoice and anticipate God’s goodness, because of what He has promised. He has already been through this year. He has already made the way open for us. He has already fought every battle on our behalf and won – hallelujah! He has already done all the good things we need to see happen. Dear friend, our Father has already set us up for success in every area of our lives. When we align our hearts with His, we begin to see the doors He has opened; we begin to see the rough ways made smooth. He has indeed done marvelous things for us!
The prophet Joel writes “Do not be afraid you beasts of the field, for the open pastures are springing up” because the people of Israel had been so adversely affected when they suffered through an extended season of war, famine and drought. It had been so extreme that there was no water or food, no fruit or vegetation, and not even grass in the fields for the cattle and other animals. They had been through a very difficult and traumatic time which had marred and scarred their hope and expectations. This word was God’s assurance that things were turning and their season of abundance had come. If you went through a stressful and testing time last year, know that this is not what you are going to see this new year. Money that was blocked up during the past months is being released to you. Opportunities which were denied to you are now within your reach. Doors that were closed to you are now opening up. There is someone discovering your gift and helping you to get into a different place. There are supernatural connections happening. There is a scholarship being given to you which you did not even expect! Favor is coming upon your life in a whole new way! Let fear not hinder you, for there are things springing up in the spiritual realm which are beginning to manifest in the physical. The beasts of the field were starving but the Word of the Lord to them was that the pastures are springing up; He says the same to us today. Where there was no sign of life, life is springing forth. Where the trees were empty, barren and bare, they are beginning to be filled with buds which will explode into fruit. The fig tree and the vine are beginning to produce. There will be an abundance which will sustain not only you but others during this year. A spirit of barrenness is being broken off someone’s life, a spirit of fruitlessness and futility is being bound forever, in Jesus’ mighty name. It is a year of harvest. It is a year where natural circumstances and resources begin to “yield their strength”; ie, the things of the natural realm that did not cooperate with you in the past are now hearing the voice of the Lord and bowing to His name.
No room for fear! This year is going to see an unusual level of harvest and return. There is great fruitfulness starting to come forth from the spiritual realm, but there is no room for fear. There is a fear of failure and rejection that has to go. There are wonderful opportunities awaiting you but every negative expectation has to be wiped out of your mind. Forgive every person or situation who/which may have impacted you in this way. Let Jesus come into that place of pain and heal your heart. Fear can cut off the good thing just springing up out of the ground, like a big foot trampling down on the baby shoot of a plant. Fear blinds us to the goodness of God and cuts down faith and the manifestation of God’s Word in our lives. Fear makes us confess things we shouldn’t be saying and causes us to focus on what is not happening, rather than on the victory before us. There is no room for fear when we are waiting for God to move.
Rejoice and be glad! Receive this Word into your heart and begin to celebrate His love and goodness to you! There is so much to thank God for. You made it through the last year! You had many challenges but God brought you through. Here you are alive and well and reading this message, feeling the Holy Spirit speaking to you. You are standing at the starting point of a whole new year and God is giving you a clean blank sheet to write on. It is going to be a year that is filled with heavenly goodness, and fruitfulness, filled with God’s marvelous things! Whatever you have been contending for during the past year is coming to fruition in the new. You can rejoice and be glad because God is coming through for you! Watch what you confess and let your words be filled with faith, with joy and gladness. There are miracles coming through!
