The greatest joy and excitement in my life comes from hearing the voice of God speak right into my tiny, little life. I remember the first time I felt and heard the Lord speak to me (I still sit in wonder and awe that he speaks to us), it changed my world forever. Something shifted in me that day, I forever became a seeker of His voice, to seek what He is speaking everyday thereafter. And in times like these where the world is in crises mode, I still very much find my joy in seeking what Papa God is speaking to not only me, but his people too. I also find great joy in releasing to the Saints what He is speaking to me because I believe it applies to a generation, a movement, a people and not just to me. With that said, I am feeling pressed by the Spirit to release a word that I believe will help steward us in this season of quarantine. I hope this finds you full of hope and peace as you seek His face in this time of rest!
For a while now, I have felt that Father God has been cleansing me and his corporate Body from mixture. Let me explain. In Revelation Jesus is talking to the church in Thyatira. He tells them that they need to repent from sexual immorality and also of eating food sacrificed to idols (Rev 2:20). As I sought the Lord on what this meant he revealed to me that some of the church has mixed the Fresh Bread of Heaven , God’s Word (food), with man-made traditions and ideologies and have even elevated them as doctrine, which is idolatry (Mark 7: 6-13). Eating food sacrificed to idols means this: to believe doctrines of men or demons instead of God’s Word, but using God’s word to teach these false beliefs. It’s mixture. It’s a little bit of idolatry mixed with a little bit of God’s word – this needs to be exposed and banished from the church. So, whenever I would pray and ask God to rid me of all “mixture” it was in response to that revelation.
Yesterday I found myself reading John chapter 5. Jesus had just healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath and declared God his Father and the religious were already planning how they might kill him. Jesus goes on to tell the religious crowd that He can do nothing of Himself but only what He sees the Father do (John 5:19). Jesus then says this:
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)
For some reason, this particular scripture struck something in me. I started to dwell on what this meant. I wondered how many times my will has clashed with His. Later on in the day, the Lord gave me revelation on this verse, and what it means for us today.
Mixture isn’t just mixing his Word with false doctrine, it’s also mixing our will with his. Jesus said he laid aside his will to do only the Father’s will. And since we are his disciples, we must and are expected to do the same. Oh how this struck a cord with me. How many times have I fought to have my will done thinking I was doing the Lord’s work? How many times had I deceived myself into thinking that I was following God and setting everything aside, but unwilling to let go of my will? Jesus NEVER did a single thing of His OWN will, it was about his Father’s will. To put that in perspective, that would mean we would never utter a word that God isn’t speaking about a person or a situation or a circumstance. That in everything, HIS will would be done – in word and in deed. That just as the Lord Jesus said, we only do and say what our Father is doing and saying! Lord, help us in our weaknesses!
Today as I was dwelling on this word the Lord started to put it together with Passover, or Pesach. Many of us have felt that we are hurtling towards this Passover season as if it really was a Passover. We are confined to our homes to avoid the plague. We are hoping this plague will “Passover” on the actual day of Passover this year. My heart posture was simply this: Lord, don’t let me miss what you are doing right now. Don’t let my will and wanting this to be over mix with your will and what you want to do and say right now in this season! As I started to press and pray into this, the Lord reminded me of a ritual that the Jewish people do in preparation for Pesach. A few weeks prior to Passover, they rid their homes of all Leaven. They do this because the Lord commanded them to do this in Exodus 12:15 and also Exodus 13:7. Leaven was a symbol of sin. It had to be dealt with in order for them to celebrate the first Passover and every one thereafter. The Lord impressed upon me that the mixture in the church is what the leaven was referring to in Exodus. Here we are, two weeks before Passover, facing a real plague, and confined to our homes!
I felt the Lord say, “Sarah, Now is a time of reflection with ME. Ask me to search and know you so we can get all the leaven out before the great Passover feast! No more mixing my will with yours. Allow me to drudge up all the dead religion that remains in you. If you allow it, I will use this secret time to overhaul and refine you, but also teach you more about me.”
This is a time of getting all the leaven out! All that mixture of idolatry and our wills getting in the way, it’s got to go! He impressed upon me Psalm 139: 23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any idolatrous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” This is of the utmost importance, Church. We must pray and seek His face, and humble ourselves under his mighty hand and ask if there are any idolatrous ways in us! We must ask Him to rid us of all mixture. This time we have been given is precious and we must not waist it! I believe this is a solemn time for the Bride, a time that we fall on our faces and ask the Spirit to search us. It is a time of deep cleaning by God.
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and they will bring offerings of righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of and as in former years. Then, I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of Hosts.” Malachi 3:2-5
We must allow ourselves to be purified in this short time Yahweh has given us, so that the wickedness in the land can come under judgement. This is a good thing, we want this to happen! But this will only happen through His Spirit. The Word makes that so clear to us. I felt the Lord impress upon me something very important: we CANNOT self-evaluate ourselves. This is not a time for self-reflection and ‘check off all my religious boxes’ Christianity (I tithe, I don’t swear, cheat, murder, etc). This is about transformation! Religious Christianity is devoid of true heart transformation. Where does our hope lie you ask? Let’s read a passage from 2 Corinthians 3:16-18: “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” True transformation comes from beholding Him in His glory, not self-reflection. True change comes from the Spirit, because where he is there is freedom! We need a ‘mount of transfiguration’ experience with the Lord that will leave us with transformed minds and hearts (Roman 12:2). No more checking off our boxes and thinking it’s all good because I go to church, I read my bible and I give. We need a healthy dose of falling on our faces, crying out to Him to search and know us, then repenting immediately of what He shows us and beholding his glory! One glimpse of Him, high and lifted up in his transformed state and we will never be the same. Church, this is the time to seek that experience with everything you have. The future depends on how we handle this season. Dive into the River, go deep with Him. He’s not afraid of what he will find inside of you. He longs to set us free from religious oppression and sin! It’s in his nature. Pray with me today:
Lord, I repent of all the known and unknown mixture in my life. Remove all the leaven out of us so that we are thoroughly prepared for Pesach. I give you permission to search me and know me and try me to see if there is any idolatry in me. I give your Spirit permission to have His way in my heart and mind, and I lay my will aside to carry yours, Father. Lord, give me a ‘mount of transfiguration’ experience with you where my eyes behold your glory, just like your Word tells us we can. We can come boldly to your throne of grace in our time of need! Jesus we ask for your gentle cutting away, so that we can be mature sons walking in power and authority and doing only what the Father does. Thank you Lord for your word that cuts between bone and marrow and exposes the intents of the heart. Use it to refine us and Let your Kingdom come! In the precious name of Yeshua, AMEN!
Sarah Coombs
