As we arrived at our villa beautifully situated in the South of France, I was overwhelmed by the splendour, decadence and excellence as I looked in wide-eyed wonder everywhere. It was as though God tailor-made this especially and fulfilled all the desires within every one of our hearts… diving board in the swimming pool for the boys, playhouse for our daughter, even a baby pool and nursery for baby Judah! It may have been a faith-filled, battle riddled past few months and an arduous two-day journey to get here, but we made it! This place invigorated every one of my senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste!
“Taste and see that the Lord is good. O the joys of those who take refuge in Him! Fear (honour, worship and revere) the Lord, you His Godly people for those who fear Him have all they need. Even strong lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing!” Psalm 34:8-10 (NLT)
God showed me in the same way it takes faith to taste something new, to try something that may look different to you, it will require great faith as we enter this season of New Beginnings and experience all heaven has for us to bring to earth. May God’s Kingdom come and His will be done! You see, in this season, it’s all about the King and His Kingdom!
I breathed in the fragrance bursting from every room. “If I closed my eyes”, I thought, “I could be back in Bali on our honeymoon”. David and I looked at each other, we were thinking the same thing as he brushed my hand with a smile and whispered “Bali”!
Breathing in the moment I heard God’s beautiful Holy Spirit speak to my heart, I embraced His words as I now embrace the season, heaven whispered “New Beginnings”!
God says, “the old, cold, harshness and hardness of the past has passed. The new, warm, favour-filled living with ease, has come. Blessings to bursting point, stress free victory, purpose filled prosperity; child of the King it is time to overflow everywhere you go and usher my Kingdom in”!
New beginnings conjure up in my mind’s eye great excitement and awe like at the birth of a new-born child and all the potential the new life contains… fun, fresh, turn arounds, to go again, flourish, prosper, hope, dream…
This message comes with a warning. In the Bible, you can read the account in 1 Chronicles 15:13 where there was great excitement and celebration as the children of God moved the Arc of the Covenant (a picture of carrying God’s presence forward). The outcome wasn’t all it should have been, and with regret they cried:
“… We failed to ask God how to move it properly.” 1 Chron 15:13(NLT)
“Father God, how do we manage this new season of overflow, blessing and favour? We look to you. lead us every step of the way in humility, pride-free and may your Kingdom overflow everywhere we go, bringing great glory to your name. Amen.”
1. Dethrone everything and enthrone the King
I had a couple of disturbed night’s sleep on arriving here. Now, disturbed night’s sleep with baby Judah has become my norm over the past eighteen months (his cuddles are a consolation), but disturbed beyond that with nightmares, a disconcerting restlessness, is not something I take lightly… On our second night I awoke to my husband assuring me everything was alright, ‘shhhhing’ me, just as he would our children. At the end of another nightmare I had gone to scream my daughter’s name, but instead I awoke my husband (and myself) screaming the name above every name, JESUS! In my dream came a message loud and clear “leave the villa” – I knew the source of the dream, and prayerfully knew we were not the ones to be getting out of here – at least not for another two and a half weeks! The next day I sensed God leading me to ‘dethrone’ some things in our bedroom. I discovered on a high up shelf (elevated) an idol fully laden with incense – well that was coming down, rapidly followed by monkey idols too. I respect fully the owners of the villa who these belong to, but I certainly have no requirement to give any elevation, respect or honour to what flies in the face of the only true God. The Bible shows us these are dead gods and idols but the devil is cunning and deceives countless millions throughout the world by ordaining worship to himself through them. I opened my Bible and read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. Yes, you can read for yourself how demons attach themselves to these things providing an opening to wreak havoc in people’s lives.
In this season of New Beginnings, I sensed the Holy Spirit saying there are things that need to be dethroned in our lives so that Christ alone can be enthroned. That is why I give no worth, ‘worthship’ or worship to these idols, My Creator and living God is the only one worthy of ‘worth’ and all my worship. What to do with these idols though? I paced the villa and grounds and landed back in our bedroom. I opened my bedroom cupboard door and as they weren’t mine to destroy, I felt to put them at the back of my cupboard, where the dirty laundry goes! It seemed very fitting! The monkey idol above Judah’s cot was dethroned and relegated there too.
God’s Holy Spirit is saying today “Watch what you elevate in your life; enthrone Jesus Christ alone, God’s word, His ways and dethrone all else to make way for increase, favour, good success and blessing in this season of New Beginnings.” God’s word promises “He gives His beloved sleep” and beyond being woken by Him to pray peacefully and powerfully, or by baby Judah, our rest and sleep was restored! The Lord sees idols as anything elevated above Him in your life. In this season of New Beginnings dethrone self-reliance, that relationship you seek after more than you seek after God, the love of money (money in itself is not evil, but needful & you can do a lot of good with it, the love of money is), affirmation (be affirmed by God’s word and not others), pride – oh my, how the ‘big I’ must be dethroned and die, as we humble ourselves before almighty God! Are you willing to humble yourself, God will not do that for you and me, that is our prerogative in every circumstance and area of life, that Jesus might be elevated and lifted high. If so, God can trust you with more in this season of New Beginnings and overflow – increase, favour, ‘fatness’, blessings to bursting point are before you!
2. IT’S GOD’S DIVINE ‘TAKE OVER’ TIME!
“Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.” Nehemiah 9:25
God loves to overflow His children’s lives with goodness and blessings. The only reason the children of Israel lost out and missed out on heaven’s highest intention for them here, as spoken of by Nehemiah and numerous prophets, was because they sold out to the blessing and rejected the Blesser, they loved the things rather than the giver and Creator of everything. Keep Jesus at the centre of it all, may everything in your life point up to Him and not back to you then He can trust you with overflow everywhere you go in this season of New Beginnings.
– Vineyards = wine which signifies great joy in this season, the joy of the Lord is our strength, great victories and celebration are in store.
– Olive groves = fresh oil and anointing, divine abilities to get the job done and expect gifting in abundance.
– Fruit trees = this is a sweet season where God will make the bitter, sweetness before you with His comfort, pleasures for evermore, fruitfulness, completion, and ripeness, as you gather, take over, for it is take home the harvest time!
The time to eat and partake of all heaven has for you; to enjoy fullness, fatness and all of God’s blessings, for His glory, has come! Even as I type this now I am under the shade of a majestic olive tree, surrounded by undeserved and unmerited favour and beauty. May God’s anointing continually flow through and speak for me…
You will take over buildings, properties, territories – be influencers in cities and Nations for it is Kingdom ‘take over time’, stress free victory in this season of overflow. It’s a new day, it’s a new beginning, it’s a season of divine take over, turnaround and change.
Let me introduce you to the Baader-Meinhoff phenomenon, otherwise known as ‘frequency illusion’ or ‘recency illusion’. If you haven’t come across this before, it is the scientific term given to something that previously went unnoticed, until it was brought to your attention and then suddenly you see it everywhere. I read the two words in the second sentence of the verse above (in bold) as ‘took overflow’ and heard God’s beautiful Holy Spirit whisper “tell my children to see my overflow, take my overflow and expect my overflow everywhere they go. Even the hard places will breakthrough and overflow with blessings and miraculous supply, just like honey overflowed out of rocks for the children of Israel back in Bible times, so will my blessings overflow for my children today, and even more so.” I guess you could say “Burst the Dam – It’s Double Portion Time“!
You see, instead of simply reading “they took over” in the passage above, I read “they took overflow”! It’s divine take over time! God desires for His children to reach out and ‘take overflow” – it’s yours for the taking today! In order for you to ‘take over’ in your life as God intends you to do, you will first need to take His overflow, operate from a position of overflow, expect overflow, see overflow and then you will truly overflow everywhere you go!
3. FAVOUR-FILLED FRUITFULNESS
“Then God blessed them and said “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and govern it. Reign…” Genesis 28:1 (NLT)
God has already blessed us, made us fruitful, multiplied us, caused us to rule and reign in this life and over all our circumstances through Christ’s finished, victorious work at the cross, so what are we waiting for… go…. overflow! You can keep striving in your own strength and stress, or operate from a position of rest, resulting in miraculous returns, increase and favour for your Holy Spirit led labour. God is calling us afresh to work for that which will last for eternity and not the temporary.
I heard God’s Holy Spirit say “Whoever has ears to hear, may they hear what God is saying to His Church in this hour of God’s power! The life of the one who will showcase God’s glory, and not their own, will be enviably fruitful and highly favoured”!
“And now our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come upon us….” Nehemiah 9:32
God has seen your tears, heard your prayers, felt your pain and found you faithful, child of his grace. Your suffering and hardship have not been insignificant to the Lord, neither has the great trouble you have experienced been in vain. Instead, they have produced character to sustain you in this season of blessing, overflow and fruitfulness you are entering into. Your life will showcase God’s glory as you step into this season of New Beginnings and the glorious unknown. Will you follow? The only requirement is faith…. great fruitfulness awaits!
“For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future but right now. I am ready to save Jerusalem and show my glory to Israel”. Isaiah 46:13
OPTIONAL PRAYER
Father God, I will follow where you lead. I receive your overflow and will believe your word. Demonstrate your power in this hour – let my life shout your praise and glory. Here I am, fully surrendered in your hand, fully found in your presence, full of faith as I step into the glorious unknown and season of New Beginnings. In Jesus name. Amen.
❤️🙏🏼