TIDINGS OF COMFORT

​Dear friends, 

For several days the Lord has urged me to release words of COMFORT for those who are struggling at this time. I believe there is a deep work of healing and restoration taking place in the Body of Christ to counter the brokenness and grief so many are feeling. I hear the Lord saying He wants to bring an end to present trauma and tears. 

This is a time to receive heaven’s comfort in exchange for your sorrow. 
​

WOUNDED WARRIORS

As I prayed for those who are mourning, I saw that there are some who feel like they are wounded but they are still on the battlefield. There seem to be innumerable “hits” from the enemy and you’re wondering where it’s safe to land. You’ve asked God how to find that place of rest He has promised you. The pain and grief surfacing in your heart right now feels a bit “too close for comfort.”  

I heard the Lord saying that your tears and your honest heart before God are keys to finding your place of rest. As you empty your soul of its sorrows He will refuel and strengthen you. He is “the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Your tears are not in vain; they have spiritual “substance” to them. It’s important to allow God to unlock and release the pain from these deeper wounds in order to bring COMPLETE FREEDOM and RESTORED JOY to your soul. 

Specifically, I heard the Lord emphasize that He desires His Bride to focus on the “TIDINGS OF COMFORT and joy” He is releasing in this season.  

The angels’ message of comfort is not confined to Christmas but represents the very heart of God to bring people back from captivity. Just as Christ’s birth brought comfort to Mary and His ministry released the oil of gladness, so the ‘Consolation of Israel’ is revealing Himself once again as the source of compassion and love for those who are suffering. 

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.” ~Isaiah 66:13


“COMFORT FOOD”

As I sought the Lord to understand more of His desire to comfort His people, He answered with two illustrations from Psalm 23. 

First, I saw the Good Shepherd leading His people by quiet waters. He is releasing peace to His people; those who follow Him are seeing deep soul-wounds restored. (Ps. 23:2-3)

Second, He showed me the table set before one’s enemies, saying: “Every time you come to me I fill you COMPLETELY.” 

There is a standing invitation to feast upon the Lord; His flesh is the living Word that nourishes and sustains us. 

The table in Psalm 23 is heaven’s ‘comfort food.’ There is no earthly food or coping mechanism that will comfort as deeply and completely as what the Lord gives to His Bride. He satisfies her Himself! 

In particular, the Lord highlighted to me those who are dreading the holidays because of the recent death of a loved one. I knew that He felt the sharp pain of these losses. Yet I saw that those who come to Him when earth’s festive tables hold no joy will be embraced, understood, comforted, and made to feel “complete” again in ways that no spouse, child, or friend can supply. 

To those who are mourning, the Lord will show you your next steps when you choose that place of deep communion with Him. Overwhelming suffering is to be met with His abundant comfort.  


EVEN THERE, YOU GUIDE ME

Finally, I heard the cries of those who feel like there is no hope. 

For some who are struggling at this time, depression has lasted well past its expiration date. These may have said at some point that they live “in hell itself;”* they don’t have the answers and there seems to be no escape. 

EVEN THERE, the Lord is revealing Himself as Immanuel, ‘God with us.’ His Presence is limitless; He is the One who will walk through walls and locked doors to restore His people! (John 20:19-26)

If this is you, it is time to shake off the dungeon dust and believe that there is NO PLACE where God’s light cannot penetrate darkness. 

Darkness is as light to the Lord; He is here not just to comfort you in your sorrow but to set you completely free.* As you refocus your eyes on the light of the Word, you will find the strength you need to get up again and go forth in the purposes to which He’s called you: 

“Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.” ~ Isaiah 51:3 NASBS


The “real you” exists not in the realm of the flesh but in the realm of the Spirit, if the Holy Spirit lives in you. As He did in the early days of the Church, the Holy Spirit - our Comforter - is actively comforting and strengthening those who have suffered trials, pulling off rags of despair and depression and replacing them with garments of joy and praise. 

In this season where we celebrate Christ, your mourning is a blessing in disguise: it is your doorway into the comfort of the Lord.

Deborah    


© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com
*See Psalm 139:8-12; John 20:19-26, & 2 Corinthians 3:17; Luke 2:8-14  

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