Expressing Grace

renewing the body through sound

Expressing Grace

It’s February, and as I write from Minnesota, it’s snowing…again…six more inches. This year winter has been long and hard, not only in the natural, but in this season of life many find themselves in. Snow is a prophetic reminder of our Heavenly Father’s grace covering the Earth. February has been a significant month for our family throughout the years: our first child was born in February, we have made three major life changes in the month of February, and it represents a significant Scripture passage and word I received from the Lord in February 2002 and again in February 2008. Whenever Holy Spirit reminds me of my Father’s promises, His reminder is accompanied by big, beautiful, moisture-filled snowflakes, floating gently down from Heaven, blanketing us with more grace. Today’s February Elijah List article: “Why You Should Remind God Of Your Prophetic Words”…again.

Reminders of God’s promises are necessary when battling the storms of life, especially when the storms endure much longer and have been far more difficult than ever thought possible. The path that following Christ has led us on was never my dream nor my husband’s. The more fervently we have pursued the righteousness of Christ and His Kingdom, the more difficult our battles have become. Together we are good. We are good with Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, but in this current season, there is much that simply isn’t ‘good.’ Back to grace. His grace will see us through the fulfillment of His promises if we simply hold on to Him and His goodness in faith. It’s a choice, however.

It deeply saddens me to see grace being used as an excuse to justify hurting other people and choosing to live for ‘self.’ I am specifically addressing believers in the body of Christ, as opposed to unbelievers. Over and over again, we’re seeing the justification of adultery and affairs, divorces, lifestyles and choices contrary to Scripture, mistreatment of others through self-centered words and actions, and decisions that loudly scream of your choices being the only right ones and other people’s are just plain wrong, irregardless of what they’re going through, and they’ll simply have to ‘get over it.’ There are so many hurting people in the body of Christ right now, due to the purposefully selfish words and actions of other believers, oftentimes close family members: a spouse of many years, children, siblings, close friends, etc.. Scripture says that following Christ means dying to the self-life of our flesh and this narcissistic culture, in order to gain the life He purchased for all on the cross. There is simply no self-life or self-justification in the New Testament with an outcome of the pursuit of ‘happiness.’ That lens is simply a Hollywood movie title and is a huge deception from the kingdom of darkness New Testament Scriptures warn us about.

Truth: the grace of God represents the opportunity we are all given every day of our lives to surrender our self-life in exchange for the eternal life and eternal gifts He wants to manifest in and through us, beginning on this Earth NOW throughout eternity. This exchange has always been about God’s love flowing through us to Himself and to others first and foremost. It has never been about man-centered love. Judgment, shame, and condemnation in this journey are never from the Father, irregardless of each person’s choices because of God’s grace, yet, His grace was never poured out to be used as a crutch for the justification of satisfying selfish, human-centered desires and the pursuit of happiness, whatever those desires may be.

I have been parenting/nurturing/praying through a huge vision for 24 years. I have also mentored it via camps, conferences, gatherings, children’s/family ministries, books and websites. I am believing for a multi-generational movement of Holy Spirit all across the Earth, releasing musicians, artists, dancers, creative writers, poets, lyricists, photographers, graphic designers, media specialists, audio production specialists, actors/actresses, movie producers, and the infinite list of creative arts/artists, delivered wholeheartedly from self-life and surrendered wholeheartedly to living the life of Christ in such a way that His creativity can be used once again to reform the nations (I say once again, because history (His story) always repeats itself). Why not? The kingdom of darkness has been using the creative arts over the past 60+ years to lead this culture on a very destructive path, while the church ‘separated itself’ waiting to be ‘raptured’ (again, note history). Therefore, if nothing is impossible for God when we believe, why can’t He do even greater things through His Body, the Church that He is building on the Earth that cannot be contained within any four walls, and the Church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against, for such a time as this? Isaiah 60:1-3 clearly states in reference to the book of Revelations and how the end times will play out, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

I believe this Scripture is strategic to the days in which we live, and especially for those blessed and skilled with creative giftings, grounded in the Word, and in pursuit of the Kingdom of Heaven. Read the vision Holy Spirit led me to write down for TheArtsExpressed.org, Sound Expressions, or even our older family ministry website, Jaran Ministries. Within each website and vision, you will see decrees of creatively gifted and skilled sons and daughters of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, expressing the amazing supernatural and glorious reality of all the love and goodness of Heaven flowing out through the blood of Christ on behalf of all mankind; in such a way that signs, wonders, and miracles manifest the greater works Jesus Himself said we would do, bringing restoration to the afflicted needing to hear and receive the good news of healing, freedom, comfort, peace, and an infinite array of adjectives containing the love, the goodness, the beauty, and the glorious manifestation of the rule and reign of Jesus Christ as Kings of kings and Lord of lords for all eternity.

Doesn’t a bride spend months, sometimes years, preparing for the wedding of her dreams? Doesn’t the bride keep her focus on her groom, the love of her life, all the while she’s planning for the big day, even amidst the frustrations and setbacks during the preparations? Isn’t the wedding itself a celebratory expression of eternal love, beauty, and goodness? When was the Body ever called to stop the preparations: the decorations, the music, the color choices, the movement, the written/spoken words of the most glorious wedding of all eternity to be seen and heard by all who fellowship and attend? Does not Scripture exhort the Bride to be prepared for the Bridegroom’s return (I believe the word is ‘return,’ as opposed to ‘rescue’)? Our Bridegroom, our King, the One that every knee will bow before and the One that every tongue will confess, is the only promise and exhortation to the ‘pursuit of happiness’ in this life. In actuality, He’s called Joy. Peace. Love (again, not human-centered).

I see the amazing grace of Heaven on display through the expressions of music, art, dance, etc. in such a way that the lost, the sick, and the broken are drawn to the true essence of His grace and goodness, healed, and restored by His love, and in relationship with the only One who has every answer for every individual and every circumstance. His ways are higher than our ways. I truly believe this is one of His higher ways and how “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Did God not speak, “Let there be…” and through the creative frequencies of His voice bring all of Creation into existence? Sound, music, colors, light, movement…it’s all frequencies. We have no difficulty believing in the frequencies we hold in our hands through cell phones, watch on screens in our homes through satellite television, navigate through GPS in our vehicles, or diagnose through medical technology. Why not even greater frequencies yet to manifest through the healing of broken hearts, lives, and physical bodies utilizing Spirit-filled vessels releasing music, art, dance, and so on? I am not alone in this huge vision. There are more and more voices beginning to release the same message for such a time as this.

I challenge you to pursue the Word’s revelation of true grace. I challenge the musicians, the artists, the writers, etc. to use their gifts and skills to release Truth, the expression of Grace. Grace is a Person. Grace is the expression of our Heavenly Father, as evidenced through the sacrifice of His only Son, who loves us too much to leave us to our ‘self.’