YWAM Update and Some Encouragement for COVID-19 🙂

Hey friends! It has been a crazy few weeks as I'm sure it has been for everyone! I wanted to update everyone as to how COVID-19 has affected my YWAM adventure and encourage everyone with some truth in this time! Last Wednesday I returned home from Hawaii and was commissioned home to do outreach in PA as restrictions have progressed and prevented us from traveling abroad. Although this has caused some disappointment and sadness, overall, I am feeling so privileged to have had the experience I did in Hawaii! To have had the last two and a half months to submerse myself in the pursuit of Jesus and receive His heart for the lost and the nations of the world has been nothing but amazing! I want to thank each one of you who has contributed to my experience through writing cards, sending thoughts and prayers, and donating financially (you will get your donation back if you donated to my outreach phase)! It was an honor to partner with others through this journey!

           It is wild to look back over the last two weeks and see how the Lord has been preparing me and us as a YWAM community to head home. The last week of lecture highlighted some key tools for the season we have entered into as a globe. We had an amazing teaching on stewarding the secret place and making the secret place become the most beautiful place in our lives. I want my time with Jesus to be the most beautiful part of my life not the latest blog I post. I want my relationship with Jesus to be the strongest and most fulfilling relationship I have not the relationship I have with my closest friend. Our world has a problem with doing things in secret because we tend to be a people who desire external approval and affirmation more than affirmation from our Heavenly Father. We are so connected and at times we feel it necessary to ask our Facebook friends where we should get dinner before asking the Holy Spirit where we should give the rest of our last paycheck. We desire connection with others before we desire deep connection with Jesus because in all honestly, it seems more fulfilling. I'm here to tell you, no other relationship, no other affirmation or value you receive from another person, nothing else in the entire world is greater or more fulfilling than the love that flows from the heart of your Abba. He loves you so deeply, so recklessly, so intentionally, so fearlessly, so passionately; He will do anything to get you to open your clenched hands and receive what He has for you.

           The teaching on the secret place challenged me and reminded me of the importance of making my time with Him intentional, sacred, and secret. His heart is burning for us all the time, and the secret place is where we satisfy our hearts and His with our choice to spend time fixing our gaze on Him. He gives us our identity, our value, and our purpose. The secret place is a time to exchange affections and bask in the life-altering glory of His presence. Time with Him leaves us longing for the next time we will sit face to face with Him and makes the secret place truly the most beautiful part of our lives.
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           Along with sharing some final thoughts from my DTS experience, I wanted to take some time to bring some words of encouragement for all of us experiencing this thing called COVID-19. We are in a time like no other in history! As weird as it may sound, I have found it an honor to live through such a time as this. I have found it a privilege to be trusted by the Father to be a banner of His love and truth to the world in such a time of chaos, unrest, and fear. Although I am disappointed I don't get to finish my DTS with an outreach phase, the Lord has shown me that what is going on has nothing to do with my life. What is happening on the earth right now is completely out of our control in a lot of ways. However, the time and the place we find ourselves in history right now is about what the Lord is releasing on the earth in the midst of the coronavirus. It is about the revival harvest of souls He is bringing to Himself. People are being saved, the Church is waking up, and His people are being set ablaze! The enemy is going to regret he ever created the virus because of all who will come to the Lord through this time of uncertainty.

           Where we find ourselves in history is at a tipping point where King Jesus wants to release His power on the earth. He wants to silence every fear and every anxiety with His voice of peace. This time is a time to worship and exalt the King of kings and the Lord of lords who still sits on the throne above all. This is a time to experience the love of Jesus in extravagant ways and give love to Jesus in extravagant ways. Just like other relationships, when there is a solid amount of quality time spent with another person, we are able to get to know them, their hearts, and what they like and don't like. I encourage all who are reading this, don't let this time pass away without getting to know the best friend you could ever have, Jesus. He is waiting for you to turn off the news and the background noise and sit in the peace of His presence. He is waiting for you to choose to put away your phone and sit at His feet and listen for His voice. He has the final word every time. Coronavirus has to bow to the name of Jesus...so say His name. Say it again and again for there is no name that makes the darkness tremble but the precious name of Jesus.

           I pray for every one of you that you will receive visitations from the Holy Spirit. While you are at home with your family and are unable to gather with others, seek the face of God together and invite a visitation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to visit every single household under quarantine during this time in a unique and profound way. The whole world has come to a place where we are being called to rest, called to pray, and called to spend time with our families. Here are some things I really encourage you to do during this time of solitude:

1. PRAY AND SEEK HIS FACE-- Pray and seek the face of the Lord. As I pray and intercede in this time, I keep hearing the Lord say, "Seek and you WILL find." His desire is to be found, and I feel this is a time in history we need to seek His face like never before. Many will seek Him and find Him in this hour because of the virus; many will open the door to His presence in this time because of their fear and anxiety. Pray that people will seek Him and never turn away. Pray that people will open the doors of their heart to Him and never shut Him out again. Declare the TRUTH of Scripture over your life and over your family. Praying the Scripture is such a powerful weapon (#pre-anointed prayers)!!! Pray that God will be glorified and magnified in this time high above the news and media about the virus. We don't ignore what is going on, we take it seriously and we honor and submit to wisdom (James 3:17 "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.") However, we as children of the most High God, in the midst of the chaos, MAGNIFY our Lord Jesus Christ above all and "we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." {Matthew 7:7}

"If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." {2 Chronicles 7:14}

2. WORSHIP-- Worship because He is so worthy. Worship because it changes things. Worship because it is spiritual warfare. Worship because it draws your attention away from the circumstances and fixes your eyes on the Holy One. Worship because the enemy hates the sound. Worship because it makes the virus tremble. Worship because it brings joy and peace and hope. Worship because it builds confidence in who He is. Worship because it is what you will be doing for all of eternity when you know Jesus so might as well get some practice in while you're stuck at home! 😊

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." (Psalm 63:3-5)

3. BE INTENTIONAL WITH FAMILY-- One of the biggest attacks on our society today is family. The enemy wants nothing more than to destroy the family because through it he can destroy communities, cities, and nations. Being confined to our homes is an open opportunity for restoration and reconciliation in families. It is a time to support one another, pray for one another, and spur each other on in love and good deeds. The Father has always been for families and He will use the evil of this virus for the good of our families and our communities. He takes what the enemy meant for evil and He turns it for good!

"He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." {Luke 1:17}

"He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction." {Malachi 4:6}

4. ENGAGE IN COMMUNITY-- I know it is difficult through such a time as this to be intentional and engage in community, but I encourage you to find creative ways to bless people, encourage people, and continue to build healthy relationships. We need each other as a body of believers to pray with us and lift us up in a time like this. Maybe now is the time to start a virtual small group with your friends, create a prayer chain with your church family, or have some worship time with your family! The enemy wants nothing more than for us to isolate and slip into a depressive state during this time, but I can tell you that is not the Lord's will for your life!

           Hallelujah!! He has the victory, He has the final word, He is our hope. He brings beauty out of ashes, He brings joy from mourning, and He gives a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. He will be magnified and glorified through this mess. Nations will be united and people will be saved! He will bring immeasurably more LOVE and PEACE and JOY and HEALING than we can ask or imagine out of the days, weeks, and months to come! Hallelujah praise you Lord Jesus!

♥ Melissa