UTTERLY HOPELESS UPSIDE DOWN WORLD? - F E A R IS A L I A R ! - HOPE IS A FORTRESS! Prophetic Encouragement

UTTERLY HOPELESS UPSIDE DOWN WORLD?
F E A R   IS   A   L I A R !   HOPE IS A FORTRESS!
 
Mary Lindow
 
DO YOU FEEL AS IF THINGS ARE UTTERLY HOPELESS
AND COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN RIGHT NOW?
Maybe you have you been in that scary place before. Most people, if they are being transparent and honest will admit to times of experiencing hopelessness and feeling alone and afraid.
 
Friend.
You aren’t without hope,
You aren’t hopeless,
But you ARE helpless!
 
God has allowed this time and position of helplessness and complete dependency on Him, and you are helpless to help yourself.
 
We struggle to gain back some measure of control over our lives when this pressure is upon us, but our personal pride (that we didn’t even know that we had) is being crushed, and the only thing for us to do is to surrender!
 
NOW YOU MAY FEEL HOPELESS, BUT REALLY…
…IT’S THE CONDITION OF HELPLESSNESS THAT IS CAUSING YOU PAIN.
God wants you completely dependent on Him, and He will keep you a “prisoner of hope” until you are.
 
OH HOW WEARY YOU ARE OF THE AWFUL REFINER’S FLAME AND THAT SEEMINGLY ENDLESS TWEAKING OF YOUR ATTITUDE!
“Okay, God, you can stop now!" you scream.
But He doesn't stop.
 
You're caught in a prison of hope and He will not let you out until He is finished with what He began in you.
 
There are times during the process of pursuing heartfelt dreams and callings in life that you might feel that your "hope" seems to have been locked up in a prison. You can't seem to make your dreams come true, and yet, you find it impossible to stop believing in them!
 
YOU CAN'T GO FORWARD ANY FASTER THAN GOD WILL LET YOU,
and yet, you sure don't want to return to where you once were before you were overshadowed and given a "life vision" with a promise from God!
 
GOD JUST WILL NOT LET YOU GIVE UP!
During this time you might feel like saying,
"Okay God, this is enough! I don't want to hope anymore!
I am tired of being like an egg in an incubator with this promise!
I want out of this prison of hope!"
 
IT'S DURING THIS TIME THAT YOUR DREAMS FEEL SO VERY REAL TO YOU,
YET TO OTHERS THEY DON'T!
There is a big conflict between what you discern in the Spirit and what appears to be moving so slowly in the natural, and that grates at our souls!
We feel like we are on a Ferris wheel.
You have your “up times” when you can see your dream's fulfillment far into the future, but you also have your “down times” when you can't see anything and everything seems to have crashed into a messy heap.
 
YOU THINK TO YOURSELF,
“AM I CRAZY TO THINK THAT GOD COULD USE ME? NOW?
IN THIS TIME?"
The enemy comes in like a rushing flood and you begin to doubt, causing anguish to your soul.
 
THIS IS THE TIME WHEN GOD IS DOING HIS GREATEST WORK IN YOU!
This is when the refining process REALLY hurts, because He is getting down to the very core of your soul, to the deep regions of your heart.
 
HE IS DEVELOPING THINGS IN YOU
THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU LACKED.
THINGS THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU NEEDED.
 
You think, "Okey Dokey God, this is deep enough!"
But, every builder knows you must dig down deep to lay a proper foundation first, before you start to build upward. And the greater the height of the structure, the deeper the foundation must be.
 
YOUR FORTRESS OR PLACE OF REFUGE IS TRUSTING IN A LOVING GOD.
Trusting Him in spite of all the reasoning of your mind, in spite of the circumstances that surround you.
 
YOU WERE CONTENT TO GIVE GOD CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE UNTIL HE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE, YOU DIDN’T LIKE.
You were happy to surrender all to Him, until He decided to give your promotion to someone else.
 
You believe in His sovereignty, until His sovereign will conflicts with, your will.
Then you are sure He has made a mistake!
 
You want to run from Him, but He is your refuge.
How do you run from your refuge? How do you run from the only one who really loves you or understands you?
The answer is . . . you don't.
 
SO, RETURN, MY FRIEND, TO YOUR FORTRESS,
AND REMAIN A PRISONER UNTIL HE IS DONE WITH YOU - UNTIL HE DECIDES THAT YOU ARE READY FOR ALL THAT HE HAS FOR YOU.
 
Zechariah 9:12 says,
“Return to your fortress! Yes!
You prisoners who have hope!
Today I declare that I will return double what has been taken from you."
 
PROPHETIC WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
 
The Spirit of God says,
“Even now I announce to you that not only will I restore to you all that has been taken from you, but I will give you double for all the trouble you have endured."
 
He says, "Don't stop now . . .
…Keep trusting me, because I can see your future and it is very blessed.
 
Keep walking with me and keep trusting in me and I will give you rest."
 
“Come to me all who are weary and burdened,
And I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28
 
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed as long as the complete message, podcast location and website information for Mary Lindow is included.

Thank You!
Copyright © 2021
"THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow

www.marylindow.podbean.com
  www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com
 

"What The Lord Honors In Desperate Times"

By Reverend Mary Lindow
HELLO DEAR CHILD OF GOD,
TONIGHT AFTER SPENDING THE EVENING WITH A VERY DEAR FRIEND IN FELLOWSHIP, COUNSEL, AND A TIME OF HEARTFELT PRAYER, I WAS PROMPTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WRITE AND ENCOURAGE MYSELF WITH THIS MESSAGE! AS I DID, I WAS ALSO MOVED BY THE LORD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU AS WELL! 
MAY HE “IMPRINT” UPON OUR HEARTS THE MESSAGE OF HOPE, HELP AND THE CLARITY OF THE MIND OF CHRIST, IN SUCH DIFFICULT TIMES OF TRANSITION AND MATURING IN HIM!
 
SACRIFICIAL THANK OFFERINGS!
He who sacrifices thank-offerings, Honors me, And he prepares the way, 
So that I may show him the salvation of God
Psalm 50:23
The soul part of our human make-up will never really fully understand what the Spirit of God can easily explain to those who know the intimate and true heart of the Father.
When the tiring and crushing difficulties in life occur, people often run to the massage therapist, the chamomile tea and so on, in order to obtain a calmness and sense of “sane rest” to help them unload anxiety, heartache or fear.
But here in the verse above, the Lord so clearly shows us something that actually prepares the way, a pathway for our deliverance from all of the crushing blows life on planet earth can bring! 
He tells us that if we offer up to Him in the times when we are feeling parched, weary, and just plain scared, - “sacrifices of thankfulness,”  - these words choked out through hot tears and anguish, do something to honor God in a way that actually “prepares the way” for the Dear King of Heaven to use as a path or portal to bring us much needed relief, freedom and deliverance!
 
HAVE YOU EVEN BEEN IN PLACE WHERE EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE IMPOSSIBLE?
(Many of you are there now) - and you have cried yourself to sleep begging God for help and mercy. It is then when you will truly understand why it is a sacrificial offering to God to begin to praise Him, thank him, for what is unseen and needed!
The Mercy of God is much deeper and more mature and rich than any mercy man tries to administer.  Sometimes it’s a “mercy” to just not receive it from men! (Joke!)
 
I HEAR THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGING A CLEAR WORD OF COMFORT AND HELP, to His people who have ears to hear what He is saying to them. Those that are determined to follow the voice of the Good Shepherd and not strange voices.
 
"And a stranger they will not follow, But will flee from him:
For they know not the voice of strangers."  -John 10:5
 
"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad." -Proverbs 12:25
 
SACRIFICIAL THANKS IS AN OFFERING?
Look at what the word Sacrifice means!
Giving up of something valued:
A giving up of something valuable or important for somebody or something else considered to be of more value or importance. Something valuable or important given up as a sacrifice
 
Now let’s look at what Offering means.
: To present something as an act of worship
: Something offered as a sacrifice to a deity
 To declare one's readiness or willingness
 To utter (as a prayer) in devotion
 
THERE IS A POWER THAT WORKS IN THE SUPERNATURAL REALM of a man or woman’s heart and the Heart of God that only the act of worshipping, cried out in agonizing surrender and yielding, that tears away the veil of darkness holding back the Fair Face of Heaven.
JESUS HIMSELF CRIED OUT IN SACRIFICIAL OFFERING.
"Not My Will, but Your will be done," and this opened a pathway for the Salvation of our souls forever!
Oh Dear Pilgrim and anxious child of God! Don’t listen to all of the heavy-handed advice of men when the anguish is so deep and the loneliness tries to consume you with the fear of abandonment! 
THE LORD IS SHOWING US A PATHWAY TO A GREATER STRENGTH AND MIGHT IN HIM. 
 Shouting at God isn’t going to bring a cure or answer to your aching need. He can certainly handle us shouting at Him for He is a Father who understands human frailty! But oh! When we begin to lift up our weary hearts and hands to God and begin to thank Him sacrificially, willingly, telling Him how only He can be the Redeemer of our situations, our hurts, our betrayals, our abandonment…something of a "Dynamic release" beings to occur in the realm of God that man will only fully comprehend when he finally and eternally arrives in the Home of Heaven.
 
NO! IT IS NOT EASY TO DO! 
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, 
It produces a harvest of righteousness and peace, 
For those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, lift up those arms than are hanging down,  Your feeble arms and weak knees! Make level paths for your feet,  So that the lame may not be disabled,  But rather be healed.”      
 Hebrews 12:11-13 
 
OUR FLESH CANNOT "REASON OUT" HOW THIS WOULD DO ANY GOOD IN OUR PRESENT DISTRESS! 
 We want to do something, go somewhere, help the situation, pace the floor...make a phone call!
 But Heaven is calling. 
Hear what that Divine communication is saying to us!
 
"Sacrifice offerings to God! Fulfill your promise to the Most High!
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you,
And you will honor Me." -Psalm 50:14-15 
 
WE MUST FULFILL OUR PROMISE TO GOD!
 Did you see that? Our promise to serve Him, to love Him, to think of ourselves as obedient children, who heed his voice quickly and remain honest in a corrupt and frenzied world!
He tells us to call upon Him.  Call Him...in the day of trouble! He says He will deliver us.
 
THAT'S WHERE IT GETS TOUGH!!
We ask in pain, "WHEN? HOW? IT SEEMS SO IMPOSSIBLE!"
Well…it is impossible. We will all too quickly find out that we are not "Superman or Wonder Woman!" 
All of our gifts, talents, wit and braininess can’t deliver us! 
But. Through simple loving, surrendered in sacrificial offerings of thanks to the Master for the joy of being one of His very own, He brings a way of relief and… Release.
 
WHAT TO DO?
Although we are not to be totally ignorant of what is occurring around us and live in hermit mentalities, the Lord does have a greater plan and focus for us during such tough times.
You and I as children of God will never really feel at home here on planet earth.
We have been Divinely implanted with a homing device deep in our spirits that longs for the Home of Heaven. No more tears, no more night, no more longing to fully belong! We have been walking a pathway of preparation, each of us in different stages of our lives, to transition from this decaying world and body into a heavenly place of resurrection and eternal abundant life.
PRESCRIPTION FOR LIBERATION
It will take repeated “doses” of Sacrificial Thank Offerings unto God, 50 times a day if needed, until the rest and mind-clearing presence of God holds you in the Shadow of the Wing of Safety.
You see dear one, It is the total cure for us! His Peace passes all understanding. And can rule and reign in our hearts, even when the storm is chewing the shutters and shingles off of your house! 
WE ARE BEING TRAINED TO TRUST Like never before!
The Father can speak to a boss, a teacher, a doctor, and a tyrant and bring them to a place of peace with you and, a place of favor in the swift blink of a moment in time.
He can move on the hearts of others with such raw compassion that they are compelled by Him to come alongside you and share what they have in prayer, comfort, monetary relief, and counsel, (which by the way…is also often done as a thank offering, offered sacrificially up to the Lord.)
WE MUST START RELINQUISHING OUR JUDGMENTS AND OPINIONS ABOUT THE STRAINS OTHERS ARE UNDER, As well as our presumptions that we “know” what they need or what we project that God wants to do in their lives, and instead, begin to offer up...  sacrificially. 
Offering up unto God in Thanks for their deliverance…where we again… prepare the way for God to manifest something of magnificent proportions in our own place of need!
 
A SAFE HAVEN
"For You have been a safe haven, and a place of safety for me,  A solid tower against the adversary." -Psalm 61:3
The Spirit of the Lord is calling out to His People in this very, very, serious and crucial moment, to allow Him to bring us to a place of learning what kind of sacrifice pleases Him and bring the Anointing grace of deliverance to our lives, cities and nations. 
The Lord is calling out to you and I!
“Come to Me! Run to Me! I know that you are heavily burdened by all of the concentrated pressures mounting around you.
 
A DWELLING PLACE OF DIVINE REST AND PROTECTION.
 It will require you laying down the things that so easily set you off and get you weighed down with concern and anxiety. 
Casting the whole of your cares. All your anxieties. All your worries. All your concerns.
Once and for all on Him. 
For He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully.  -1 Peter 5:7
 
THE LORD URGES  - "COME INTO A LIFE OF SIMPLICITY."
"Come together into the shadow of My Wings for I AM the Shelter and Refuge for the child that heeds My voice and runs to Me, abandoning self made plans for protection and self-preservation.
I AM your Armor, I AM your Defense.
But you must come with no agenda in your heart or strategy on your lips. You come to the Resting Place of Safety from the Storm to WAIT, Ponder, Rest and rethink your Life call.”
 
THE NEED FOR DIRECTIONAL ADJUSTMENT
We are in much need of a directional adjustment as believers right now as the world turns itself upside down with malice, dictatorships, and political posturing. We need to be certain that nothing of the world and its behaviors are hidden in our own hearts. We must hear that Vigorous pulling voice of the Holy Spirit, and obey it without turning left or right.
"So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you;
Do not turn aside to the right or to the left." -Deuteronomy 5:32
 
FAITHFUL SECURITY. When we walk in the way of surrender and tenderness with our ears attuned to the still small voice of God, we actually walk in the Overshadowing Security of the Presence of God. Training our spiritual ears to hear the voice of the Father is a lifetime guarantee of knowing that when storms or troubles arise, there is a promise for direction to a place of Divine Protection whenever needed.
"Therefore my heart is glad, And my tongue rejoices; My body also will rest secure."
-Psalm 16:9
 
HAVE A REST CHILD OF GOD. It is the hardest thing the mind and body to do! Learning to rest when the world is screaming at a fevered pitch, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW”  is a hard learned yet reachable discipline if we will lean into it and ask for God’s help.
Hear the Voice of God calling you to enter into His rest. 
It is a place of pleasant simplicity and uncluttered doctrine. 
His Presence silences all of the noise of the day and noise of the Head.
 
HIS PRESENCE - HIS SHELTER, IS A PLACE OF SAFETY FOR THE WEARY
Dear Child of God! There is no criticism or shame there.
It is a restful place of learning and a place to lift up to him the heavy weight of sorrow and to take up an easy yoke and light cargo.
Let’s Pause. Right now...
...And let's begin to offer a sacrifice of thanks to the Lord together. 
It is just as if the smell of a fresh bouquet of flowers has released it’s perfumed fragrance into the room we are sitting in and floats up to the heart and face of God.
He breathes these offerings of ours into His Great heart and sees the portal being formed by these offerings where in He can reach down to our pain-filled hearts and give us hope, healing and miraculous direction and freedom form all forms of bondage.
Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete article, podcast  and website information for  Mary Lindow is included.
 Thank You! Copyright © 2020 " THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
www.globalprayerrooms.com