Scripture: Isaiah 61 v 1 - 3:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the
Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to
bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,
that he might be glorified."
You can only imagine the shock in the synagogue when
Jesus read this portion of scripture and then declared, This day is this
scripture fulfilled. He was declaring to the Pharisees that He was sent by God,
anointed and chosen to be their Messiah, their deliverer.
I don't know what they expected their coming Messiah to
be or to do, but it was never going to be one who did not conform to their Law;
who was humble against their pride; who was a Man of the people and not a high
priest they would choose.
He gave us beauty for ashes. We are needing comfort for
the loss and sorrow that has been inflicted upon us. Death is no stranger. We
are busy praying for a 2 year old girl with an inoperable tumour on her brain.
The parents have already lost two babies through miscarriages. We are trusting
Jesus to bind up those broken hearts and deliver this child from cancer and
impending death.
He appointed us, every Christian, to have His compassion,
love, humility, time, and gifts of healing and deliverance for those who are in
need. We must give them beauty for ashes. We must comfort the sick, the
afflicted, the dying and the bereaved by bringing them before the throne of God
in prayer.
When you have a gift from the Holy Spirit you must never
neglect it. The more you apply and use what He has given you, the more
fine-tuned you become to its effectiveness.
Bring your gifts to the altar of God to participate in the work He has
for you. If you are not aware that you have spiritual gifts, just make yourself
available to the Lord. He treasures your availability more than your ability.
He does.
Many able people are never available when He needs them.
So He will enable those who show up. It may look like a high mountain to climb
but when He sees you ready to climb He equips you and suddenly the mountain is
just a mound.
That was how the miraculous ministry to Karen Ann began.
We didn't even know we were doing it until the Lord said it. We had somehow
managed to break through in Spirit to a woman in a permanent deep coma for over
9 years who was 12000 miles away. We were able to lead her to Jesus while He
had every other comatose person listen in. They all heard me in their own
language and Jesus said to me that 5000 of them got saved. He gave me
Deuteronomy 4 v 32 after that miraculous event!
Even though she never woke up, Karen was with us for 18
months. She was so pure in heart that she ministered to us and others in coma
right till the day she died. On the day of her death, Jesus gave me John 12 v
24:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit."
And so she has. Every one of you reading these daily
Bible studies is a fruit of Karen Ann somewhere or somehow. Her life, coma and
death opened a door, first in my life and then to many others whose paths have
crossed mine in some small or large way ever since.
At the same time that the ministry to Karen took place I
was also receiving the revelation of the Six Days Realm. It was very
overwhelming but the connection between the two was not lost on me. Karen also
symbolised the state of the Bride of Christ, of Israel at that time. Prior to
our ministry the number of Jews permitted out of Russia was less than 10 per
year. In 1984, when we first reached her, that year over 10,000 Jews were
released from Russia.
She opened these doors, unbeknown to us at the time. But
as John 3 v 8 says - the wind blows where it wants to, you hear the sound of it
but you can't tell where its coming from or where its going. So is everyone
born of the Holy Spirit. Karen Ann was like the wind. Jesus blew her around
spiritually to accomplish His purpose in her. She was delighted to have a
purpose while the devil and everyone else had written her off. You can read the
full story on my blog. Search in archives for "The Miracle of Karen Ann
1" and "The Miracle of Karen Ann 2".
I share this testimony because God used me because I made
myself available, as did Pauline, Barry and my sons, Sean and Steve. We were
just a few who were completely dedicated to Jesus Christ and He used our
commitment to reach an unreachable soul. It can happen for any one of you
willing to pay the price of laying aside your own life to reach the lost and
forsaken of this world. Jesus promises a hundred-fold return and all of us who
were involved with this ministry to Karen have been wonderfully blessed.
Those outside of the inner circle who found out what we
were doing and mocked and scoffed us for fools, "pie in the sky"
dreamers will have to face Almighty God one day, who referred to this ministry
to Karen as the greatest miracle He ever did.
Especially after she died and there was no visible fruit the mocking was
severe. We persisted with God against all odds and have seen much fruit over
the 30 years since she died.
So go forth and preach good tidings to the meek. The
proud won't listen much. Go and heal the broken hearted, those who mourn. Karen
was my beauty from ashes person whom I cannot wait to meet after the Rapture.
You will find your "Karen" along the way. You will give your all and
Jesus will respond with treasures beyond your imagination.
Prayer: Heavenly Father what a journey I have had these
past 40 years. It gets better and sweeter every day. I pray that everyone has
that same courage and pioneering spirit You blessed me with to venture forth in
faith to see the impossible happen. I pray that many will be available to You
whenever You call on them for the harvest is ripe but the labourers are few.
Let them see the beauty for ashes O God. In Jesus' name. Amen.