Notes for Revolutionaries Pt 1

Revolution in every era looks different. It looks different because of what is being revolutionized, because of the level of understanding of revolution in that era, because of what that era calls for, and because of the ability to hold fast to forward motion despite opposition.

In the past, revolution has looked like taking an existing system and giving it an overthrow or overhaul. Either way, it has historically been mostly focused on arm-wrestling the undesired system instead of focused on creating the entirely different expression desired as the manifestation and fruit of the revolution. Simply put, it has been focused on influencing systems rather than creating culture.

Revolution in this new era must look different than it has in the past. It must look different because it’s motivated by a different cause. Love. Not anger. Not bitterness. Not political or religious (or any other) agenda.

I was thinking about a few things that are so crucial for us in order to be successful as revolutionaries in this new era:

1: we must be culture creators and understand the difference between influence and creation.

2: we must have nothing in common with man-made religious, political systems. This does not mean we won’t work within them. This means they don’t work within us.

3: we must understand that the emerging movement in the earth has nothing in common with existing man-made religious systems, but is a full expression of the one new man who walks in the new and ancient way. (May be new to us, but it’s ancient in the heart of the Lord)

4: we must untether from warfare/opposition mindset being at the forefront of everything we think and do and perceive. This is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to forward motion. We are powerful people, not victims of the whims of any kind of opposition when we take responsibility for our lives and who we are.

It’s time to create. It’s time for something like the earth has never seen before. And love is the source and force of the entire thing. Let’s go!

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What is God doing in 2021/This New Era (Pt 2. and Final)

In this second and final post about what God is doing in the earth right now, I want to bullet point some things the Lord has shown me about 2021 and this new era we have already stepped into. I also want to break down a few of the points and elaborate on them in this post. I’m not going to elaborate on all of them or it would be the post of no return. I have taught on many of these things and prophesied about these things numerous times and will continue to do so.

Ok, here we go:

2021 will be a year of awakening and ascending.

2020 was a year of awakening in the sense that it shook us awake to the reality of the illusion and deception and control of politics and powers, of the fragility of society, etc.

2021 is an awakening within the body of Messiah to Kingdom realities, function, and purpose. It’s a calling up. There’s a calling up of the sons of God, of the Bride of Messiah to rise and take her place. 

2021 is going to be an awakening to the realities of our union with God and all that entails. We are going to see the glorious beginnings of, what I have been calling, a Union Revolution. (John 17: 20-26) There are already glimmers of it in the earth, but it’s going to crack open in hearts like never before and begin to sweep the globe. I touched on this in Part 1.

-The reality of authority and governing and legislating from heavenly places and what that looks like.

-The reality of living as multi-dimensional, bi-locational beings. (i.e. that we are seated with Messiah in heavenly places and at the same time ambassadors to the earth.)

-The reality of realms that are open to us.

-The reality that truly all of me is in Him and all of Him is in me. Perfect union, perfect communion. 

-The reality that death is not the doorway into heavenly realms but Yeshua is the door. John 10:9 “I am the door. Whoever enters by me will be saved and go in and out and find pasture.” The awakening to the reality of life and immortality will rise and gain momentum in hearts and lives and will radically change the way we live in multiple aspects.

-It’s going to be a year of untethering from man-made systems and tethering to His heart. 

Babylonian systems are coming down:

Jeremiah 1:10 

“See, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” 

It’s going to be a year where the systems of Babylon are sifted from the church and we return, once again, to the original design of His heart. 

It’s going to be a year that we are awakened to the reality that we were born in Zion, that like Hebrews says, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Yeshua, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

The ways of Zion are directly opposed to the systems of Babylon. And we are about to see Babylonian systems come crashing down in our own hearts and lives, in the church, and in culture and society.

There are so many things I could say about this, but I want to hone in on one thing that the Lord shared with me that will be the first domino, if you will, of the Babylonian system that will fall in our lives and churches and beyond.

Lets look at the first thing Babylon does:

“The king assigned them all daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hanahniah,  Mishael, Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.”

Immediately after a three year indoctrination, they are renamed. When we look into this a little bit we find an interesting thing:

If we look at the Hebrew meaning of each of their names we find that:

Daniel’s name means: God is my judge

Hananiah means: Yahweh is gracious or Yahweh has been gracious

Azariah means: Yahweh has helped or the help of Yahweh

Mishael means: who is like God or who is what God is

Now let look at the Babylonian names given to them:

Belteshazzar means: Lord of the straightened treasure

Shadrach means: the royal scribe

Meshach means: guest of a king

Abednego means: servant of Nebo

What has happened here is that they have been stripped of their Hebrew names, the names given that rooted them in praise of God and rooted them in in who they were connected to the Father’s heart, their true identity. They were, instead, given names that were job titles. 

Babylon wants to indoctrinate/bring you into another culture, to effectively educate you into another culture outside of your true identity, to change even what you eat and what you crave, force you to just mingle a little bit of idol worship…you can still keep the rituals you want to keep so long as you bow down when you hear that Babylonian music play. And I daresay, we’ve had one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the systems of Babylon.

Do you see what’s happened here? Babylon says it’s about what you do not who you are. The Father says it’s about who you are! It’s about who He made you to be. It’s about living from the place of union and about the identity that He placed in you from before the before. It’s about coming back to who we are. It’s about shaking off the systems of Babylon that we have allowed to govern in our lives and in the church, and therefore the culture. This Babylonian system and culture is woven into the fabric of the church and we have built according to it’s design instead of the pattern of Zion. It’s time for that to change.

The culture has renamed you, the church has renamed you, your family may have even renamed you, but the Lord says, “I am stripping the ways and structures and names of Babylon from your hearts and lives and from the fabric of the church as I raise up a true ekklesia and I am returning your names to you that root you in your true identity. You are mine, says the Lord.”

Is your identity truly rooted in who you are in Christ?

Is there even a little bit of your heart that’s concerned about the size of your church, ministry, etc. and whether or not people will leave if you speak a truth they don’t want to hear? Are you more anchored to systems and routine than you are living in union with the rhythm of His heart. Beloved, untether. Let the beautiful fear of the Lord rest on you and tear down the fear of man in your heart. The fear of man is so entangled into the systems of Babylon. Tear. It. Down. And walk in the freedom and delight of the Fear of the Lord.

Breaking boxes of compartmentalization

I’m not going to say a whole lot on this because I spoke about it in Part 1.

As we enter into union and identify again with original design and our true identity in YHWH we are going to begin to think outside of our typical linear ways of thinking. 

The Lord is going to show us the power of facets and aspect of His heart and kingdom that we have separated and disected in an attempt to understand them

The Lord says, 

“I am bringing you into awakening of the inner workings of the Spirit of wisdom and understanding in this hour and I will show you that I am truly one and I am not divided. That every facet of who I am is am inseparable thread in the tapestry of my eternal nature and person.”

Poet Prophets- The age of the scribe and the oracle:

If you have followed me for any length of time, you have heard me prophesy this. It’s so huge on the heart of God! So I am highlighting it again in this post because this is what God is going in this new era!

There’s a new breed of prophet rising in the earth. And they look like poets. 

They look like writers and storytellers and musicians.

They look like creatives releasing the mysteries of God’s heart in the earth.

These poet prophets will cause cultural, economic, and political shift in the nations. 

They will speak, they will sing, they will write and landscapes will transform into Kingdom landscape, strongholds will break, land and people will be healed, restoration and revelation will abound. They will be used in a massive way to break the systems of Babylon in the earth and establish the ways of Zion!

We have been used to a certain style of prophet in the earth in numerous recent years, so there is a tendency to look only for that and, therefore, recognize only that. But I am telling you that we need to begin to let heaven open our eyes to the prophetic movement that is currently bubbling up in the earth. Don’t miss the forest for the trees, beloved. Ask for eyes to see the fresh breath of the prophetic being released through vessels you have written off as just the artists who compliment the main act. 

I want to share just a portion of what He has spoken to me, “Watch and see that I will pour fire and revelation out of the poets of my heart that will change nations! I will rise in the grassroots places you do not expect. My voice will thunder through their music, through their writing, through their spoken word, bringing Kingdom order and justice to regions and lives. And the church will hear and observe what I am doing with my Bride in the earth and they will leave their old ways behind, pick up my ways, and rise to build My kingdom in the earth. The voices of the poet prophets will shine light on kingdom revolution and you will see the dawning of a new era as you receive this expression of my heart in the earth and engage with the prophetic anointing on it. Do not only look where you’ve always looked. Do not only hear from the sounding stations in the earth you have tuned your ears to. For I am raising up voices, poets crying in the wilderness, ‘Make way for Revolution! Make way for deeper expressions of the kingdom than you have sought for fear of ruining your own plans and purpose. This is the time, this is the hour, this is the time for revelation power.’ Get ready for sweeping wind in the church riding in on the voices of the burning hearted poet prophets I am releasing in the earth! Get ready for revolution!” 

Let’s look higher to Him, beloved. Let’s tune our ear to Him and to all those He is releasing to speak His heart through in the earth. Let’s be the one’s who live in union with Him and release His heart in the earth. Let’s be about the Father’s business.

Poets begin to press in for deeper wisdom, begin to unlock the mysteries of union, and unveil these mysteries to the world wrapped in the beauty and elegance of God. 

Long ago in the Celtic history there were what they called poet preachers. And we are going to see a rise in that again. There is coming a rise of poet prophets and poet preachers who will walk in an uncommon spirit of grace, eloquence , and wisdom to declare and unveil the beauty of God in the earth. 

The Spirit of God is waiting with mantles of eloquence and assistance from the host of heaven to help the poets utter what has been unable to be uttered in terms of the mystery and beauty of God. 

God is going to use the Poets, the musicians, the songwriters, the storytellers...those who use their tongue to tell and their hearts to make song and sound. These sounds will go out cause shifts in culture. They will open blind eyes. They will win hearts over into the beauty of His heart. They will transform. There will be miracles resting on these words and as these words go out, they will not fall to the ground. 

Poets haven’t really been at the forefront of society...they have been seen as somewhat extra or just expressions of the artistic, but the Lord says, “no more will my anointed poets go unheard or their words be passed over, for I am raising up poet prophets and I will cause not one word to fall to the ground.” 

God is raising up a generation of poet prophets like David, who pull from another age! David was a man out of time. He lived with revelation from a covenant that was yet to be. David busted out of the matrix of the age he lived in…eating the showbread! Declaring new covenant truths in his Psalms. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to us now because we live with these realities, but this was before the new covenant was made manifest on the earth! David pulled truth and revelation and the reality of heaven and the heart of God into his now! And this is a reality that is being, and will be, awakened in the hearts of His people in this era.

So poets: speak. Poets. Write. Poets. Sing.  Poets. Tell. For your God has called you for this hour to reveal His beauty and His Justice and all the dazzling facets of His heart to the nations and all the cosmos. 

These are all things that the Lord has spoken to me about this time we have stepped into. I am so happy to be on the earth right now with what He is doing! Such beauty and glory and hope! It’s going to be good. It’s going to be a wild ride as Babylonian systems come crashing down and the ways of Zion prevail. I always say that the weapons of Zion are unassuming, but they WIN. Two of those weapons are peace and rest. Learn the ways of Zion, beloved. Learn the ways of His heart.

What is God Doing in 2021/This New Era? (Part 1)

What is God doing in 2021/This New Era We’ve Stepped Into

I want to share a few things over the next few days and weeks that The Lord has shared with me. I’ll share one of those things today. 

One of the things the Lord has been speaking to me about is that He is breaking the boxes of compartmentalization. He is breaking limiting, linear thinking, and bringing us into quantum kingdom thinking. This will touch every area of our lives to expand us into the place of fullness. It will touch even the smallest everyday things we do. The Lord is re-wiring our entire beings with a new and ancient way to be. 

I want to prophesy into the church not a temporary outpouring of the spirit of God but an awakening to the reality of living breathing Yeshua and the Spirit is God inside of you, of your union with YHWH that provides a life of sustained awakening and transformation until He returns. You’ve heard me say it before and I will say it again. He is bringing us into union revolution. And that will blow every revival we’ve ever seen or dream of out of the water. Get ready for something like you’ve never seen before. One of the single most important things leaders should be pursuing in their own lives and teaching is awakening to the reality of Union with YHWH. Everything flows from that place. Revival outside of union is a flash in the pan and is an old way of thinking that does not suit this new hour we have stepped into. 

We tend to compartmentalize every aspect of our lives and relationship with Him. And we tend to compartmentalize revival. 

And the Lord is saying, “No more! I’m breaking boxes of compartmentalization so that you can come into fullness.” 

If you have followed me for any length of time, you have likely heard me sing and prophesy about the fire and the wine and the oil all together. The Lord gave me this word years ago and I have been declaring it into the earth ever since. 

What does it mean?

The Lord said this to me, “You’ve had your movements/ revivals of fire, you’ve had you’re movements of oil, you’ve had you’re movements of wine, and they were good and they were Me! But I am about to bring you into an age of fullness where the boxes of compartmentalization are completely shattered! And you will see all the elements and facets of who I am mingled all together and you will enter into the place of wisdom and understanding in the fear of the Lord where the fire and the wine and the oil and the honey from the rock all pour and burn and mingle and work together! You will come into greater understanding of individual facets and elements as you see their relationship to one another. So do not hold tightly to forms and functions of what you now understand, but allow Me to expand your understanding even as the seven living flames of the Spirit of God burn over you.” 

We don’t need to be afraid of change. We can rejoice in His government and kingdom forever. Things aren’t going to look the same for church and that is a good thing! There will be more glory and isn’t that what we are after? 

As long as you are in step with Him, you will not falter and you will not fail! 

The years ahead are going to require courageous decisions and great faith and obedience and the Lord is going to fill you with the spirit of might to make those decisions. 

It will look radical. It will be different than what the western church has been, but the Lord says, I’m forming a new wine skin. It’s the new and ancient way. 

Alright, that’s it for this first part. This was a bit lengthy because of housekeeping up front, but it has become apparent that I need to address it. 

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Much love and grace on all of you today and always. The future is bright, my friends. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never overcome it! Victory is certain. 

- EC

Prophetic Word: The Release of the Dance of David in the Earth

The release of the Dance of David in the earth:

2 Samuel 6:12-15

“And it was told King David, the Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and failing. And David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [A priest’s upper garment]. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.”

Last year the Lord spoke to me about the dance of David filling the earth again. That there would be an awakening to the dance of David and understanding would fill the hearts of the people of God of the power they hold in their hearts and in their feet in this new era we’ve stepped into.

This was the word:

January 10, 2019

“I am releasing a dance that will strike the earth

I am releasing a dance from inside the flame of wisdom that will strike the earth with joy and darkness will scatter from the nations

I will strike the earth with the dance of wisdom and abandon

I will strike the earth with the dance of victory and release

I will strike the earth with the dance of delight in the fear of the Lord 

I will strike the earth with the dance of My governmental supremacy

I will strike the earth with the dance of David once again

And watch and see as I bring the nations into rejoicing

As I bring the nations into shaking

As the governments of men crumble and fall to the ground 

And the sound of the government of God ushers in on the sound of the feet of the redeemed who dance and rejoice and worship.

Strike the earth with the dance of heaven all you redeemed!

For I am about to bring understanding to my people about the power they hold in their hearts and in their feet as they grab the rope of My heritage and synchronize with me in holy abandon and rejoicing”

The Lord is releasing an awaking of the dance of David in the earth. 

It’s about more than just a dance of abandonment and joy, although it is certainly and completely soaked and covered in both. It is also about a prophetic declaration, pulling from another age. This is about a royal priesthood rising up to govern and reign in the earth. 

When David danced that dance in the linen ephod, he was wearing the garment of a priest. Yet, he was a king. He most certainly was not a levitical priest. He wasn’t of the tribe of Levi. He was of the tribe of Judah. So what was he doing? 

I always say that David was a man out of time. He truly lived from another age, from revelation of a future covenant. In the same way that David was a man out of time, he was also a man out of place. Genetically, politically, spiritually. He had no natural right to claim priesthood. So, how was this possible? 

Enter: Melchizidek. 

In Davids own Psalm (110) He says, (speaking of the Messiah) “The Lord has sworn and will not revoke or change it: You are a priest forever, in the manner and order of Melchizedek…” 

David had a prophetic understanding of the priesthood of Melchizedek that lit the way to the dance he danced that day before the ark of the Lord.

He claimed a supernatural rope of heritage and legacy. He entered into a place of supernatural understanding and he danced in and from that place. He knew that there was something higher than his own earthly bloodline. That he wasn’t bound by that. He knew he could step into a place of authority some would say he had no right to because he couldn’t claim priesthood in the order of Aaron. But he stepped in, nonetheless. He stepped in and he ruled from that place with wild abandon. He threw off the garments that tied him to the earth and he wore prophetic garments of the authority and role that he knew he had access and a responsibility to claim. He grabbed the rope of God’s heritage and he held to it. He let his DNA come into alignment with the supernatural bloodline of Christ to live in a heritage and authority outside of his natural birthright and position. He prophetically stepped into serving the Lord as a priest in the order of Melchizedek; an order that is both a priestly and kingly role. 

So, too, will a company of people rise as kings and priests in the earth. They will fully align with the inheritance of God for their lives and they will dance the dance of rejoicing that will bring justice to nations. They will come loose from earthly garments, titles, and labels, and they will grab hold of the higher reality available to them: Union with Yeshua that yields all our inheritance and bestows authority upon us to govern. They will un-tether from earthly limitations and come into limitlessness in the Spirit to establish His government on earth as it is in heaven. 

There’s a David company rising! And they will dance! 

©ElisabethCooper2020

Image ©David Wilson

New Era Nugget

This new era we’ve come into will bring with it understanding. The entire body of Messiah will begin to come into understanding and revelation of the power of sound and light, the power and importance of prophetic worship. This is not just for the worship leaders, but the entire body must come into the place of understanding and engagement with this. A huge movement of prophetic worship and the arts is about to flood the earth and bring justice and government with it. 

Now is not the time to sit back. Now is the time to engage with your inheritance and get wisdom and understanding as you walk in union. Get ready. A new day is upon us. The awakened church is rising.

Leadership Nugget

Leaders aren’t perfect. They’re people. Being a good leader doesn’t mean you have no struggles. It doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes. It means you don’t let struggles rule you, and you clean up your messes. It means where there’s a place of weakness, you seek the source of strength. It means where there’s the slightest brokenness in your life, you do not ignore it, sweep it under the rug, etc. You model for all the other imperfect people how an imperfect person can seek the healer and walk in transformation and wholeness. Good leaders are honest. Good leaders don’t pretend to be perfect. Good leaders don’t let the weight of expectation of the people crush them to fit into a cookie cutter mold of perfection to keep appearances. The best kind of leaders are real people with real struggles who let the Holy Spirit call them on the carpet to deal with their junk. Good leaders deal with their junk vs. pretending they don’t have any.

The church and the world are crying out for real leaders with real hearts who have the strength of character to admit when they are wrong, repent, and walk in wholeness. Leaders who lead with love and purity instead of an ego or image. Leaders who model a life of humility and grace. Leaders who lean. We need more leaders like this. And God is raising them up. 

#getreal #leadwell #dealwithyourjunk

Reflections on a decade (almost) past:

©Aduroimages2018

This post is about to get real, guys. It may be a long and winding road, and it definitely won’t be the most beautifully composed thing I’ve ever written…so hang with me.

Going into 2020 has got me pretty emotional. Intense joy, expectation, reflection, thankfulness, and it seems, another layer of healing in the 11th hour before we slip into a new decade. Before we slip into, what I feel, is a new era as well, but that’s for a different post. 

The last decade has brought some of the greatest joys and some of the greatest heartbreak to my life. Proving again to me that joy and pain can, indeed be, and often are, two walls of the same house. 

I’ll give a shoutout to one of the main highs and THE main low:

One of the highs: I married Daniel nearly 8 years ago and that was one of the best decisions I could have made. We are so different. And even though we do worship together, our calls are so different. but the absolute love and support in our marriage has taught me more about the love of Yeshua. (Not to mention his extreme patience with my quirkiness, wanderlust, and absolute need for gritty adventure when he’d rather have a spa day 😂) 

And the low: I’ve not talked about this publicly before now for many reasons, but 3.5 years ago I said goodbye to a community I had loved and served for nearly 10 years. It was not a happy goodbye. It was just about as traumatic and destructive as they come, and it ripped my heart into pieces. I’ve been picking up those pieces ever since. I spent 7 months after I stepped down from my position like a hermit on our 2 acre mini-farm. Me and the Lord and my very few people. And I was happy. I never intended to go back into ministry. And I certainly never intended to go back into ministry unhealed. I have always pursued healing and wholeness in my life and this circumstance was no different. The Lord has been faithful in healing me, I can feel His joyful determination, love, and pleasure over my life, and that is a gift that brings tears to my eyes on a regular basis. 

Like I said, I never intended to go back into ministry. I was done. I still loved the church, but I just didn’t see myself going back into vocational ministry. I planned to build my studio, write music, do art, worship for an audience of one, love my people, build furniture, write, and keep my hands in the dirt with my dog and newly acquired cat by my side. 

But God had other plans. Out of the blue one day while I was at a metal smithing class (another thing I planned to do with my life that didn’t include going back into ministry) I received a text from Pastor Sandi at Seattle Revival Center, who I had no personal connection with, asking me if I would come and lead worship for a meeting. I wanted to immediately respond that I don’t do that anymore. Had it been anyone else, I likely would have. But, long story for a different day, I had a long time dream in my heart of leading worship in this place that had made such an impact on me during the renewal in the 90’s. I sat there stunned looking at this text. And even though I had worked through SO MUCH healing, I thought to myself, “Why couldn’t this have come when I was really at my prime?! I’m a broken down forerunner now, and I’m not ready for this. Nor am I even sure I want to be back on a platform ever again.” Long story short, we booked a date for me to come lead. That was the beginning of a new chapter. From that time on, the Lord opened doors for me to go back into itinerary ministry. I had been regionally itinerate in the PNW before I went on staff at the church, but stopped all travel once I got hired in order to build the incredible vision and destiny of God for that place. 

Going into this New Year and new decade feels so significant to me personally. The past few months and the past few weeks especially, I have seen major shifts in my heart. 

I am a pretty courageous person. In most areas of my life, I lead with courage. Courage is not a problem for me. I’ve been pioneering for the majority of my life. I’ve never been afraid to go where others won’t.  I am fierce and fearless and courageous in the face of most everything (ask my husband...it worries him sometimes. Especially when I wake up one morning and say, “I’m supposed to go to Pakistan...and some other places you might not feel totally comfortable with.” 😂) But the last few years after the mess and the heartbreak, there is this little area in my life called vulnerability and connection where courage sometimes throws up its hands and says, “Whoa, slow this gravy train down!”. Don’t get me wrong. I have my people. And vulnerability and connection with my trusted circle is such a gift to me. In general, I’m a pretty private person, so my people are my people and I don’t typically go outside the circle of sacred trust. Which isn’t altogether bad, and probably won’t altogether change much. But it needs to change some more. It needs to grow. The past few years I have been faced with my weakness in this area and have actively been pursuing healing and growth, and it’s been so good and so fruitful. But the Lord is calling me even further into courage in this area, and for the first time, I feel excited about it. I feel the reality of His heart ready to meet courage in the coming days and explode it into something more than I could dream. 

As I was reflecting and writing some things going into 2020, I began to write some personal goals down. And I was shocked at the ease of which they came, were written, and the way my heart fully and readily engaged with them. There was an excitement, where two years ago there would have been fear and hiding. One of these things was intentional connection. There are people in my life that God has put there, I love them, they love me, but I have not put forth the effort to intentionally connect on a regular basis. There are many reasons for this and it isn’t all a lack of courage. A big part of it is what I like to call “creative tunnel vision”. It’s so easy for creatives to live in their own world and never come up for air. I am so bad about this. I am a hard worker and I will hunker down for MONTHS before I realize I haven’t truly connected with anyone outside my immediate circle. I see people, sure, but I haven’t been intentional about stopping my work, coming out of my creative world, and making a point to reach out and connect. That’s going to change. 

Seasons are funny things. And what was good for one season, what God used to heal us in one season probably isn’t what things will look like in the next. We need to be able to lay down what has worked, what has been good, and what has even been our lifeline in one season, in order to pick up what He has for the next. Some things may not change or all of it may change. One thing is constant, His ever present love, kindness, and faithfulness over our lives in every change, in every season of growth, in every place of weakness. 

Silence and solitude is a practice for me. It’s part of who I am and part of my call. But it isn’t everything. And going into this next season, I have heard the Lord say, “It’s time to trade some of that silence and solitude for real and true connection with others. It’s a new season. I’ll still use silence and solitude in your life. But that which you’ve treasured and hidden away in your heart is about to be released to further my kingdom. Like a fine wine poured, it will not be wasted and more will be made.” 

And I feel like this is for more than just me. We are about to come into places of surprising courage in our lives. There’s an an era of big courage coming upon us. Courage that springs out of the anchor of love and hope in places He’s been healing us, courage where we’ve cultivated a life of union with Him far from crowds, courage in the ordinary everyday facets of our lives and courage in the extraordinary things coming our way, courage to believe again where we lost hope, courage to trust again in places we are afraid to take a chance, courage to truly change in areas we have been stuck, courage to take nations and bring reconciliation to all of creation, courage for the weak and courage for the strong, courage for the beautiful and brave, courage for the broken and lost. Courage, my friends. Courage. We are coming into an era of uncommon courage. 

Having said all of this, (and if you got this far, I feel like you deserve an award.) I want to also say that I am fiercely grateful for the people who stuck by me through this last season, who loved me, who were patient with my process of grief and healing, and who championed the call of God in my life. You are few, you know who you are, and you have been, and continue to be, a rare and true gift to me. I do not have adequate words to offer to you. I have felt the warm grace of God in your love and friendship. And to Seattle Revival Center, God has used you to heal me deeper, to model what genuine kingdom community looks like, and my depth of love and gratitude for you cannot be expressed in words. 

Life is such a wonder, so beautiful, sometimes so heartbreaking, but always there is the breath of God ever present; breathing life into our lungs when we don’t have the strength to do it ourselves. There is a Shining Hope that lives. I am so thankful. And to say that I am looking forward to this turn of a decade is an understatement. I can tangibly feel the shift for me personally and a shift in era for the church and the world. It’s going to be a wild and beautiful ride and I am here for it! 

Here’s to 2020! Here’s to a new decade! Here’s to a new era! And here’s to uncommon courage! Cheers, friends! 

*If you made it to the end of this downright rambler, please except my most heartfelt congratulations…what a feat! 

Identity and the Political Spirit

The correlation between wrongly placed identity/lack of identity, and the political spirit/enticing spirit is undeniable.

When our identity isn’t firmly rooted in “I am already successful because I’m in love with God and God is in love with me, (regardless of my platform, the esteem of man, etc.) we are susceptible to a man pleasing spirit. We are susceptible to clamoring for position, making “trades” with those who could get us a larger platform or more influence. We make political decisions. And we find ourselves no longer operating under the government of the King. We must first know, like David, “I am confident in love regardless of my platform.”

David was confident because his identity and measure of success was already established outside of his military success, his kingly success, etc. He knew he was a success because he was rooted and grounded in love. He did not clamor for kingship. He did not make political moves to usurp the throne in the face of Saul’s obvious compromise and horrible leadership. David knew the word of the Lord over his life. He was confident in his identity, success, and the timing and process of God.

We must address the deep soul wound of the absence of proper identity or we will end up operating under a political spirit instead of the kingdom government we were created for.

© Elisabeth Cooper 2019