Laughter!
The Spirit of God woke me quite early this morning and I heard laughter. Then He took me to Scripture and began to speak to me about laughter. I had been plauged with a strange "veil of sadness" for the past few days. I knew it was an attack of the enemy, and after talking with some sisters in the faith, I came to know that I wasn't the only one under this specific attack. Perhaps you have been feeling it too. Then this morning's word will speak to your heart.
Yahweh, King of the Universe, said to me this morning: "I LAUGH at My enemies. I look at the stock market and I laugh. I own the cattle on a thousand hills! The storehouse belongs to Me. In Me you have hidden treasures that have not yet been revealed.
"I look at the news and I laugh. 'The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One. Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters.' [I hear the President of Venezuela spewing forth his obscenities. I see the U.N. Security Council meeting and plotting against My land and My people, Israel. I hear the president of Iran threatening to wipe My chosen ones from the face of the earth]. The One enthroned in heaven laughs! The LORD scoffs at them. Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath saying, 'I HAVE INSTALLED MY KING ON ZION, MY HOLY HILL.'" (Psalm 2:2-6)
Then the Lord began to speak to me about exiles. He took me to Jeremiah 29 to read the letter He sent to the Jews (through the prophet Jeremiah) while they were in exile in Babylon. They had been tortured, many had lost their families, and they had been forced out of their homes into exile in a foreign land by the wicked king Nebudchanezzar. It is surprising to read what the Lord wrote to them in this letter: "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem into Babylon: 'Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
Is this word not for us, today? ARE WE NOT EXILES IN A FOREIGN LAND? Truly I tell you, we are Ephraim, scattered to other nations, and apart from Israel, our true home. And we are in exile. Those who are bearing the costly marks of the great struggle to leave the apostate Episcopal Church and stand firm under the banner of the True Messiah, Yeshua, and keep His commands, are in exile. And we all must listen to the verses above from Jeremiah. While we wait for the Lord's "whistle" to make aliyah back to our homeland, where our King WILL be installed on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, His holy hill, to rule and reign for a thousand years, we are to be at peace - and pray for the nation and the town we occupy. We are to make good homes for our families and plant gardens and be a blessing to others. We are to LAUGH at the tactics of the enemy. Our Deliverer is coming! And then we shall sing, as the Israelites sang:
"When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with LAUGHTER, our tongues with songs of joy!
Then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!
Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him." (Psalm 126)
You and I have been weeping, carrying seed to sow.
Soon we, the exiles, will return, our mouths filled with laughter!
