This past Sunday June 4th while in worship at the beginning of church service I had one of the most beautiful and liberating encounters with the Lord. Almost immediately after I closed my eyes in worship I had a vision of the feet of Jesus on the cross. Though I’ve seen this many times before, I couldn’t stand long, He is worthy of anything and everything I could bring in worship to Him. There was such tangible adoration, His worthiness and holiness were overwhelming, and I just wanted to love on Him. As I found myself bowing before Him with my face to the floor my body was now engaged in an encounter. It felt as though I were laying prostrate and I could feel my body sinking into the earth. My body was dissipating lower than ground level and the feeling of “nothingness” was the most freeing part of this encounter. I then had another vision and I was now a pool of liquid gold before the Lord. I had already been ‘weepy’ though now I was laughing and crying. As a seer since childhood, I can honestly write this encounter was more impactful than the angels I’ve seen or spoken with, more than the power and manifestations experienced, yes being laid before the Lord as pool of liquid was complete liberation.

To die is gain.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“My true life is the Anointed One, and dying means gaining more of him.”‭‭ Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Though “the art of dying” seems to be my lifelong message and I’ve written or spoken about it more times than I can count – this was different. As proved to be so in the immediate intense opposition I faced after. Why the onslaught? Because the enemy doesn’t want you to die, he wants you to have self remaining for himself. He hates the yielded Bride because of what is accomplished in unity – unity throughout the Body, and especially unity with the Lord Himself. He hates Oneness because he wants to “be the one”. The accuser can not multiply, he only knows subtraction though craftily understands the power of agreement, so he incessantly accuses the Bride hoping she gives way with her agreement.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We increase and are empowered in our divine union with Christ. “In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Earthly power is found in our will.
Heavenly power is found in surrender.

There are many moving parts to explaining spiritual warfare – though in short I had to ask the Lord immediately leaving church what was going on because how could I have such a powerful encounter only to be “wailed on” all through service. There are a few things I am not going to get into, but the main beast in the field up close and personal was Leviathan. The serpent twisting, distorting, and manipulating the truth. (I posted on this Sunday on my FB page).

We all have different “beasts” and “giants” to conquer as we continue to move forward in destiny and in our promised lands. But this is the spirit after the Bride right now. If the enemy can distract you, he can get your attention, giving him too much attention he can talk with you, if he can talk with you he can deceive you, if he can deceive you he can get your agreement and with your agreement he has your will, your “power”. A few months back I had a prophetic dream where the Lord was showing me this same visual image of an enormous sea serpent that was aiming to wipe out humanity by deception. If the enemy has your agreement he has your will power, and eventually you succumb or surrender to him.

We make understanding our life on the earth so complicated. There is a tug of war for your soul and it never stops until we graduate into eternity. This does not mean we are incessantly caught up in warfare, because that is the distraction for many believers. But there are times, especially now as we are in a quickly changing and “crossing over” season we need to be on guard.

What now? What to do when things such as this occur? Seek the Lord with all of your heart. Seek Him until you find Him! Seek Him until peace floods your being, seek Him and do not stop until His presence is found! “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Of course He never leaves, but I am writing of the connection of Oneness. You may say I am one with Him, we had communion yesterday, or last week or even this morning… you may say you talk to Him everyday but are you One with Him? Especially in the days we are heading into we need His breath to be our breath, this is vital union that Paul wrote about! It’s day by day and moment by moment, living in a place of union – the state of I am in You Lord, and You are in me.

As I pondered with the Lord the vision of liquid gold, I was never happier to be nothing. I felt impressed that now I could be molded into something – whatever He would desire. The Holy Spirit brought wedding bands to mind. As I’ve thought about this vision often over the last three days, I continue to think about the wedding bands with emphasis, so last night I began to research how they are made. There are two methods: hammer and anvil method and casting method.

In the hammer and anvil method the gold is softened and beaten into shape, it does not become liquid. The yellow gold is usually heated to around 1250 F followed by water quenching – “water quenching” is after you fire the metal and dip it in water to prevent it from becoming brittle and breaking while increasing strength and hardness (durability).

Gold casting – “becoming liquid gold” requires a hotter temperature of 1627 F to 2006 F to melt the gold depending on the type of gold used, and if there are any alloy’s. It is then poured directly into a mold.

Traditionally when two people enter marriage to become one in covenant they purchase each other wedding bands. The man gives the woman an engagement ring as a promise most often, and he purchases a wedding band for the wife to put on her finger during the ceremony. The woman purchases her soon to be Bridegroom his wedding band to also be placed on his finger during the ceremony.

As the Bridegroom, Jesus has already given us the promise and we are His betrothed. He also has purchased His Bride by offering His life as the perfect sacrifice for eternal Oneness with Him. We will receive the gold band He has sized for us at the wedding ceremony. You see He already poured Himself out for us, He already made the mold. The offering of our Bridegroom’s life we receive in full when in Heaven (complete Oneness for eternity), symbolically when He places the gold band on our finger (that He made by pouring out His life as liquid gold). Jesus is inviting us to follow His costly example that we may offer Him gold refined in fire. Our costly offering is our life cast into the mold He has made for us – for Himself. The liquid gold we become is for Him, its symbolic of the ring He forms for Himself. I was asking the Lord recently how do you “present to Yourself” a pure Bride? Now whether or not we actually wear rings in Heaven is not the point, symbolically it is when we fit the same mold He made with His emptied life and in turn offer our lives back to Him in this way, that He would present to Himself a pure and spotless Bride.

I believe the two methods of making gold bands are relevant to our transfiguration process. I think many of us have gone through softening by fire, the beating, forming and heating, and polishing process (hammer and anvil method), and we have have been water quenched by baptism. I believe many of us are beautiful gold wedding bands. Some with more intricate details than others. What was interesting in my research was that to re-melt a filigree, intricate or more detailed band of gold it would require more heat. For me, I love the details, I love intricacies.
But I suggest in our transfiguration process and in our becoming like Him from glory to glory, the more intense the process and heat becomes. Maturity requires surrender. And we go from maturity to maturity and surrender to surrender. The risk is greater. The ask is “more”, though by this juncture His increase Has become more in us so that ironically it doesn’t feel like a greater ask because there’s less of us. This is when we move to the phase of casting. Will we yield and become liquid gold? Though it is all to become like Him and for Him even at this juncture, is it worth it all? Will you yield even the beauty He has already made in you? Will you give Him the gold band that you have already become? This yielding requires a greater intensity of heat than the last formation, but is He worthy? Yes He is! This is the beautiful symbolism to becoming One with our Bridegroom King. We are continually “water quenched” because we are One with the Word Himself (we are cleansed by the washing of the water of the Word).

Do you see why the enemy is so jealous of you? Why he wants to distract you? The beautiful art of death and yielding is the most imposed on because he understands the power of it.

To die is gain.

Though I had this vision I don’t count myself as to have already attained it. I pray so. May this be the posture of Your Bride, Lord, help us continually give ourselves to you.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” ‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This is the passage the Lord led me to after service on Sunday. This is the beautiful description of laying down one’s life for another in union just as Christ has done for us.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬-‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬