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Topic: Washing His Feet With Tears - Christine Beadsworth
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Author
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Tina Sundstrom
Senior Member
Joined: 05/09/2005 Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 403
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Posted: 09/10/2014 at 4:13pm
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30Th August 2014
Washing His feet with Tears
I have found it difficult to begin writing this article, both because of
its content and the immense resistance in the spiritual realm to me
sending it out. Today, I am determined to release it, no matter how hard
I have to push. We are living in days that, on the world front, are
growing increasingly dark. I am sure all of us are aware of the
tremendous suffering of the church in Iraq. Every news bulletin and
every newspaper carries details of the atrocities ISIS is perpetrating.
It is no coincidence that the name of this murderous group is also the
name of a demon goddess of ancient Egypt. She later became known as the
queen of heaven and was also worshiped in other cultures as Diana,
Ishtar, Astarte and Asherah. Isis is the goddess of the dead and of
magic. The word ‘Isis’ means ‘throne’; yet another bit of insight into
the demonic powers behind this group that declares their intention to
establish a Muslim caliphate or throne in the middle east.
As I was praying recently for the Church in Iraq, I was given a vision
of a pair of bare, pierced feet. They were walking in a desert setting
over many sharp stones and thorns and there was much blood pouring from
the wounds under the soles of these feet. I knew immediately that they
were the feet of Jesus and also that they depicted the part if His Body
in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, who are suffering so terribly and being
martyred in large numbers at present. I also understood that these feet
are taking the rest of the Body of Christ on a journey through the
valley of the shadow of death. That shadow is cast by the cross of
Christ, down the centuries to today and many saints in other centuries
have walked that path. On that cross, the beaten, bleeding body of our
Lord was on display for all to see, just as the broken bodies of
believers in Iraq are on view for the whole world to see their
suffering. Amazingly, over and over in narratives of the brutal torture
and slayings going on in both Iraq and Nigeria, there is one phrase that
is heard over and over from the lips of these suffering Christians, “I
forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing”.
As I watched those feet walking over that hard thorny place, I saw that
the pain being experienced by the feet caused the rest of the body to
adjust its position and way of moving. The Word tells us that we are one
Body, yet for a long time the Body has been divided and disconnected.
Now, because of the road the Head is taking the feet through, the extent
of their suffering is reconnecting the rest of the Body in one purpose –
to live and move in such a way that, if possible, some of the torture
the feet are undergoing may be alleviated. Across the denominations and
in every quarter of the Church of Jesus Christ, there is a growing
awareness that we are one Body and when one member suffers, we all
suffer. No matter what our emphasis may be in doctrine, every limb of
the Body worldwide is being moved as the God of Heaven reconnects the
nerve endings and joints between us. We look at the faces of the
children who have seen their friends beheaded and somehow our
differences in interpretation of this verse or that chapter seem
unimportant.
We are one bread for we all partake of the one Bread. Earnest prayer and
intercession is rising day and night all over the globe on behalf of
our brothers and sisters in Christ. The extent of evil and hatred
unleashed against them is shaking us out of our reverie and driving us
to our knees before the throne of the only One who can help in time of
need. This is their gift to the rest of the Body as they lay down their
lives – the gift of awakening us out of our slumber and bringing us into
one accord in one place before the Father from whom we all are named.
And not a moment too soon - Heaven has been trying to wake up the Church
of Jesus Christ for many years to the lateness of the hour.
The alarm clock went off for the first time in 2001 when the twin towers
were destroyed and for a brief moment, believers were startled out of
their slumber, praying and sharing the gospel to a shocked world. Then
the ‘snooze button’ was pushed and we dozed off again, enjoying our
dreams and our comforts. The tsunami in Asia in 2004 marked the next
alarm going off and for a short while we once again opened our eyes and
looked at the time on the clock. It really did seem to be getting late
but perhaps just a few moments more of peace and rest and then we really
did intend to swing our feet over the side of the bed and get to
work...And over and over, the Body has pressed the snooze button. The
2008 stock market plunge alerted us to the lateness of the hour but the
spirit of slumber still had its firm grip upon the mind for the Church.
Then as alarm clocks are prone to doing, the ringing of the alarm became
more and more insistent and the period of time between the ringing got
shorter and shorter. The 2010 Iceland volcano eruption coupled with the
Haiti earthquake in the same year, got some members of the Body to begin
moving. The Fukushima disaster starting in 2011 marked a piercing call
from God’s alarm clock, which is still reverberating round the globe. By
this time the Head of the Body had instructed the feet to get out of
bed and begin moving, even though the rest of the Body remained weak and
numb as a result of too much sleep. However the journey the feet were
about to take was not in slippers or on fluffy carpets. The Body of
Christ needed to be jolted into full alertness.
1Th 5:3 When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, There
is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction will come
upon them as suddenly as labour pains come upon a woman with child; and
they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape. 1Th 5:4 But
you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by
surprise like a thief. 1Th 5:5 For you are all sons of light and sons
of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to darkness. 1Th
5:6 Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep
wide awake and let us be sober (calm, collected, and circumspect).
The blood moon on Passover in 2014 marked the clocking over into a whole
new hour in the earth and since then, the level of violence perpetrated
by radical Muslims against believers has risen dramatically. The
kidnapping of almost 300 Christian schoolgirls in Nigeria shocked people
around the world. However, the murder and mutilation of Christians in
Nigeria has become a daily occurrence now; one which the world media has
grown tired of reporting on. All eyes are focused on Iraq and the
rapidly unfolding horror of an army fueled by the hatred of hell; and
supported by an alarming number of recruits from the western nations.
Now we are awake. It is no longer possible to snooze off. The
realisation that this is happening to members of our own extended family
has banished any further thought of sleep. If we are those who, like
Mary, have sat and gazed with love into our Saviour’s face, then out of
gratitude, we must wash the feet of Jesus’ Body with our tears and our
intercession and give of our substance to those ministries positioned to
help them in their hour of need. We must anoint these precious feet
with ointment and pour out love upon them.
Luk 7:38 And standing behind Him at His feet weeping, she
began to wet His feet with her tears; and she wiped them with the hair
of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment.
When I saw the vision of the wounded pierced feet, I was given a phrase of scripture:
Rom 8:17 ...only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
In the past, I have understood this verse on a personal level; that any
suffering I go through is a necessary part of qualifying as a partaker
of His glory. However, this time I saw it on a much wider scale. Because
we are one Body, when one part suffers, we all suffer. The Spirit
showed me that the terrible suffering and sacrifice of the Iraqi Church
is causing a transaction in the Heavenly realm. In some mysterious way,
they are paying the price in suffering to purchase for the whole Body, a
weight of glory that has never been seen before. The Word says, ‘how
lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news’. The
good news that these suffering feet bring is the imminent outpouring of
glory upon the whole Body. Remember when the woman broke the alabaster
box of spikenard on the feet of Jesus? It says the whole house was
filled with the fragrance. The Hebrew word for ‘Spikenard’ means
‘genuine, truth, trustworthy, faith’. The breaking of one vessel and an
outpouring and anointing for burial upon the feet, brought the whole
Body into a state of preparedness, and the fragrance of Christ permeated
the whole area.
Isa 60:13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, ...and I will make the place of My feet glorious.
The place of Jesus’ feet will be made glorious and wherever the feet go,
the rest of the Body is found. We owe the church in places like Iraq
and Nigeria an immense debt of gratitude for waking us up and carrying
us as the Body of Christ to this place. The blood of the martyrs is the
seed of the Church and a rich harvest for the kingdom is coming from
these seeds that have given their lives for the gospel. The soil of Iraq
is wet with the blood of Christians and the Lord of the Harvest is
noting the purchase of souls being transacted. The time of dense
darkness being upon the peoples has now come and it is time to arise and
shine with the glory of the Lord. Paul understood this heavenly
transaction that I speak of – the suffering of one part of the Body for
the sake of the rest of the Body. Read his words with this in mind:
2Co 4:11 For we who live are constantly being handed over
to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be evidenced
through our flesh which is liable to death. 2Co 4:12 Thus death is actively at work in us, but [it is in order that life may be actively at work in you....2Co
4:15 For all these things are taking place for your sake, so that the
more grace extends to more and more people, the more thanksgiving may
increase to the glory of God. 2Co 4:16 Therefore we do not become
discouraged. Though our outer man is decaying and wasting away, yet our
inner self is being renewed day after day. 2Co 4:17 For our light,
momentary affliction is ever more and more abundantly producing and
achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory.
Let us thank God for the feet of the Body of Christ who have been
willing to walk this path and have loved not their lives even unto
death. Their sacrifice has been the sound of a shofar; an awakening
blast to the Church in the West. Thank God we have lost our numbness and
can feel with the feelings of others infirmities. Once again. we are
coming to that position of being in one accord in one place, that the
promised outpouring may take place.
Eph 5:14 Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the
dead, and Christ shall shine upon you. Eph 5:15 Look carefully then how
you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the
unwise, but as wise, making the very most of the time because the days
are evil.
Part two to follow
__________________ In passionate pursuit of Him always
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Kimberly Fowler
Senior Member
Joined: 11/09/2012
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Posts: 2917
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Posted: 09/14/2014 at 3:58pm
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Oh this was beautiful, thank you, Tina, for posting this. What a tribute to those whose blood has been shed, for us to partake in their sufferings that the glory may also be shared as well.
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