New Season

By Rachel Sawka

Christmas greetings! As we close out 2024 I want to share a word that God gave me while we were in Bulgaria for the CTF Advance. 

I saw that many of us were carrying backpacks that were laden with rocks. These rocks had different names on them; worry about family, finances, sickness, death, not being enough etc.. God asked us very clearly to take off the backpacks and to take out each rock and lay it at the feet of Jesus. 

As we did this in obedience, he then asked for us to give Him the backpack and said, this is so you won’t fill it up again! We know that God’s promise to us is that HIs burden is light:

Matthew 28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

The promise here also states that Jesus will give us rest….which means we can walk in a continuation of that rest. Permanent rest, no worry - imagine that! How much lighter could we walk? How much more we could smile and enjoy life? This is a part of what Jesus means when He says He came so we can have life in abundance (Jn 10:10). 

If this resonates in your heart, can I encourage you to take a step of response to this word? Take some time and ask God what rocks you have been carrying. Then do a prophetic act of taking each one of those rocks, naming them and place them at the feet of Jesus. Then give God the backpack and say, I choose to walk in obedience to you, with a light burden and in continual rest. Help me to do that for the whole year of 2025. Now take a deep breath and release all of that tension you had in your shoulders and neck because of carrying that heavy backpack! 

The second part of the word, was I saw us giving our backpacks to God in surrender and as we did that, God stretched out His hand to each of us with an invitation to COME UP HIGHER. This is an invitation to come up to a higher place, to a higher perspective where we can see things differently! In the advance meeting Mike led everyone to take a prophetic act and stand on their chairs to see how it changed their perspective. As people looked around, you could see new revelation, new perspective and even joy on people’s faces. 

We believe God is calling us to a higher perspective as we move into 2025. It requires surrender, sacrifice and being willing to STEP UP into the place he has for us. While you read this, why not try stepping onto a chair you have nearby and see how it changes your perspective, note how it lifts you up out of the every day and you can see further! This is how God wants us to look towards the new year. With renewed faith, renewed vision and renewed devotion. 

We received a word last week from a visiting prophet that 2025 -2026 will be years of significant salvations and growth in Japan, this has been confirmed by many others as well. The prophet went on to say that God is preparing to send Japanese out into the harvest field of other nations from 2028. This is exciting!! We want to be ready for everything God has in store for us and not carrying heavy backpacks that hold us back. 

We look forward to seeing you at the Family Conference in January, we know this will be a significant time of moving into the new season God has prepared for us. See you then and have a fantastic Christmas and New Year’s season with your family and friends!