First a story

Days of ‘family gathering’ had just come to a finish. More than 32 Minority Tribes gathered for four days. These days were meant as an embrace of love by making room for the expression of their life experiences, both painful and joyful moments. Such a surreal time was followed by releasing forgiveness to one another and to the majority of peoples while choosing to begin the walk of covenant together. Yes, learning to become one family was in process. This time was glorious, a first for many.

On to the second assignment

Local food vendors satisfy the adventurous heart and are a personal favorite pastime. This night it was probably not the wisest thing to do. The result was two days in bed, sick in a nation dear to many.  Meanwhile, one of the fathers of the movement asked my host if I would join him the next morning to spend time with some of the treasured people. How could I say no? The next few hours leading up to the appointment were spent trying to gain as much physical strength as possible. By the time the morning hour arrived it was doable.

Once situated in the car he said, “I would like you to spend some time speaking with this group of friends.” Because this was unbeknownst to me, I really needed to hear the Lord speak. This was my first time in this nation and I had already been deeply impacted within the first ten days of this nine-week journey. There was nothing in me wanting a platform. Most days I wanted to sit against the wall and just listen and observe.

Why would I say such a thing? It’s because when one sits in the midst of a people who have been formed by the hand of the Lord in hiddenness, having been persecuted so deeply, there is a pricelessness which one does not want to devalue by touching.

A short intermission

Within moments of arriving in the nation, I had realized how much I had allowed God’s invitation to live for Him to become adulterated. This is not condemnation but instead ascribing of a season of sanctifying holy fire. God will not be subservient to compromise. Consciously or subconsciously, it is easy to agree with a compromised gospel. For some, unwillingness to obey is the open door.

God was not mad at me. He was in love with me releasing an incredible gift of Father and daughter time in a foreign land which He chose as the ‘becoming place.’ This land would soon become the third home.

Back to our Chinese family

Those we worshipped with, enjoyed meals with, wept with and laughed with were Christ’s Asian bride who carried the evidence of being formed in the cauldron of His glory. Spiritual culture shock is a good way of describing the experience of being in their presence. An Awakening. Days had been spent meeting folks of deep simple faith. Immediate obedience to their actions. Selflessness formed from gratitude, their strength enabling the building of His Kingdom.

Back in the car

The knowledge He began to share was clear as we drove closer to the location. God said, “You are walking on a highway created with the blood of those in this nation.” He was referring to those that were yet alive as well as those who had passed into glory giving their lives for the proclamation of the gospel. Holy fear gripped me.  My feet were hesitant to even get out of the car physically knowing the historical ground we were walking on. How do you walk in a land paved with the soul blood of God’s champions? Tears spilled. Feeling the gift of life beneath the earth, the soles of my feet struggled. It was as if the “shoes shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” which I was wearing in the Spirit, were alive and aware of the gospel proclaimed by those whose blood was shed. Does that make sense?

The father sitting in the back seat (thank God he couldn’t see my face) asked me what my message would be. All I could do was lift my hand as a gesture asking him to give me a minute. I could not speak. The awe of heaven’s history books depicted formed my walk for this new chapter of life.

Arriving

Ninety minutes later and tears still flowing, my new friends met only the messy and tear-filled face of this woman. Visiting the leaders in the back room was void of my voice. No words. We walked into the Living room where more than 100 waited.  Such a beautiful family. No words. Honestly, remembrance of what was spoken eludes me, but the subject matter was unity and the flesh of His body.

The raw flesh meat of our Priest and Passover Lamb

Preceding the sharing time, the family spent time in worship. It was during these moments that I found a spot against the wall and stood weeping with the reality of their pathways paved with blood. Who were these treasured saints? As I heard the sound of China come through their songs the atmosphere opened and the Lord allowed me to see His message.

The raw ‘flesh meat’ of He our King. Such a sight is not something that you would call appealing, but I’m not sure if there is anything more treasured. Yes, a large piece of meat no doubt His own. What a mystery. What groanings. Difficult to speak audibly of such a reality.

Intentionally He wanted me to recognize that the blood veins were yet not woven into the flesh meat that was before me.  I know this sounds strange. He was bringing to my attention the reality of His call for unity. He is calling His flesh – His body to unify as one in time to weave in His blood and the blood of those martyrs. Yes, this is a mystery.

He had taken note of the faith of this family. Their faith carried works and for that reason life was present. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20) “..whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

Living Tabernacle Birthed in Love and Blood

Yes, we are His tabernacle. His tabernacle will come together. The bone of His Bone and Flesh of His Flesh. The Table of Shewbread is the gathering of His Bread – His body. The Altar is the gathering of the marrow of His blood and that of His saints.

“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal,

I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been

slain because of the word of God,

and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and

they cried out with a loud voice, saying,

“How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain

from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

And there was given to each of them a white robe, and they were told that they

should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and

their brethren who were to be

killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

Revelation 6:9-11

God’s ways are higher

When satan carries out evil acts against those who love God, God transforms injustices for good. He does not leave His children abandoned. He does not give satan the last word. In order to perceive such mysteries of the ‘higher ways’, one must let go of earthly knowledge and peer into the lens of the higher ways of heaven.

Those of every nation and millennium who love God and are killed mercilessly by the powers of darkness for the sake of Christ are viewed in heaven as “lambs led to the slaughter” and cherished immensely by the Father. They have experienced the altar of His tabernacle.

He ushers their spirits into His heavens and cherishing their spilled soul lifeblood, He embraces their blood beneath the altar within the tabernacle of God. This signifies their sacrifice and invites them to rest. They have completed their earthly mission and now they remain in the tabernacle of God forever. The sound of their blood is heard as they cry out,

“How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain

from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Revelations 6:10

If humankind’s blood cries out with such a proclamation how much more is the sound of the blood of the Lamb declaring the invitation of,

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;

And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without cost.

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And delight yourself in abundance.

“Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, …”

Isaiah 55:1-3

and then,

“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said,

“Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,

even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given

 Him, He may give eternal life… “The glory which You have given Me I have

 given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity so that the world

 may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

Portions of John 17

Refined Sight as Citizens of another Kingdom

My friends, all eyes are turning towards the East. The direction of the East means The New Jerusalem. For it is as we view the Temple of God in heaven that we will perceive His ways to be so much higher than the world view.

Citizens of the Kingdom of heaven!  Within the Kingdom of God (He who is Spirit), hope’s spaciousness reaches into the very bowels of the earth and serves as a launching pad, extending us into Christ’s domain.

Blessings be upon all of us here on earth as we live wearing the lens of Christ as our guiding light. For this is the strength needed to endure and be sustained through the hours of persecution and victory which many are already being sustained through.

The safest path to take is the path of the crucified and resurrected Christ for He has already paved the way with His blood along with that of His brothers and sisters who have been accompanied into the Holy of Holies.

Blessings to you on this Passover,

Priscilla with the assistance of Becky Bradfield

*Join us this evening for the 8th Day of ‘8 Days of Communion’ via Facebook Live. Look for Priscilla Zananiri on FB at 7:30pm Central Time.

To link to the previous “8 Days of Communion” writings: https://visualeast.org/2019/04/18/the-emotions-of-god-and-his-harvest-fields/

*The Photo of the Olive tree is one I was able to capture while visiting the Garden of Gethsemane located on the Mount of Olives.

This is a location near to my heart for two reasons. One for the same reason it is cherished by you. The second is because of a memory of my Father and me standing at the outer edge looking across the Kidron Valley to the Old City of Jerusalem in 1996.

Right across the Kidron, one can see the East Gate known as the Golden Gate. He said to me, “Priscilla, can you imagine Jesus standing here looking across and seeing the Gate in which He will enter upon His return? What was going on in His mind? Could it be that He was pondering on, perceiving, seeing all that would take place in heaven and on earth before His return? 

One’s own thoughts continue as one ponders.