Last Saturday I was lead to purchase a pie in the Avoca bakery in downtown Belfast. Avoca means, ‘little treasure.’
It was the box containing the pie with the rhyme, “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie’ written on it that caught my attention.
I had just come from the Blackbird Cafe run by my friend Moses who a few years ago had been lead by God to move from Nigeria to Belfast.
Then he had been lead in Belfast to settle in a house in Gilnahirk….
And that house was just opposite the house where 50 years ago we teenagers had met weekly to pray that God would come and visit our land!!
The Blackbird cafe had been another leap of faith for Moses.
Located in one of the most infamous corners during the troubles it’s previous operators had given up.
Moses had asked for a chance to prove he could make it work, and by the grace of God – it was working…..winning the trust of locals and attracting the tourists who after their stop to be taught Irish history through the writing on the neighboring wall, would drop in to the Blackbird cafe for a cappuccino .
It was Moses who facilitated our gathering the next day as our little group responded to the White House declaring it should be a national day of jubilee for the USA.
The 50% price reduction (Jubilee number) on the box had influenced me to ‘clinch the deal’🙂
I produced the pie at the start of the gathering last Sunday pointing out that the number 24 represented -priesthood and that was why we were gathering as members of the ‘royal priesthood’ to intercede on behalf of our two nations – America…… and Ireland.
Later reading about the origins of the nursery rhyme I discovered it was a reference to King Henry shutting down the monasteries…..a source albeit imperfect, of prayer and worship.
The rhyme continues
The present prophetic interpretation dawned on me. From Psalm 2…
The ‘kings of the earth’ who have sought to shut down God’s royal priesthood are now being thwarted, for the time has come for God to make it clear that, “I have set my King (Jesus) on my holy hill’
….and set those who are his priestly representatives on earth at this time free singing their song of glorious triumph!.
We were beautifully lead by the Spirit as we shared and sang ‘the song of the Lord’ together. Eight (new beginnings) year old Zoe (life) closed out our evening as she taught us an ‘action’ chorus about Jesus shining though us to change the world.
The next morningj I rose early and went to Helen’s Bay for a swim. I have never seen the bay so calm. A few hours later we were walking at Seapark when a series of enormous waves such as I have never seen there before hit the shore.
Taken by surprise the hugest of these had passed before we thought to take a video. Here is what we recorded when the waves had subsided. You can hear Hilary exclaim, “What is going on?”
I returned home to discover this had been posted over the weekend by President Trump……..
(As a ‘God reporter’ rather than ‘Trump supporter’ I view this imperfect man as a wrecking ball appointed by God to expose and dismantle centuries of institutionalized evil)
It clearly signals a change of season ‘from calm to storm’ such as I experienced in the Belfast Lough this morning.
After the big waves rolled in, I looked at my watch. The time was 12:12.
12+12 = 24
Last Saturday we were 12 adults (+Zoe) After the meeting we gave Moses, Ezekiella and Zoe a ride to their new home. They have just moved there to begin the next season of their life and calling here. We discovered their new house number is 12
12+12= 24.
I believe in these ‘signs following’ Father was encouraging us, that as we gathered in response to his 2 Chron.7:14 invitation to humble ourselves and pray and seek his face and proclaim……Jesus King, of our lives and of both America and Ireland,
…..we were privileged to be participating in the major shift that is happening in the establishing of the kingdom of God on the earth in these days.
Anyhow, this is merely, for what it’s worth, my prophetic perspective.
The end of the story is for sure.
‘…….the TWENTY FOUR elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””
Revelation 4:10-11 NIV
On the next blog I will describe the most spectacular ‘sign following’ I have ever experienced, confirming, for what it’s worth what I have just written.🙂