The Woman with the Alabaster Jar
“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.””
Luke 7:36-50 ESV
There was a day about three years ago, when Jesus came into my life and changed everything. Since that day, I have received the answer to my soul’s outcrying for truth, and with it a hunger for God’s presence, and the desire to love the Lord with my whole self. Today I am taking one step forwards towards the Lord and saying, “God, here I am, send me!” I want to be a vessel, an alabaster jar full of fragrant oil, poured out on the feet of Jesus, mourning over the King in His absence until the day of His return, for I know that He will not come until every people group has heard the Good News of the Kingdom.
The Vision & The Call
Recently I preached a word from the Lord over my home church in Washington, a word that God gave me to share with them, saying: I saw the Lord coming on the clouds with His Kingdom and power, and I saw a long line of warriors linking arms, straddling the circumference of the earth, and they would not back down, this was the hour that they would come together for the purposes of the Kingdom, it is time to stand up, stand tall, stand strong, and hold the line, Church.
“My Kingdom is coming quickly on clouds of white, I will not back down. My people must rise up, stand tall, and not back down. I am raising up a generation of Kingdom seekers, warriors who will not back down, who will stand tall and fight for Me and my Kingdom, who will bring my judgement upon the earth with Me, who will bring the Kingdom of Heaven with them wherever they go. It is time. The time is now. Rise up Church, this is your final hour. The hour is upon us now.”
Take that in for a moment, and if you can, meditate on Matthew 24:29-31, which echoes this vision of the Lord coming with His Kingdom and glory. The Lord is speaking to us today, He is not a dead God, like some may believe, but He is very much alive, He is still moving among us today all over the world. Don’t you want to be a part of that?
What I am learning through this time of preparation, transition, and launching, is that Jesus is inviting us to take part in this end time harvest season, and He is really wanting us to see how worthy that He is to receive the nations as His own. He is cultivating, He is planting, laboring over the nations, and He is inviting us to labor with Him, to see His glory in the nations, to see the coming of the Lord, and to hasten His return. We have a choice to make now, will we sit in our state of slumber waiting for the Lord to come wake us up on the day of His return? Or will we wake ourselves up early, get out of our comfortable beds, and choose to pick up our crosses and follow Him to the harvest field? Jesus already told us that the harvest is ready, if we keep on waiting it will begin to rot, and the whole harvest will be spoiled. For me, it is time to GO to the nations.
As I am traveling, I have already seen the Lord moving all around me, meeting missionaries on the flight, sharing testimonies, seeing my prayers answered in real-time. Seeing the goodness of God in these moments is easy, it’s all around me. I don’t know what the future will hold, but I have said, “Yes” to following Jesus to the nations, and I believe that it’s going to be a good harvest. However, I know that there will be challenges, I have counted the cost, I had to leave the people I love so dearly to follow the call, and it hurts. It hurts them, it’s not an easy thing. I honestly don’t know how to deal with that yet, but I keep on trusting in God’s goodness even in the moments when it’s difficult to see, because I know that He is worthy and He is faithful to work everything out for good for those who love Him. I’m trusting that God will take care of me, and my loved ones, and keep us in Him until the day when He returns.
“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.”
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 ESV
I know that I have a call on my life, and I am saying, “Yes.”
During this time, if you would like to connect with me, please send a message here. If you have WhatsApp, or you can download it, I will be able to communicate in that way, and I will share my number with you privately. If you would prefer to send a message by email, send to matthewforrest.akre@gmail.com and I will stay in touch that way. I am praying for those who read my newsletters and for those who are backing me up in prayer and in financial support today, if you have any prayer requests please send them my way.^^
God bless and Godspeed,
Matthew Forrest Akre
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