PROPHETIC WORD: This is the Year of the Bridge
“For I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your garment I would be healed.” (Luke 8:41)
When I spent time with the Lord in prayer, He showed me how this is the "year of the bridge" and really highlighted the word "elevation."
Something very specific from your past is connected to your future and this is the crossover point.
Christ has paved an elevated road that requires a holy viewpoint; you must go even higher to gain wisdom and perspective from Him on this matter! God is so faithful and He’s coming for you! Jesus is personally carrying you to the other side! The grace of our Heavenly Father is about to overflow your life with living water, so keep pressing and moving forward into new territory with our Lord!
Elevation means upgrading, advancement, promotion, and height above sea level.
There are two main definitions for a bridge that I think the Lord is speaking to us:
Bridges are elevated paths, roads or structures that connect two points.
On a ship, a bridge is an elevated platform where the captain directs operations.
Later the word “connected” was really strong on my spirit. Specifically, these definitions:
1.) joined or linked together.
2.): related by blood or marriage.
3.): having social, professional, or commercial relationships that connects you to others.
Jesus is the Captain of our souls and this is the transition point where the Lord is personally connecting two periods of your life with certain people. You must take a leap of faith into the unknown!
A NEW TRIBE
The Lord is bringing some of you a new tribe of faithful people this next season!
The truth is, we cannot do life successfully alone. There are seasons that the Lord will personally walk you through training and sanctification that will often happen out of the spotlight in solitude and isolation.
This is especially true if the Lord plans for you to lead His people.
Those called to the Office of the Apostle or the Office of the Prophet will definitely have long periods of separation.
However, even in prison, Joseph was still serving God and prophesying. When Paul was called, he went straight to learn from his Father alone. John the Baptist grew in spirit alone in the wilderness. The Apostle John was exiled to the isle of Patmos, but still wrote the Book of Revelation. God had a purpose for it all.
Some of you have experienced many trying years, and you often felt alone and isolated even when surrounded by others.
Thankfully, the Lord specializes in wounded and broken souls. Jesus personally put you back together and gave you a new identity.
When you have a clear picture of your identity, the opinions of others won’t sway you! You weigh everything from the viewpoint of Christ.
You remember that only the Great I AM gets to say who I am!
Now the bridge season is here! It's time to merge into a new community of people!
This is when you come out of the shadows and walk alongside others to grow in spiritual and emotional maturity. Many of you have been trained and prepared to lead a group of people. The Father is so, so proud of you, beloved.
This next step is a process that requires the help and love of trustworthy people that God plants in our life. They hold us accountable and push us higher to make changes. There is no shame here, only acceptance, love, and compassion. They will be able to spot the light within you.
The Lord transforms everything He touches, so let it be…because it’s meant to be.
What you did in secret, the Lord is about to acknowledge in public.
‘WHO TOUCHED ME?’
When the woman realized she couldn’t hide any longer, she came and fell trembling at Jesus’ feet. Before the entire crowd she declared, “I was desperate to touch you, Jesus, for I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your garment I would be healed. — Luke 8:47 TPT
One of the most powerful stories in the entire Bible is about the woman who had suffered for 12 years from slow bleeding.
Jesus was at the height of His fame and throngs of crowds surrounded Him. The woman came up behind him and touched the fringe of His cloak. Jesus asked, “who touched me?”
He knew the answer, but Christ was shocked at the power released!
Jesus knew something miraculous had just occurred and He literally felt a physical sensation dancing from His soul and extending to another person.
For 12 long years, this bleeding woman would have been excommunicated from her family and friends and suffered alone in near isolation.
She was considered unclean and impure and legally she could not touch Jesus or anyone. However, sometimes I think we get this story wrong. We put a lot of focus on her having the courage to leave her house and reach for Jesus without realizing God was likely working on her heart long before.
She operated in the Gift of Faith because she knew Jesus was the Messiah.
As a Jewish man, Jesus would have worn an outer cloak or shawl known as a tallit. A blue tassel would have been hanging that symbolized all the commandments and promises of God. The Hebrew word can also mean wing, like the healing wings of God.
Therefore, the woman was not just reaching for anything; she intentionally touched the wing of the garment to acknowledge God’s Promised Son.
“For I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your garment I would be healed” (Luke 8:47).
How did she know?
Perhaps she didn’t spend those 12 years in isolation, but instead, maybe she was constantly comforted by the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
I propose that she was not just mourning and suffering, but also praying and learning from the Father.
The Lord might have opened her eyes to Malachi 4:2: “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings…”
This is clearly pointing to the coming Messiah.
The phrase “Sun of Righteousness” can also translate to “son of vindication.”
The woman correctly interpreted that the very clothes Jesus wore held healing power.
Jesus said: “Beloved daughter, your faith in me released your healing. You may go in peace.”
Christ wanted to restore this woman in front of everyone. He called her “daughter” to establish her identity.
Then, He didn’t just heal her, but after 12 long years, she finally had a voice again…
“In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed” — Luke 8:47b.
Sometimes the first step of radical faith is to simply trust the Lord and then walk outside the door and act in obedience to God’s commands.
The "bridge" moment for the bleeding woman happened when she courageously left the confines of her house and trusted Jesus to do the miraculous.
Jesus wanted to make sure that her bold faith was recognized publicly and for the rest of eternity.
I believe God had prepared her for a very long time and now her big moment had arrived. The healing touch of Christ then connected her to a whole new community of people.
Her most remarkable feat came at His feet.
By the time she stood up, Jesus had made her completely well.
“He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge…” — Psalm 91:4.
ENCOURAGING WORDS
At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us.
We may be knocked down, but we are not out.
We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
We have the same Spirit of faith that is described in Scriptures when it says:
First I believed, then I spoke in faith.
So we also first believe then speak in faith.
We view our slight-lived troubles in the light of eternity…because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
We are convinced that even if these bodies we live in are folded up at death like tents, we will still have a God-built home that no human hands have built, which will last forever in the heavenly realm.
And to confirm this promise, God has given us the Holy Spirit, like an engagement ring.
That’s why we’re always full of courage.
Even while we’re at home in the body, we’re homesick to be with the Father — for we live by faith, not by sight.
For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and holds us tightly, because we are convinced that he has given his life for all of us.
Love,
The Apostle Paul
(2 Corinthians 4, 5 TPT, selected verses)
