The Seven Spirits Before The Throne of God
It is the beginning of a new year! Every year many people around the world will make resolutions, goals and new commitments for the year. This is also a time where many Christians will seek God for the year asking what is the will of the Father for this year.
At the beginning of 2014, I wrote down my goals just as I do every year. My family and I had a candle burning ceremony where we asked God to bless our goals and for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us to accomplish those goals. My goals were:
Start playing the piano again
Go back into the studio to record
Loose weight
Of course God did exceeding, abundantly above what I had asked or could even think of. As a child I played the piano from age 9 to 18. I would play some days for hours to the point my father would come downstairs from his office and say, "Randi, that's enough". After leaving for college, I stopped playing. Until the end of 2013, where God was renewing my love for music. So I found a piano instructor (Elite Music Instruction) and I began taking lessons again. Suddenly something I did not expect began to happen. I was hearing new music. I learned to play what I was hearing and decided to go into the studio to record.
I recorded "No Greater Love", released it to the world as a single June 1, 2014. The feedback was very positive and I thought, "Wow...maybe I should do a full album?" So I remembered an associate of my husband (Mike Daley) had a record label (Hidden Beach Records) and I decided to send him my song. He responded and told me he liked the song and suggested I should work with his friend, Derek "DOA" Allen. Even though I had never heard of "DOA", Mike went on to tell me he won a Stellar Award for Producer of the Year and he was responsible for launching Smokie Norful's career. So Mike setup the initial meeting and it took off from there. I ended up working with "DOA" and released my EP, "You Give Me Life" August 1, 2014.
For the first six to eight months of the year I was seeking God, fasting and praying. My husband agreed with me and we went on a 40 day consecration. We would set the alarm clock for 4:00 am, get up and pray for an hour or so. Then we would head out to run up to 4 miles. This was our routine. However once I released the EP, things became crazy. I was gaining popularity on social media; Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. It got to the point where I had to turn off my phone at night just to get sleep. In the morning, I would have over 100 emails, 99 facebook friend requests, and over 50 LinkedIn requests consistently. I would receive 2 - 3 requests a day to come and minister in Pakistan, India, Africa, Haiti and the Philippines. However my prayer life was becoming inconsistent so I sought help. I reconnected with an old friend...Chris Dawkins.
I met Chris when I was 17 years old. I was the third member of a teen group, "Teen Dream" in Columbus, Ohio. Chris owned the production company that had a contract with Warner Bros. So I sent Chris my EP and he agreed to manage my music career. We setup daily calls at 7:30 am to review pending items. We discussed ministry invitations, distribution offers and potential record labels. Having Chris allowed me to return to a consistent prayer life.
Once again I began to hear new music. I recorded 8 - 10 songs and reached out to "DOA". I told him that I was hearing music again and I would like to start a new project to be released in the Sping/Summer of 2015. He agreed to exclusively produce my next project.
One of the songs I sent to "DOA" is entitled, "Waiting On You". This song was birthed while in prayer from 2:00 am - 6:00 am one Saturday morning. As I stated earlier, I was receiving so many requests to minister abroad, I wanted to know if that is what God wanted me to do. So the song was birthed. Not only was a song birthed but something changed. I came out of that time with God asking have I really accomplished anything for the kingdom of God? All that I accomplished in my heart this year, will I hear at the end of my journey, "Well done thy good and faithful servant"? Did I accomplish the will of God or the will of Maranda. I began to ask so many questions.
By this time it was the holidays and I kept hearing in my spirit, "...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40. So I contacted a local women's shelter and requested to volunteer over the holidays. That experience impacted me greatly. I worked in the kitchen from 6:30 am to 1:00 pm daily, cooking, cleaning and serving food to women and family's that reside at a 90 day emergency shelter. I remember thinking so many people look like me...but for the Grace of God, I too could be living here. Suddenly I wanted to know more of God and His ways. Hence another song, "Deeper". I wanted to go deeper in the things of God.
One day I came across a video of the testimony of Angelica Zambrano. Angelica was dead for 23 hours and God allowed her to see heaven and then hell. I watched the entire video as well as two other videos of her experiences. About a week later someone on Facebook shared a video, "The Best Stories of People Who Have Seen Heaven and Hell". Even more questions came. I remember thinking, "I have it all wrong." This journey has been about ME and not God. I knew that many things needed to change in my life. No I did not commit adultery, fornication, lie, steal or cheat but I was worshiping idols...MYSELF. I've repented and it has been a daily struggle. My prayer life now begins at 2:00 am each morning...not my choice but that is when the Holy Spirit has been awakening me. I am studying the book of revelations and after prayer this morning I was inspired to write this blog.
Revelations 1:4 says, "John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne," and I began to wonder, "What are the seven Spirits"?
I know in Isaiah 11:2 it says, "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord". I count six Spirits here but then I saw in John 15:26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:". That led me to research to see if the Spirit of Truth is the seventh Spirit...what do you think?
