Jesus, The Lifter of Your Head

As we process through one of the most intense Kingdom transitions in modern history, I know I’m not alone when I say it has been a time of great testing and change. 

Many have suffered deeply. There have been times of oppression, depression, discouragement, confusion and persecution in the body of Christ. Child of God, you are not alone. But your Reality is Jesus, the Lifter of your head.

The enemy has sought to get our heads and hopes bowed; eyes to the dust, feet shuffling on the ground. He does this with plaguing lies, fear and accusations of never doing enough or being enough. Through the spirit of religion he tries to get us occupied with self, leading to strife, or with others causing us to compare our life with theirs.

When David was fleeing in fear from Jerusalem and his own son Absalom, who conspired with the people against him to dethrone him, he felt overtaken by betrayal and deceipt. Yet while the trouble rising up against him was real, David put his trust in a greater Reality, the Lord; the only One who could raise him up!

“Lord, how they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God. But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭3:1-3‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

Beloved, it’s in those moments you feel you’ve “missed it” the most, you’re the most disappointed in yourself or your situation, the enemy seems to be overtaking you, or when you feel you’re in a pit you can’t get out of, that your Shield and the Lover of your soul rushes in to gently lift your head and heart back to His face of grace.

Holy Spirit does this through the revelation of Jesus, His finished work and your identity in Him. In Hebrew the word for “lifter” is rûm and it means “to rise up, be raised and uplifted.” This is what happened to Jesus at the cross and in His resurrection.

When the Israelites were irritable and discouraged, traveling in the wilderness, they found themselves bitten by fiery serpents. It was then the Lord told Moses to make a bronze snake and set it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten, when they looked (expectantly) at the serpent on the pole, would live (see numbers 21:4-9).

This is a picture of Jesus being lifted up on the cross. Bronze speaks of judgment. And the snake, of course, represents the devil and the curses he brought in. But on that rugged tree, all our sin, judgment, punishment and curses were judged in the Savior’s body. 

Jesus wants our eyes on Him and what He accomplished for us at Calvary. When we look to the cross and perceive all He suffered for our wholeness, we will truly be healed and live believing our issues are finished work. 

“And just as Moses in the desert lifted up the brass replica of a venomous snake on a pole for all the people to see and be healed, so the Son of Man is ready to be lifted up, so that those who truly believe in Him will not perish but be given eternal life” (John‬ ‭3:14-15‬ ‭TPT‬‬).

When the Lord raises our head (the battle of the mind) back into His glory, Holy Spirit is reminding us that Jesus “was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!” (Romans 4:25 TPT). In other words, Jesus is the divine payment and receipt for our justification, vindication; being made spotless and innocent before our Father! 

When He was raised, He took you and me with Him and we are forever seated in Him on the throne, at Father’s right hand, far above any trial, “ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—“ (Ephesians 1:21 NLT).

Our part is to abide in our Heavenly Abode in union and intimacy with Him! When we’re not abiding (resting, at peace in our position in Him), as a branch in the True Vine, we’ll live like a limp limb trampled on the ground.

If this describes how you’ve been feeing lately, don’t despair. Your loving Father loves to lift you up in His arms, propping you back up to where you’ve been all along…in His heart of favor and faithfulness. 

He is not disciplining you in disappointment. He is encouraging you, delighting in you and is convicting you of your perfect standing in Him because of the blood of Jesus!

Many have found fear in the second verse of John 15 because it has been mistranslated as the father who “takes away” every branch that does not bear fruit. 

The truth is, when you, as the branch (you’re not trying to be, you’re already there) in the Vine (Jesus), are in a season of “not bearing fruit,” the One who is responsible for caring for you and who supplies all you need, does not discard you or toss you aside. 

The Greek word for “take away” in verse two is airō and it actually means “to raise upwards, elevate and lift up.” When you feel you’re not thriving but barely surviving, He raises you back to life and causes that season of pain to serve you and prepare you for your greater harvest!

“I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest” John‬ ‭15:1-2‬ ‭TPT‬‬

There is a precious woman in the gospel of Luke, who was bowed down, doubled over, head to the ground for eighteen years by a spirit of infirmity (a demonic spirit of weakness).

*To be spiritually hunched over and dust-conscious speaks of the devil’s food (see Genesis 3:14). Feeding on the ”law-tree” (being performance-focused which brings in condemnation) instead of the Tree of Life (Jesus, Grace, Righteousness, Rest) will cause this to happen.*

BUT when JESUS SAW HER, He called her to Him, gently laid His hands on her and freed her from her condition, immediately causing her to be lifted up and made straight (notice her healing was directly connected to her being made upright; a revelation of her forgiveness and righteousness in Christ). Now her eyes could stay fixed on Him! (See Luke 13:10-17)

Daughter/son of Abraham (the one who believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, Luke 13:16, Genesis 15:6), I pray you let the Lord Jesus be the lifter of your head and heart today; restoring you to truth and filling you with rest, hope and health to your body and soul. It will mark the beginning of your most fruitful season yet!

Resting In His Love,

Annalee Reyes

*****

Jesus has been pursuing you relentlessly all your life. If you’ve never received Jesus Christ as your forgiveness, your Lord and your Savior, you can pray this simple prayer from your heart and become born again, a brand new creation and child of Daddy God, your loving Father:

“Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending your Son for me. I believe He came to earth to be born in the flesh to die my death on the cross. I believe His blood washed my sins away and completely cleansed me. I believe He redeemed me from every curse by becoming my curse and was raised from the dead because I was declared justified and righteous. Jesus, come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I am now fully forgiven! I am a child of God, blessed, favored and incomprehensibly loved. In Jesus Name. Amen!”