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Susan Shultz

A Counterculture Life

Updated: Feb 22, 2023





("God's Unfolding Message" Series 1, Post 14)


4-10-22 Palm Sunday


Susan, write these words down:


Soak in My Presence. Soak in My Spirit. Soak in My very Being. All I have is yours. I desire to hold nothing back. The same power I gave Christ, I give to all My children. It is time to believe this truth. It is time to live by this truth. For too long My people have only lived by this truth in mind only, but it is time to live this truth in your heart as well - within your whole being. Believe My children. Oh rejoice, truly rejoice for I promise such a day is coming, a day when My people will truly live within the realm of full belief, in both truth and Spirit. Right now, most just focus on truth - the truth of what My Presence, My Spirit within them can do. BUT IT IS TIME TO LIVE IT. It is time to experience true, abundant life and living. Live free My people. Live fully within My Spirit. The gifts of My Spirit are real as My daughter is living out and proclaiming to you now. My Spirit lives within her. He has been activated and the things I have and am going to do through her no one has ever seen. Watch and see what I am about to do, truly glorious wonders for the world to see. All will see what I have planned, all living according to My Spirit, My Presence within them.

Don’t be afraid of the desert My people for it will be there that I show up. I will show up for those that willingly step in and live in expectation of Me showing up. Let My Spirit flow freely through you. He will transform your mind, revive your soul, and bring life and light to the darkness. Too many live in fear right now of the darkness but think of it instead as a blank canvas, one that I will fill with miracles and greatness. This world has only ever seen a small glimpse of what I am capable of. I have only just begun. The best is yet to come. Even My Son prophesied this season when He said that greater things will happen than even He has done. Greater things are upon you My people, things that will make the parting of the Red Sea look like a pond in comparison. I have not forgotten you. I have not abandoned you. I have heard every cry and seen every tear but a day is coming when you will truly see that they were not in vain. Believe. Believe that such a season is coming. There will be a great parting, a great divide but this time the divide will be of people. As you choose to go against the flow, it will cause you My people to be set apart, once again a holy nation called by My Name. This nation - My Wonderful Web of Wonder will shine. You My Stars will shine so bright that darkness will have nowhere to hide. Such a revival will take place that many, and I mean MANY trapped in Egypt will escape and run full speed to the other side, to the seat of mercy. Oh, glorious day. Oh, glorious day. I long for such a day as My heart is TO SEEK and SAVE the LOST. My people many will be saved through you, through the Light of Christ that you will shine together. I will show up for you in ways beyond comprehension and the world WILL SEE. Shine Light of Christ, shine. Rise up and shine. It is time to rise and shine, to shine the Light of Christ for the world to see. He rode into town once upon a donkey. He awaits the day that He will ride in on a valiant steed. Rise up! Rise up and shine Bride of Christ for your Bridegroom, for your Savior, for the One who came to save the world and not condemn it. SHINE! Hosanna. Hosanna. Blessed is He who came and will come in the Name of the Lord, in the name of freedom and salvation. Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of peace, grace, and love.


Worship began at this point and I stood up to wave my palm branch and I was saddened that no one around me was waving theirs. I could see that the people around me seemed complacent and almost that they would’ve been embarrassed to wave their branch. It was very clear, especially as we sang “Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” just how much we truly are not living by the Spirit. We are not letting God’s glory flow freely through us for if we were I believe the room would’ve looked very differently.


Susan, My heart does break. I have given My people everything they need to worship Me but My Spirit is quenched. He lies dormant within My people, not fully utilized or tapped into. It is a disease but one I am about to cure. Rise up My Spirit. Rise up within My people that My glory may flow freely through them and so they will worship Me fully, uninhibitedly. Wake up oh sleeper for I long to not only shine upon you but through you. You are not only broken glass but dirty glass, but arise, arise and shine for I am making you new. I have made you clean. All you have to do is believe, believe and take full possession of what is ALREADY yours - life in My Spirit. Arise. Arise and Shine. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.


My pastor got up at this point and was inspired to reference the passage where Jesus had His transformation (Matthew 17:1-8). He said, “Transformation from a lower state to a higher state, a metamorphosis for greater purpose . . . Maybe we are all meant to go through this process . . . We are all caterpillars that God is transforming into butterflies.”


Susan, this transformation is upon My people once again. Time for My people to live it, not just believe it. It is time to be seen. Jesus was always My Son but in that moment of transformation all saw it. It’s time for what is within you to shine forth for others to see. Time for head knowledge to become heart knowledge, to become visible knowledge, to become transforming power that woos this world back to Me. Believe. Believe and be transformed My people, transformed into a glorious light. It’s time. Rise. Rise up and shine. Shine Christ’s Light for the world to see.


My pastor then kept referencing a passage about increasing darkness, and I was inspired to look it up and found it to be Isaiah 60. My spirit perked up and I began to cry when I realized what I was reading, especially as my pastor went on to talk about fulfillment of prophecy, how God brings about, especially through Christ, the fulfillment of so many prophecies from the Old Testament. For, this passage very clearly reiterated what God had just said and had me write down. Isaiah 60:1-3 (NIV) says:


Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.


Is that not what God just said? That people who will find themselves in Egypt, within slavery to this world, will be so drawn to our unified light that they will run towards us, us that arise and shine Christ’s Light? God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has always called for what it His to arise and shine, especially within the ever-increasing darkness.


My pastor talked about what we could learn from the last week in Jesus’ life. Although there are countless things we could glean, the one thing that really stirred my spirit, was just how much Jesus spoke towards having an eternal perspective, towards the Kingdom of God. The very fact that Jesus rode in on a donkey and not a valiant steed, points to the fact that He didn’t come to save the people from the darkness and oppression that surrounded them. He came instead to point them to His eternal Kingdom. In John 18:36, even before Pilot Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Acts 1:6-8 (NIV) says:


Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Not only did Jesus point out that He wasn’t there to restore an earthly kingdom, but He clearly pointed out the fact that His work on the cross wasn’t the end, but the starting off point. As I have been bold lately, and have started to prophesy, I have gotten a few comments that have pushed back. They mainly revolve around the Bible being the only Word of God that we need, pretty much pointing out that they don’t believe in prophecy. I want to point out that I don’t disagree with that statement and I also don’t have all the answers, for the Bible is the only Word of God that we need. But at the same time, the Bible, the Word of God, talks about the Holy Spirit and His power and the gifts He bestows, one of them being prophecy, all for the starting off point that Jesus commissioned that well, I believe we are still within.


In 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (NIV), the Apostle Paul says:


Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.


You know, in God’s previous message through me about us being the Word made flesh, He says that many will not be open to His chosen methods and I believe this is just one example. As God pointed out our head knowledge needs to become heart knowledge. Many people know Scripture, they know the truth, but sadly it isn’t enough to know Scripture, we must also live Scripture. The Bible is the Word of God but this Word also talks about prophecy, about how it is real and beneficial. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important to know and quote Scripture but that isn’t enough, for even the Word says that we are living epistles. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 says:


You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.


I guarantee you that Satan knows more Scripture than you do but what good is it doing him. Also, the Pharisees knew Scripture but what good did this do most of them for most of them fought Jesus the whole time and became the ones that had him arrested and sent to be crucified. We need to know what the Bible says but we also need to apply it to our lives. We need our head knowledge to become heart knowledge, living knowledge. Jesus doesn’t want us to simply be whitewashed tombs. He doesn’t want us to be dead inside but instead as God has said, fully alive, fully living within the power of His Holy Spirit.


So sadly, I believe the pushback comments that I am getting, once again only serve to point out that the Holy Spirit is quenched. Many people, like God pointed out, believe in truth, or in their head that the gifts of the Spirit are real, but at the same time they don’t believe in their heart when they see them in action. They believe them for those in the Bible but not for the times that we are in. They don’t believe that the Holy Spirit is meant to be unitized by people today, which is actually what God is pointing out through me through prophecy. Acts 2:17 (NIV) says:


In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.


Are we not in the last days? This verse was spoken after people saw the disciples speaking in tongues after the Holy Spirit was given. So, were they in the last days, but we are not? If the times within the Bible were the last days, but these days that we live in are not, then well, I don’t even know how to end that statement, for it’s like oil and water. Because, I don’t believe in limbo. Why would God keep time going and life still happening unless a battle was still going on that still needs to be fought, one that can only be fought with the power of Christ through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Oh, how we are quenched.


I get it. I do. I wasn’t raised in a church that talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, let alone the gift of prophecy, which is the reason first, that God is using me, but second, why it is still an uncomfortable stretch of faith for me. But my friends, there comes a point when you have to choose to believe. To take a step of faith and believe, to take possession of what the Bible clearly says is ours, God’s Presence and very power within us. Right now, I can’t help but to think about Esther 4:14 (NIV):


For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?


What God also keeps bringing to my mind is that Acts 2:17 doesn’t say that in the last days your sons and daughters will simply quote Scripture. Which is kind of how it seems those people who come against me want to interpret that verse. Instead, it says that God will pour out His Spirit and we will prophecy. Please don’t get me wrong, we should AND MUST quote Scripture too. God Himself just spoke about Jesus prophesying such a time. In John 14:12 (NIV) Jesus says:


Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.


Jesus again references that starting off point, saying that once He leaves that the work continues, and that it will be such a work that we will need to be able to do “even greater things than these.” Wow! Can you imagine? I have to admit that I struggled to proclaim God’s current words to me because who am I to proclaim that the parting of the Red Sea will look like a pond. But what God brought to my mind to bring me peace was what was greater than the parting of the Red Sea, the death and resurrection of His Son. But, even knowing that was before Him, during His last prayer before He was arrested, what did Christ pray? He prayed that His people would be unified so that the world would know that He is God’s Son and that He loves them. This prayer sounds like God’s Wonderful Web of Wonder to me.


John 17:20-23 (NIV) says:


My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.


God’s people actually unified, shining the Light of Jesus Christ for the world to see. A light so bright that people will flock to it, to the seat of mercy. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like one mighty big miracle to me.


But this is a miracle that begins with having that eternal perspective, one that the enemy longs to distract us from, and you can see why. It has always been his mission, to cut off or eliminate the line that leads to Jesus Christ. He tried it once through Haman, and many since that time, and he is still trying, for don’t be fooled, He knows God’s plan. He heard Christ’s prayer. He knows what God’s people are capable of doing when they are unified and fully equipped with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which is why he tries so hard to disunify us and to get us to quench the Spirit. He knows that God’s Stars aligned and shining is another line that leads to Jesus Christ, to the One who still longs to seeks and save the lost.


Satan has many tactics to accomplish this, but right now, oh how he is using fear. My Pastor shared a story about someone he once knew that was so afraid of what is happening in the world that they wanted to hide away in a bunker. He then asked us, “How are you going to fulfill the great commission in your bunker? This is your time, don’t waste it. We are counterculture. What did you expect the last days to look like?”


When he said “counterculture” what came strongly to my mind was “Go against the flow.” In a world headed back to Egypt, to slavery, go against the flow.” Satan wants us to go into that bunker. He wants to deceive us into thinking that it’s safe, but in fact, it is slavery. If you recall, many that wondered with Moses in the desert cried out to go back to Egypt. The same is and will happen today. But, let’s instead have an eternal perspective. Let us remember that fear is fantasy eating at reality. Let’s instead take that step of faith into the desert where God has promised that He will show up for us like He did for those in the Old Testament, even in ways unlike any that have ever been seen. Oh, what a day. Oh, what a day.


Like I said, this message was a hard one for me. It definitely makes me counterculture at the moment. It takes a lot of faith to put it out there but as I was looking up Isaiah 60, my eyes fell on Isaiah 58:1 which says, “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.” That stuck out to me because God has often said that same thing to me, to “cry out. Don’t hold back.” It brought this prophetess peace to know that I serve the same God as Isaiah, the God of yesterday, today, and forever. So, there you go. I didn’t hold back, although tempted too. However, as the Apostle Paul pointed out, true prophecy is meant to strengthen, encourage, and comfort, and I don’t know about you, but God’s words have definitely done that for me. I hope and pray that they have done that for you too. Let’s be counterculture, desert dwellers, together. Shine Bride of Christ, Shine!

When I was done writing this, I turned on the radio to hear a song called “Same God” by Elevation Worship. It fit perfectly with God’s message. I encourage you to listen to it. We serve the same God as those in the Old Testament and He promises to show up for us as He did for them. Praise the Lord!





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