Numbers 23:24
Today, I would like to promote a book by one of my favourite authors and inspirational speakers, Lisa Bevere. Lioness Arising is a timely book on the power and authority of women in the church today. Their influence has historically been ignored and abused – but I believe the time has come when their voices will be heard and lives will be changed.
The lioness rises from her slumber, a magnificent image of strength, passion, and beauty. Her mere presence commands the landscape, protects her young, and empowers the lion. In groups, lionesses become a creative and strategic force to be reckoned with, acting as one to change the world around them.
In Lioness Arising, Lisa Bevere offers the life and image of the lioness as a fierce and tender model for women. Revealing the surprising characteristics of this amazing creature, Lisa challenges women to discover fresh passion, prowess, and purpose. Below is an excerpt from her book:
The year was 1994, and it was a night like any other in that season of my life. I had tumbled into bed later than I should have after a desperate attempt at putting my house in order. As a pregnant mother of three sons, I slept deeply in those days. I would shut my eyes and fall right to sleep, only to be roused by the sound of an alarm, children, or late-morning sunlight streaming into my room.
But this night I fell asleep and woke at dawn, shaken to my core. In the predawn hours I’d experienced a vivid and unusual dream. Actually, to call it a dream makes it sound as though it came to me in the form of sleep or shadow; this imagery did not. I dream regularly, but not at this level of intensity. In my world of sleep, I found myself vibrantly awake.
Before me was a scene set in another place and time. I sensed I no longer walked the pathways of earth. I stood in some heavenly realm, a place of illumination, without glare. Radiant light was everywhere and appeared to come from everything. There was no mist or shadow, only glorious color. These saturated hues of living color were comprised of shades so concentrated that I am without earthly reference to name them.
The pigments were layered and multidimensional. For some reason I best remember the tones of purple (but not quite our purple) and blue (yet unlike ours). There were no edges, sides, or upper border, yet the backdrop of color enwrapped what it showcased - an elevated platform of flawless, cream-colored stone, and on this platform reclined a golden lioness.
She was feline perfection - majestic, powerful, and richly textured. She didn’t move, but there was no doubt in my mind that she was alive - far more alive than any earthbound animal I’d seen in motion. Her head was erect but not tense, and her forelegs stretched out in front of her. Her fur and eyes gleamed golden. Beneath her flawless, tawny coat, I could see every curve of her perfectly formed muscles. This stunning, still lioness was far more substantial, vivid, and vibrant than any of the lionesses that now walk our earth.
This book is packed with remarkable insights from nature and a rich depth of biblical references to lionesses. I believe Lioness Arising is a call for women to rise up in strength and numbers to change their world. Learn what it means to:
• be a stunning representation of strength
• fiercely protect the young
• lend your voice to the silenced
• live in the light and hunt in the dark
• raise a collective roar that changes everything
To be released 21st September, 2010
www.messengerinternational.org
