Out of Storage

One morning last week, I was on my way to work when I saw something that momentarily startled me. I saw a company truck for a communications company that I thought was a thing of the past. The logo on the vehicle appeared to be faded. When things are “highlighted”, it is one of the ways that God speaks. This is what I believe he was saying.

In the move of God that is soon coming to our nation and presumably to the whole world, we are going to see some older faces. They are those who were part of previous moves of God. Those revivals were amazing, but they are history from our current perspective. Many faithful believers that were part of those heavenly encounters faded from the scene as life went on. They have been in storage, seemly having been put on a shelf. God will going to bring back at least some of those folks for an “all hands on deck” event.

Time for an Upgrade and for Bigger Dreams

Last night, I dreamed that I was at work. Apparently, there had been plans to do an upgrade or else to do major maintenance work on the computer servers. It would require significant downtime, and so the work had been pushed out another weekend. Specialized people with the necessary technical knowledge would be coming onsite to help do the work. While I was aware of this situation, my boss gave me a creative writing assignment. She prefaced it by saying, “Before California officially made abortion illegal, the people of California first passed a proposition to make it illegal”.

Many of us in the Body of Christ have been aware of the need for a Church-wide “system maintenance” and an upgrade of our relationship with the Lord. Seemingly, it has been deferred, but it will yet happen. God will supply the specialized people needed to assist and to guide this work as well. We have been ready to move forward in our human labors, but God requires that we enter a time of rest so that His work can be done in us. Be ready to move forward into Heaven's rest.

God is about to bring about changes in our country that are beyond what we had imagined possible. When you begin to hear the news of what God is doing in other parts of the country and of the Body, it is an invitation to start dreaming bigger. What God desires to do in your locale will flow from a place of creative dreams in your own heart. It is not automatic. It requires an effort to step into the creative flow, but God will meet you there in that place.

Ownership of the Harvest

Last night, I dreamed of a coming harvest, an in-gathering, a revival of the peoples. It occurred in the workplace. I saw rapid growth of what had been planted and which had germinated. Jesus said to me, “This is MY flock; I will gather it. This is My harvest; I will grow it”. There is a coming revival that will be different than what we have seen before. Jesus is taking personal ownership of these ones coming into the sheep fold. Notice that he did not tell me that it would be his flock and his harvest, as in a future tense. Even though the flock is yet to be gathered and the harvest grown, Jesus sees them as already existing and as belonging to himself. He has envisioned it, and he will bring it to past.

A Different Sort of Stamina

I have had various dreams and prophetic experiences in which I saw hard times ahead. I have shared with others that God is creating within us endurance for what is on the horizon. Others have seen and predicted economic collapse and civil unrest. Accordingly, I usually think about stamina in the content of standing strong in the midst of overwhelming pressure and sadness. Today though, I had a thought come to mind as I was walking around my workplace, “What if God is developing in us a stamina for joy?”

In March of 2010, I had an amazing dream about a coming revival. In the dream, I was with a group of believers. One of them made a rough calculation of how many people had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior in the last 2,000 years. To give us a visual representation, they filled a glass jar halfway to the top with water. As we observed, the water in the jar continued to increase as more people in our day came to a personal trust in Jesus. In an approximately 2 year period, the water filled the jar to the very top. We were experiencing true revival. People were not debating the gospel with believers: They knew the basic facts, and they had a personal conviction that they needed to get right with Jesus. The most exciting part of the dream was I knew that we would empty the jar to allow for more water to fill it. When we did, I knew that the greatest increase was yet to come!

In Luke 15:10, Jesus told us, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” If one person coming to trust in Jesus causes joy in Heaven, what would it be like if millions of people came to trust in Jesus? It would be wave after wave after wave of joy. Can we handle that much heavenly joy?

It is my belief that our lives will intersect and interact with Heaven’s realities in a greater way in the coming years. Many of our ideas about God comes from our earthly experiences rather than heavenly experiences. The darkness of this world has given a certain religious glimmer to soberness and sadness. What if we are destined to experience a greater level of heavenly joy than we have ever known? If that is the case, it is time for God to give us greater stamina for joy.

A New Track Ahead and Samson’s Fall

Recently, I heard the Lord speaking to my heart about a couple of shifts that are about to occur. We have a strong work ethic in the US Church. We believe that we are successful in Heaven’s eyes if we perform impressive acts here on Earth. We count hands, offerings, and big smiles. Signs and wonders are sought after because they feel like results achieved. We have a performance problem: We are trying too hard to do things for God. He has let us do this for a season. He has given us limited power and manifestation even when our motivations were questionable. It has been grace that carried us. It has been the goodness of God that is intended to lead us to repentance.

Things are now going to change, a little at first but then more. God is coming in a move that will be like a freight train. He owns the power, and He owes the track ahead. This time, the track has a third rail. The drive will not come from our strategies and tireless efforts. Heaven is going to power our forward motion. We have a learning curve ahead of us. Rest and obedience are the new burdens to be carried. Keeping step with Jesus as we walk yoked with him is the new focus.

Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” – John 21:18-19

When the glory of God is manifested, there is awe, relief from heavy burdens…and usually judgment resulting from a casualness about God. God brings his entire nature when his Presence comes into our presence. Those who would attempt to take hold of the third rail of God’s glory in this coming move will suffer serious consequences. The track ahead is not all together comfortable. Jesus, our King, is determining the track ahead. Our commission for the days ahead will sound like, “Take up your cross and reproduce the death of Christ on a daily basis”. It will be a full disclosure of the suffering that we are destined for and then a call to, “Follow Me”.

The track ahead is shifting. Many who started out well in their ministry will be derailed because they chose to set the pace and the direction of their ministry. The Conductor is about to fill his rightful seat. He will drive this move, direct the pace of this move, and take us into a place of personal suffering and submission.

Results in ministry has been the certificate of authenticity until recently. Like Samson, there are ministers who have lived in sin. It was a struggle at first, then a compromise in which they allowed the enemy to keep captured ground, and finally they accepted the enemy as a friendly neighbor. The people kept coming to the services, the programs produced smiles and nods, and the money was enough to fuel the vision that came from the heart of the leader. 

Lead and gold cannot remain bonded together. A fire must come to separate the two. Samson’s anointing is lifting. We will begin to see a new wave of leaders exposed, and we will watch them fall from their places of ministry authority. God is removing the idols from the high places. These ones lifted the heavy burdens, and they won the praise of men, but God had intended for them to be righteous and merciful judges who would deliver his people. The wave will start small and then will crest. It is the mercy of God that a few will fall at first in the hope that greater judgment might be averted through repentance.