Let’s keep this conversation going because I really believe it is our job to rally around those that have the fire and run interference for them. This means they will do the stuff, we will train them and we will protect the movement around them.
Every one of us who have seen GOD in visitation before are responsible NOT to attempt to direct, but protect the integrity of the movement and those who are involved. In other words, let’s keep going in to the Holy of Holies, and let’s make sure we continue to stay in a spirit of that ceremonial wash up BEFORE we do.
I like the conversation about “Letting GOD appear.” I really think that at this stage of this movement we all need to rest in the knowledge that GOD IS SEEKING US! He is the GOD who seeks men! (John 4). In our effort to reach and draw the MEN WHO SEEK GOD, we have forgotten THE GOD WHO SEEKS MEN!!!! HE is seeking us. All of us! This is exciting to my spirit!
There is a real need for us to be open, and soak at this point. This part of this visit is still on the hill side, we have not plateau-ed. May we never plateau! After the plateau comes the other side of the hill and the valley after. We need to realize that we are still running a marathon, not a sprint. The temptation is to start sprinting too early. I have run long races and I know that we need to do a few things to keep us from starting the sprint before the end of the race.
1. SOAK & REST! We still have so much GOD wants to moisten in our hearts. I think of Bread Pudding, Rum Cake or the way Lori does Pineapple Upside Down Cake. (Alright, that might just be the fast talking… HAHAHA). [“Yolk is easy, burden is light…” Sound familiar?]
2. Embrace our CALLINGS, NOT OUR POSITIONS! We must be very settled in our identities and callings in Jesus, so that we can allow openness for the transient leaders that GOD will bring our way to flow in and out of these outpouring works. This is the only way to SUSTAIN a visitation. The revivals and outpourings I have seen and been a part of generally have a life-span of about 5 years or less. And it seems that’s because people get BURNED out! The bickerings and such that happen are just outflows of disconnection stemming from being tired. (Think about this way. I am a pastor who hardly ever PREACHES at church! I pastor. I hardly ever preach. I KNOW MY ROLL! My roll is to pastor. And I do my roll by encouraging those around me to be who they are called to be, which many are called to teach, preach and prophecy. This in turn raises my roll and makes me more valuable to the Kingdom). So, embrace your GOD-given part and release others to surpass you. This does not lower who you are, it actually RAISES your place in the KINGDOM! How ‘bout them apples! [We need more Elijah’s. Remember, Elijah passed a double portion to Elisha, his servant. What did Elisha pass to his servant? We need to pass on a double portion on purpose, being those “Father, Father” types like Elijah. And we must teach the Elisha’s behind us why we are doing this and how they are to do it as well, so they don’t leave behind a bunch of Gehazzi’s. WE MUST PURPOSEFULLY DO THIS AND TEACH THE NEXT GENERATION both why we do this and HOW to do it. However, first, we must be OK with our identity in Jesus and calling in GOD.
3. The young have the fire again. It seems in every movement they get it first. (It was a 19 year-old girl that led the prayer group that prayed Charles Finney to faith, it was the young that both led, preached and sang during the Welsh Revival, it was a 19 year old shoe salesman that stirred a movement that has given us modern day Sunday School and led the world to faith, it was a group of 7 young men then over 25 that became the foundation of the Great Awakening in Britain, and I will never forget hanging out with the youth from Brownsville that were the true undercurrent of the revival, both praying it in and literally driving it to the streets every night! And again, we see the young being engulfed by FIRE! Look at Lakeland, look at Charlotte, look RIGHT HERE!!!!! So, TELL THEM THEY DO HAVE THE FIRE! CONFRIM WHAT THEY LONG FOR! PROPHECY WHAT GOD WANTS THEM TO HAVE! BLESS THEM TO GO! SHOW THEM HOW TO SPREAD IT! DO NOT TRY TO DO IT FOR THEM!!!!!!! Be Father’s and Mother’s. Don’t BE THEIR MOMMY’S!!!!! Let them mature. There is something about the generation that has gone on before embracing the younger generation and honoring what GOD is doing in them that is SO VERY POWERFUL! It releases both the younger to run the race and the older to be the spiritual Father’s they are called to be. This is crucial to any visitation of GOD. (See Malachi 4) [Solomon Stoddard was Johnathan Edwards’ grand-dad and he in turn was Timothy Dwight’s of I am not mistaken]! They spanned three movements of GOD!!!!!
4. The fun is in the chase. First, it is in GOD’s nature to go out and retrieve the flock. We are in a season of retrieval as the church in the United States. We need to allow HIM to retrieve us and embrace the chastenings to our heart. This in our hearts screams to us that we ARE sons and daughters. Second, GOD is the FATHER and just like I love to chase little one year old Anna around, HE loves to chase YOU! He can GET YOU at any time HE wishes. HE LOVESS THE CHASE! Giggle, run, look back, enjoy the chase!
Guys, what I am getting at is this. Embrace the right now. This is the best part. Whether there are ebbs and flows in this season, means very little to me. Whether people are excited and then exhausted around me means very little. As David prophetically said to me on Sunday: “Revival is always within three feet of me…”
Thanks,
d