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Entering into 2014

Entering into 2014
At the end of last year I sat some time aside time to pray and listen for prophetic direction for the coming year.  The Word of God teaches that we should seek after and value prophetic direction.  In Jeremiah 33:3 the Scriptures declare, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” 

This same verse in the Amplified Bible reads, “Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).

As we pray and wait in the presence of the Lord He gives revelation about things we are experiencing and about the future.  The Prophet Amos penned these words in Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

We must remember that prophetic ministry is for our comfort, exhortation, and encouragement.  1 Corinthians 14:3 – “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” In 1 Corinthians 13:9 the Apostle Paul teaches that prophetic ministry never reveals the whole picture, but only a part.  The Scripture reads, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.”

God uses prophetic ministry to give us a glimpse into the future.  It is incomplete by itself.  John, the beloved disciple, and the longest living Apostle instructed us in his first epistle to the New Testament Church that we must test the spirits.  1 John 4:1 teaches, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

          The Apostle Paul wrote to instruct the Thessalonians the following instructions concerning prophetic ministry:  1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 reads, “Do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.” (NASB)

            The Pauline letters give many instructions concerning prophetic ministry so that we can be accountable for what we speak:
·      We are to value prophecy,
·      We are to judge and test the words,
·      We are to try the spirits and motivation behind the words that are spoken. 

In 1 Timothy 1:18 Paul gives these instructions to a young pastor, “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.” What do we do with the prophetic promises that God gives to us?  According to the Apostle Paul we are to pray them back to the Father and use them to engage in warfare with the enemy.

Prophecy is for our encouragement and I believe it is permission for us to pursue God in prayer. Over the last couple of weeks the Lord has spoken the following seven things concerning this coming year: I submit them to you for prayer.  Please examine these things and join with me in praying for greater insight.

1.    A Year of Revival – We are at the door of an outpouring of God’s Spirit.  There is going to be a revival.  This revival will be a last day outpouring.  Acts 2:17 – “‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams”.

God is going to visit cities and regions in our nation.  The length and intensity of this move of God’s Spirit will depend on how the church responds and embraces this move of God.  It will require unity and submission.

We must be in the right position.  Many churches will not allow the Holy Spirit to interrupt their plans and change their church culture. A religious spirit will work to prevent God’s people from embracing this move of God’s Spirit.

This visitation if embraced will bring change to our nation.  If we reject what God does it will be devastating. (Matthew 23:36-38)

2.    A Year of Refreshing - A release of joy. This will be a season characterized by joy. (Isaiah 61:3, Acts 3:19). Times of refreshing are a result of an outpouring of Gods Spirit. Nehemiah 8:10 teaches,  “The joy of The Lord is or strength.” This joy will come in the midst of chaos and darkness in our nation. It will release a new strength that will empower Gods people in this season. This joy will be joy unspeakable and full of glory.

3.    A Year of Revelation - hearing Gods voice and awaiting His instruction will be key in this season. No more business as usual. Methods and strategies will have to change. God will reveal how to bring forth the new wineskin in this season. We have to spend time in prayer and fasting to receive direction. We will only move forward at His instruction. John 5:19-20, 30. 

4.    A Year of Repositioning  - Revival always produces change.  There will be a repositioning in this coming season.  Assignments are going to change.  A key term for this coming season is flexibility. 

Some will be repositioned in the market place and some will be redeployed to a new geographical location.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to position us for breakthrough.

This will be the year  of the new wineskin. We must allow the Lord to bring forth the new wineskin.  He will not pour new wine into an old wineskin.  Mark 2:22 – “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

5.    A Year of Re-Opening Doors that have been closed. We must move through the open door this year.  Doors that have previously been closed, because the timing wasn’t right will be opened in this season.  Things that you have been promised, but were delayed will be delayed no longer.  (Revelation 2:8, Revelation 4:1).

6.    A Year of Renewing Relationships – There will be shift that takes place in our relationships.  Some will be renewed that have been lost or laid dormant.  Watch God reconnect you to relationships from your past.  Elements of your past will meet your future. There will also be new key relationships that God will use to open doors to your destiny.  (Proverbs 18:24, 2 Corinthians 6:14.)


7.    A Year of Restoration – Things that have been lost in battle or stolen by the enemy in the past season will be returned and restored in the coming season.  Resources, finances, and relationships that have been lost will begin to be restored in this season. Proverbs 6:31 reads, “reads, “Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.”

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