As I began to focus on God's
directive to ask for the keys to the next two years, I immediately saw a bright
light on the horizon. Like many of the things God speaks, this has multiple
meanings. For me, it speaks of hope. However, as I have sought the Lord, I felt
that it also speaks of the window of time before us. He spoke to me concerning
the importance of using our time wisely in the next season.
I saw light on the shoulders of
the Body of Christ, which speaks of our responsibility; the burden we carry. I
specifically felt that light on our shoulders represents carrying the burden of
the Lord. Light on the horizon of the earth is the hope that God is setting
upon it -- hope for tomorrow. God is a God of hope!
Through many of these visions,
I've noticed that yellow has been the primary color. So much so that I am now
associating it with the year 2013 in my own mind. Historically for me, yellow
has always related to hope and the gifts of God on our lives. It is symbolic of
the light of the Lord flowing out of us to give hope to the world around us.
God has given us a responsibility to carry the hope of the good news to the
world around us.
I then saw the Church as a white
lampstand being set up in a dark place, and I immediately felt like something
good was about to happen. The Hebrew word menorah is translated lampstand, and
means "light bearer." God is not only setting the Church up for
favor, but He is reminding us that He called us to be His light bearer in every
place of darkness. He is setting up the lampstand, pouring out the oil, and
lighting the flame. He is intent on making the Church a pure and burning light
in the world.
2013 is a time to focus fully on
the hope we carry and on the hope to come. It's time to burn for God; to become
fascinated with Him and passionate for His desires. It's time to shine!
2014 will be a year when God is
shifting our hope into the substance of faith, which must climb back into a
prominent focus in the Church.
The Macedonian Call
I saw an image of the apostle
Paul having the vision known as the Macedonian call (Acts 16:1-11), and I heard
the phrase, "Time's a-wasting." I don't talk like that, but that's
exactly what I heard. It reminded me of those who live a slower pace of life
with no sense of urgency or purpose. There are good aspects to a slower pace of
life. However, in this case it speaks to me of the mentality that avoids our
responsibility to carry out the great commission (Mat. 28:18-20). The great commission
was a command directly from Jesus, not a great suggestion.
God called us for the purpose of
good works, His works; the same works that Jesus demonstrated. It's time to get
into motion. Specifically, to take good news wherever we are directed by God.
The Macedonian call also speaks specifically to taking the power of the Gospel
to those places where there are open doors and open hearts. It's time to focus
on putting Jesus Christ on display where the people are pleading for good news.
It's time to give people hope.
2013 is a time to pursue people
who need hope, realizing you are sent to do the works of God. God will guide
those in motion.
2014 will be a time of great
harvest for those who will be positioned and working towards it.
He Waits for no Man
I felt strongly that it's not a
time to be self-focused, but to stress the Go of the Gospel. Those who are
called by God to be salt and light should not be isolating themselves. There is
a temptation today to increase in selfishness under the guise of being able to
help others in the future, but today is always the day for the action of the
Gospel.
The Church shouldn't be
dramatically affected by the turning tides of circumstances. When I heard the
phrase, "He waits for no man," I also saw Jesus walking on the water
as He did in Mark 6:45-52. He walked directly toward the storm, and intended to
walk right through it. He had every intention of walking through it because He
was wanting His disciples to follow Him in faith with no fear of circumstances.
He wanted them to realize that they could do what He did if they would only
believe that they could (Mark 6:52; John 6:28-29).
Jesus is unstoppable. He is
fearless. He started a Church whose purpose cannot be thwarted by storms,
winds, and waves. He birthed a Church that knows that it can accomplish what He
intends regardless of any conditions in the world around us. It's simply not
Christ-like to allow a storm to intimidate us and stop us. Every storm holds
opportunity to see the miracle-working power of God, which works for them that
believe.
2013 is a time to face storms
with the intention of walking through them instead of trying to avoid them or
just protect yourself from them. No storm can stop you unless you allow it.
2014 will be a time to continue
to accelerate forward, locked in on doing the works of God. We must excel in
the confidence that if Jesus is unstoppable, the Church is too.
Tradition Re-evaluated
I saw people in a very
traditional church holding their child, grieving over its weak and feeble life.
At the same time, God has been saying that there will be a renewal of tradition
in the Church, and He is behind it. It's time for tradition to take its proper
place -- not first place or no place, but its proper place. Many churches have
gone to one extreme or the other: either becoming full of powerless tradition
or trying to eliminate tradition altogether. Eliminating tradition inevitably
equates to simply replacing it with new ones.
It's okay to grieve over our own
weak and feeble efforts to produce something worthwhile, but we must shift into
a new season of the raw power of the Gospel. Signs will follow the preaching of
the Word (Mark 16:20), so it's time to re-evaluate what we are doing and
saying, and to be honest about what it has produced.
I kept hearing, "something
old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." Every time I
heard it, I dismissed it until one evening my oldest son unexpectedly said,
"it's like God is doing something old and something new." God has
often used my boys at key times to confirm what He was saying to me as His son.
2013 is a time to allow God to
bring something old and something new together; to merge something of tradition
with something fresh and God-breathed. It's a time to find a fresh revelation
from God in things that originated with God and the Church but were
"borrowed" by the world or tainted through a lack of Christ-likeness.
It's time to re-align our word to the Word of God.
2014 will be a year for
revelatory teaching to begin taking a prominent role throughout the Church,
which will allow many to be captivated with the God of yesterday, today, and
tomorrow. They will be like the "... scribe who
has been trained for the kingdom of heaven ... like a master of a house, who
brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." (Matthew
13:52)
Jeremy Caris
Share this article:
Price: $14.99
Sale! $11.99 (20% Off!)
