"Prophetic promises have been released for hundreds of years about a generation of overcomers...who would stand up as spiritual warriors to advance the Kingdom of God around the world, and reap a mass end-time harvest of souls."
I am writing to you to share what I believe is a "NOW" word for every believer individually, but also the Church worldwide. I believe we stand right now on the brink of the greatest Kingdom Era that the Church has ever seen. I do not believe that we are heading into another movement or revival. To be quite honest, I am not interested in Revival at all. Revivals are great, but they come and go. We can look back at history and see how God sovereignly visited areas of the world, and great, awesome things took place. However, today, most of those hotspots of revival are more dead than they were before revival came. I'm not interested in a "seasonal" revival, but rather, I'm interested in a sustained habitation of the Glory of God on the earth and it's called, "The Kingdom!"WE ARE NOT HEADING INTO ANOTHER MOVEMENT
Let me explain. Jesus never came to establish another world religion or start a movement that would sweep the earth. Jesus came to the earth to re-establish the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. Jesus came to re-connect earth with Heaven and establish a sustained presence and atmosphere of the government of Heaven on the earth.
The sad thing is that not too long after Jesus arose from the dead, man took the things of Heaven and locked them up in a box only to release the things that fit their man-made religion of Christianity. Jesus came to give us Heaven on earth and man turned around and boxed it all up into a nice, tidy religion that lacks the power of Heaven to truly transform our world. Ever since the dark ages, God has been restoring Truth to the Church in order to get us back to the place of fullness where we can actually rule and reign in the world rather than be dominated by the very things we are to have victory over.
We have had whole decades in the 1900's that were devoted to the restoration of the Ephesians 4:11, five-fold ministry gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. All of this has been so that the saints can be equipped and reconnected with the Head in Heaven. When the Church reconnects with the Head in Heaven (Jesus Christ), then there will be an unhindered release of Heaven on earth. I believe we are entering into the time where we won't just see Heaven touch earth in seasonal revivals that come and go, but rather a time where the saints of God manifest a continuous expression of Kingdom Glory and Power. The continuous, sustained expression of the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth is the only thing that will truly establish and advance the government of God in our lives and regions.
What I'm speaking about is going from wilderness wanderings where the Israelites were sustained by visitations of the Glory, to actually stepping into the promise land and "establishing" the Glory on the earth where it will abide and advance the Kingdom of Heaven.
THE FULLNESS OF TIME AND A PROPHETIC SIGN
I believe we are at a fullness of time juncture. Since Jesus walked the earth, God has been restoring Truth to the Body of Christ, and prophetic promises have been released for hundreds of years about a generation of overcomers like Joshua, who would stand up as spiritual warriors to advance the Kingdom of God around the world, and reap a mass end-time harvest of souls. Now is the time for these prophetic promises to be "earthed" and established.
Modern day Jerusalem is a prophetic sign for us. This coming June will mark the 40-year anniversary of Jerusalem's independence and return to the Jews. Bob Jones has told me many times that "Israel" is not God's time clock, but rather--it's Jerusalem. The 40-year mark is very significant in Biblical terms. For 40 years, the Israelites wandered the wilderness. In those 40 years, they were repeatedly told and reminded of the prophecies and promises of God about entering into a land of their own where they could settle down and be established. They were told that this promise land was a land of milk and honey and abundant fruitfulness. They were told that this land was full of enemies, but if they would stay humble and submitted to God, He would go before them as their King and destroy every enemy that reared its head. The promise land was where Israel was destined to rule and reign and establish themselves as God's nation. They were to become a hub of God's Glory for all the nations to see. At the 40-year mark, they were to enter in and "possess" the land.
TIME FOR THE PROPHETIC TO BE "EARTHED" AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD ESTABLISHED
Prophetically speaking for us, the promise land represents stepping across the threshold of "hearing" prophetic words, and then promises put into a place and time where they are actually fulfilled and lived out, or "earthed" as I like to say. Stepping into the promise land represents going from occasional manifestations of Glory, to actually establishing Strongholds of God where His Glory can abide in a place of habitation. Stepping into the promise land represents not just fighting little skirmishes just to stay alive, but actually ruling and reigning in a constant battle to not just win the battle, but to actually take ground from the enemy, maintain the victory, and establish a stronghold of the Kingdom of Heaven in that place.
I believe that this prophetic season of Jerusalem's 40-year Independence Anniversary is not only a sign to the Church, but is a threshold that we are crossing that will literally change the face of the Church forever.
CROSSING THE SPIRIT RIVER INTO A NEW PARADIGM
"The spirit of the warrior is coming...we are the generation that will become bold as lions and take this world for God!"
In the wilderness, Israel lived and operated in a certain way. It was a wandering lifestyle that God had put them into "for a season of time" and they had grown accustomed to that way of living. Israel was in a time where they were on their way to being restored and established, but not quite there yet. Israel responded in a very negative way. They developed a "victim mentality" and constantly grumbled about their state of being. They had sunk into just a maintenance mentality, trying to stay alive, rather than a "victory mentality" of ruling and reigning.
They seemed to believe that when they entered their promised land, all the fighting would cease and all their worries would disappear. The problem is that Israel had no idea who they were. They had no idea that they were the weapon in God's Hands that would establish the Rule of God in the earth. I believe the modern day Church is in much of this same place. Many believers today live with a victim and maintenance mentality. They get born again and live the rest of their life just trying to be good and do good, and they look forward to the day when they cross that spirit river called Jordan and live happily ever after in Heaven.
The whole mentality of the Church is about to drastically change. As we cross this threshold in God's time clock, the Church is going to realize that we have not just been put on this earth to be saved then sit around just trying to stay alive, and then one day die and pass over into Glory. The Spirit and Anointing of THE OVERCOMER, Jesus Christ, is coming into the Body of Christ and the Church is going to realize that Heaven is not for when we die, but it's for this life, right now, on this earth. And not only will we realize this, but also that it's the responsibility of the Church to be the gateway where Heaven touches earth. We are to be the instruments that not only bring Heaven to earth but also establish and advance the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth.
The spirit of the warrior is coming upon the Church. Many believe that when you press into your promise land that all the warfare will cease. This is not true! It's when we press into the promise land of God's Glory that the warfare goes to a whole new level. The warfare in the promise land is CONSTANT. And we are the generation that can handle it! We are the generation that will become bold as lions and take this world for God! However, it will require a dramatic shift in our wineskin of life and ministry.
THE CLASH OF WINESKINS
I believe that the numerous wineskins of ministry models and structures are already starting to clash like never before. The truth is that if the Church continues on the way it has, then the Church will "never" fulfill her destiny in God. I love pastors and I respect them in their gift, but they cannot be expected to wear the hat of the entire five-fold ministry. I'm going to make a very bold statement, but I think many of you will agree: "Churches run by pastors will never fulfill the high and lofty mandate of the Church."
You see, the five-fold ministry are gifts given directly from Jesus Christ to the Church. When Jesus walked the earth, He was all of them in one. He was the Apostle, the Prophet, the Evangelist, the Pastor, and Teacher. After raising from the dead, Jesus basically took the mantle upon His life and divided it in five pieces and gave it to certain people within the Body of Christ. No one person can fulfill all of these ministry gifts. The five-fold ministry, according to Ephesians 4:11, are called to equip the saints for the work of ministry. The five-fold ministry is called to under-gird, raise up, and release the saints to do the work of establishing and expanding the Kingdom of God on this earth as the Body of Jesus.
One ministry gift can never be expected to do all of this. The Church has become accustomed to churches run by pastors, and the clash of the wineskins comes when God releases all of the five-fold to function as a team in raising up an army of warriors to advance the Kingdom. Expect this truth and transition to cause much chaos and division in the Church, but remember that God always establishes His government in order to bring order in the midst of chaos.
REGIONAL HABITATIONS BEING ESTABLISHED
"God is raising up bases to steward a sustained atmosphere of the Glory of God."
I believe that one of the major focuses and strategies of God in this season is to establish strong apostolic regional bases in every region of the world. In fact, I believe that the only way we are going to establish and advance the Kingdom of God is by seeing the prophetic "earthed" out in regional bases where the saints are not just "trained" to do the stuff, but are actually "doing" the stuff.
When I say apostolic regional bases, I am not talking about conference centers. I have news for you, conferences alone will "never" build the Kingdom of God. Conferences are good tools to gather a region, but they will never go deep enough to raise up and train an army.
I believe that God is blurring the lines between para-church and local church. The Greek word for Church simply means the "called-out ones." I love the "local church" and believe that the Church is God's Body on this earth and God's agent to expand the Kingdom of God. However, I believe that the local church needs to recover the Ephesians 4:11 mandate to equip the saints for the work of ministry. In functionality, these bases will serve as a home church for many, but they will be built on the foundation of being an Ephesians 4:11 equipping base.
God is raising up these bases to steward a sustained atmosphere of the Glory of God. These bases will serve as a place where the prophetic can be "earthed." In John 1:14, the "Word," or the prophetic, became flesh, or became earthed, and dwelt among us and we beheld His Glory. Jesus was a living, breathing, habitation of God. Everywhere He went, the Kingdom of Heaven came with Him. These bases will serve as "little Romes" or little "Garden of Edens" where the prophetic is earthed and digested by the saints of God and then manifested through their everyday lives with grace and power!
It is truly time for the saints of God to rise up, grow into maturity, and take whole regions for the Glory of God!
Ryan Wyatt
Abiding Glory Ministries
http://www.abidingglory.com
Email: info@abidingglory.com
Ryan Wyatt's Itinerary:
March 8-11, 2007
The Glory Explosion
Phoenix, AZ
Contact: 866-765-5188 or click here
March 17-19, 2007
Calvary Christian Center
118 Richardson St; Hammond, LA
Contact: 985-345-0366 or visit http://www.calvaryofhammond.com/
March 25, 2007
Houston Revival Center
Houston, TX
Contact: http://www.houstonrevivalcenter.org/