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nateandchristy2018

5782 - FROM THE TOMB, THE GIANT KILLERS ARE EMERGING

nateandchristy2018

5782 - FROM THE TOMB, THE GIANT KILLERS ARE EMERGING

5782 - FROM THE TOMB, THE GIANT KILLERS ARE EMERGING

I’ve been stuck on the theme of giant-killers for most of this year and unable to move from it, as if there was something God was trying to speak to me about the church and where we’re heading. It’s no surprise though, look around you right now and you’ll see that there are indeed giants before us. Whether you choose to see them as your problem to defeat or not, they are there and in this next year God is doing a massive work to engage the church more than ever before to contest the assignments of these giants and serve them an eviction notice going forward.

A VALLEY OF DECISION MOMENT - THE WRESTLE AT ELAH

I felt the thread of this word begin to come when one morning in June this year I had a vision of 1 Samuel 17:40 which says:

“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine”

In the vision I saw myself (representative of the church) picking up the stones and could feel the flurry of emotions as David even semi-wrestled this moment between righteous fiery passion and raw, risky faith. I knew then that God wanted to have a longer conversation with me about the moment we are in and how we are right now, as a church, at the place of decision. Will we stand idly by to the shouts of the giants in the land, or will we go and collect our stones?

The fact is, we, the church, like the Israelites of that day are at a crossroad. Our promise is straight ahead, and we are surrounded by obstacles and seemingly menacing giants in our path. But the decision we need to make is “Will we cave in defeat, or will we take our inheritance?” Just like the place where Goliath stood to defy God’s people - the valley of Elah - we too are in what looks like a low place, a narrow passage, but a place where we must pass through to further establish the kingdom of God and advance.

DREAM OF THE RESET CHURCH

As I constantly faced daily news headlines like the taunts of Goliath, I kept asking the Lord the question, “Where are we and where are we going?” but I didn’t expect Him to show me what He did. 7 weeks ago, I had a dream where the Lord showed me three scenes and walked me through each of them like a tour-guide.  I have personally wrestled how to share this, but for the sake of revealing where God wants us to go, I need to share this dream very candidly.

In the first part of the dream, I was in a busy marketplace or shopping mall and the Lord was with me. At first, we just simply stood and watched people coming and going in and out of different stores and vendors. Who were these people? I thought, and knowing what I was asking He replied, “This is the church.”

I noticed them going into nail salons and other beautification services, hairdressers, and fashion stores and while none of those things were bad, I felt the grief on the Lords heart that something was amiss. I tried to figure out what I was sensing it was, and the word came to me “Comfort”.  This was the comfortable church, who had created a lifestyle out of comfortability over the cause of Christ. This was the church who couldn’t hear the cries of the lost, or the broken, because they were distracted.

Then what happened next took me by surprise. Suddenly one by one each store shut their doors and asked their patrons to leave. These comfortable believers were instantly cutoff from their comforts and unable to access them.

This part of the dream was sobering but it spoke so loudly of these things God is doing:

  • The church is heading into a greater shaking and separation from our dependence on earthly things.
  • We are going to see doors shut to areas that make us numb to what is taking place around us.
  • God is going to highlight our dependence on Him more than the systems of man, more than ever before.
  • It spoke to me about a coming RESET to the church that resulted in the RISING of THE CHURCH.
  • The reset is the shutting of doors of commonality with the world, contractual fear, and comforts that keep us in apathy and inaction when the world is needing the children of God to arise and shine. (Romans 8:19, Isaiah 60:1).
  • The doors shutting was like the grace period for towing the line between loving both God and the world being over. The pews will no longer be a hiding place, a feeding place, or a fattening place but a place of travail and prayer, equipping the saints, and encounter.
  • This reset is a “eyes wide open” moment.

THE EMPTYING, THE TRAVAIL, & THE RESURRECTION

In the next scene of the dream, I just hear the Lord audibly ask me “Does my church have to be empty before they will rise? Is it only in crisis and when all is removed that they step up to the frontlines?”

Then I saw a scene flash before me of bloodshed, cries and screams in the street, murder, abortion, injustice... I was grieved and I wanted to wake up but couldn’t. I looked for the church to go and help but they ignored the cries. “Go and help the babies in the street!” I yelled. Then I realized I was doing nothing either. I fell to my knees and cried until it felt like I couldn’t cry anymore. When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by the church who were on their faces too, in travail. “Heal us and heal our land!!” they cried out.

Then I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to shake like the very earth was speaking...  It reminded me of Romans 8:22:

“To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth”

A mass move of repentance was taking place. People were taking their brands and idols and throwing them into a fire. They were taking their distractions and other loves and heaping them up onto the altar. A true reformation had taken place. Unity out of brokenness. Suddenly nothing to prove. Nothing to throw at one another. No more chips on shoulders. No more points of separation and demonic agendas to buy into. Veils had come off and eyes were opened. A true movement had begun...

A LAZARUS CHURCH IS IN REBIRTH!

This part of the dream was similar to a vision I had in the same week. The Lord showed me a vision as I was at church one Sunday morning. I couldn’t shake this intense grief and didn’t know why. Then the Lord spoke to me so clearly “Don’t be sad, this isn’t what you think it is - this is the new beginning!”

Then I went into a vision, and I saw people gathering around a tomb all mourning in sadness. Then I heard the words of Jesus from John 11:43 “Lazarus come forth!”

Then suddenly I saw a man come out and stand at opening of the tomb; and bandages were unravelling from him. As the bandages were coming off, I could see/discern that they were bandages from the world and demonic assignments that had sought to BURY the church and send it to an early grave. The bandages continued to unravel, and I began hearing words such as “defeat”, “powerlessness”, “unworthiness”, “dreams unfulfilled” and then even things like “Culture”, “progressive Christianity” and other evil blindfolds that the church has had wrapping around her, choking the life from her.

But as I witnessed this, I no longer felt sad but relieved. It looked like death, but it was actually brand-new life. It looked like death, but it was a deliverance…

I could see the church in all her beauty, she was radiant, glowing, and full of love for Jesus and nothing else. No other lovers. This was not just an awakening I had witnessed - this was a rebirth… a resurrection! Sometimes we have to go through seasons where it feels like death, the dark night of the soul, and the emptying to really be able to go where God is leading us. The pure bride is in process right now and her best days are ahead!

I THEN HEARD HIM SAY “GOLIATHS BROTHERS ARE GOING TO FALL!”

In the last scene of my dream, I felt the joy of the Lord all over me and around me. The Lord was still standing with me, and I could sense His excitement like this was the part of the book He was waiting for. He then looks at me and says very nonchalant “Goliaths brothers are going to fall!”

Now those last few moments before I came out of the dream were very significant to me, and I’m still unpacking them with the Lord because it was as if I was seeing David’s stones, all the way back then, as a prophesy of current day giants. What was the connection? I thought. Was it five nations that would rise up? Was it 5 leaders in the earth, that would be like the giants of old, that we would see fall? That is still unfolding because I believe there are many layers to this. But what I did feel strongly as I processed this statement, was that these giants were somehow linked or they were a prophetic snapshot of 5 demonic strongholds, or principalities in the earth.

LORDS OF THE PHILISTINES

Goliath’s brothers were called “The Lords of the Philistines” meaning they were the elite of their people. The word “Philistine” reveals the root nature of the enemy’s plan for these principalities to accomplish. It means:

  • Destroyers and grievers.
  • Burrowers and weakeners.
  • Dividers and splitters.
  • Multipliers.

These “Lords”- or principalities - have been tasked by the enemy to destroy and cause grief, burrow and hide themselves deep in cities and regions, weakening the church, causing mass division, and multiplying. Let’s look the individual giants too.

GIANT 1 - GOLIATH

Goliath means “Exposer, uncovered” Goliath as a modern principality would be likened to the assignment of the enemy to keep a victorious church in captivity and bondage. As an exposer, Goliath is an accuser of the brethren, and this causes much of the mockery of the church we see today; in the same way Goliath mocked the people of God back in David’s day. Goliath is also what keeps the church in fear and held back from pursuing the inheritance and territory God has given to them. On another note, the name Goliath represents both the uncovering of the mind and mental warfare, as well as insinuating minds being opened or exposed to sinful thoughts and beliefs. Goliath today has still been standing trying to obstruct the church and keep us bound, but God is raising up a remnant who will say like David “You are coming to fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming against you in the name of the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of the armies of Israel. He’s the One you have dared to fight against. This day the Lord will give me the victory over you. I’ll strike you down. I’ll cut your head off!” (1 Samuel 17:45-46)

I also believe it’s not a mistake who took down each of these giants. Just as these giants represent some of the current giants we face in the earth, so too, do the heroes who defeated them reveal a facet of the army that is rising up. Who defeated Goliath? Well, we know David did. His name has a contrasted meaning of both infirmity, sickness, and weakness, and beloved. It reminds me of the scripture in 2 Corinthians 12:10 that says, “when I am weak, then I am strong!”; which speaks of the church who feels week, sick, and disabled actually being the beloved and approved of God, to take down even the greatest and most menacing of enemies.

GIANT 2 - ISHBEBINOB

The name has a few parts to it, but the main conclusion of this name is that it means to: backslide, settle, retreat, detour from destiny, and be inactive. The second part of the name means to be from, or sits in a high place, called Nob. The city of Nob was not a Philistine city but a Benjamite city. So, this name could actually be seen as a mockery of God’s people and also a counterfeit to our inheritance and occupation of the high places (as we are the Benjamin generation called to be seated in Christ in heavenly places).

This principality today can be seen in a myriad of ways, but firstly it is the cultural pressure and influence on the church to settle, and retreat from the mission and calling to occupy until Jesus comes - which is a forward moving and militant stance. Secondly this principality is a counterfeit to the call of sons and daughters to occupy the high places of influence in the earth, and in our absence sadly it empowers the wrong thing to fill those seats. We can also see this principality in the elitist agenda of power and control who have occupied usurped authority and taken the steering wheel from the church.

Interestingly the hero who defeated this giant was Abishai whose name means “father of gifts” and we are in a time where the Father is empowering the church to rise up and take His kingdom back off the usurping principalities. We need to know we have authority and access to the “Kings Domain” - the Father’s house - and step into our roles again. The other significant thing to note is that this name means “many gifts” which speaks of the church God has handed out many gifts to, so they can occupy their unique roles in the many metros of influence in the earth. As we rise up and occupy these spaces again, we will see this elitist giant fall.

GIANT 3 - SAPH

Goliath’s brother Saph has a name of multiple layered meanings such as: territory border, a marked line or boundary, a threshold, a violent storm or tornado, defending a border, fence-keeper, outside of the borders, breaching the walls, to enter someone’s personal space, the bite of a snake, to attack then swiftly hiding.

To me, Saph, as a current demonic principality, would be the invasive demonic influence in nations and culture. It is violent, nasty, and bitter in nature, and it will cut anything down that opposes it. We see this right now in so many evil narratives and ideologies. We see this in the media and the censoring on platforms. It’s like a storm, or a tornado, and it will destroy and discredit anyone who stands in its path. It occupies a place it actually has no right to occupy, and it exerts its dominance and expects compliance. It’s the principality of “me”. My ways, my truth, my body, and my experience. It defends the borders of these lies ruthlessly and will attack swiftly, secretly, and stealthily, hiding in plain sight. It inflicts witchcraft wounds by employing the twisted tongues of those caught up in the game.

The mighty hero who defeated Saph was David’s warrior Sibbechai, whose name means simply, “weaver”; which to me is indicative of the counter response of the church to be IN the world but not of it. Meaning we are called to be interwoven into the fabric of society but not in a handshake with evil. It’s our role to be the yeast worked into the dough, and the church occupying all places of influence. Also, from a militant perspective, the word weaver speaks to me of the skill of battle and clever strategies to outwit and outsmart the enemy. There is a Godly wisdom we possess that carries the presence of heaven on it, that when it spoken to these ideologies and narratives, it begins to disarm and destroy the fabric of them. We are the giant killers who will pull the loose thread until it’s all unraveled in a heap.

GIANT 4 - LAHMI

The name Lahmi comes from the verb ( laham ), meaning both: to eat (bread) or to wage war. This giant, as a modern principality, is multi-purposed but with the same goal in mind - to rob the church. Bread is sustenance - it is supply - it’s your means to accomplish the call of God on your life. The enemy wants to eat your bread, drain your supply, and rob you of your inheritance. He wants to steal our seed, so we have no fruit to show for anything! This giant, as a modern-day principality, is at war with the effective and thriving church, and our produce. It wants barrenness. It wants stillborns. It’s after our babies in the womb, so that we are robbed of a generation to bring in the end time harvest. It’s after our finances and to own and manipulate the financial systems of the world. This giant’s name also mockingly means “bethlemite”; which is where Jesus was born. It wants to rob the earth of the knowledge of the very seed that would die and become the bread of life to the world!

The hero that defeated this giant was Elhanan whose name means: “God is gracious” and grace and favor. This name is the promise of Gods favor and supply system. It’s Gods provision and manifestation of promises that will confound the wise and all those who think we are under their system. This giant will fall in Jesus name!

GIANT 5 - THE ONE WITH 6 FINGERS & TOES

Now the last giant had a name, but it was not recorded. It simply said that:

“Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, killed him " (2 Samuel 21:20-21)

The little that we do know about this giant speaks volumes. 6 is the number of man. Man’s ways. Man’s systems. Man’s intellect. But to me it also speaks of perversion of God’s design. This principality is responsible for every vile and perverted thing on the planet and this giant must fall!

The hero that defeated this giant was Jonathan, whose name means “God has given” and firstly speaks directly into the humanistic mentality of this principality. “GOD gives. No one else… GOD”. The name Jonathan to me points back to God. Like a chiropractic adjustment, to see this principality fall we must be a people that align ourselves with the heart of God and untangle ourselves from the mixture and perversion we see around us.

The main takeaway from this part of the dream is, that God is right now preparing us to take down every giant in our path in the days to come. There has been a lie that has been damaging - that darkness is incontestable, but we are called to be the light! Church, you are anointed and appointed to take down the giants of this hour!

5782 & 2022- THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH UNSILENCED & RESTORED

As I was unpacking this with the Lord, the year 5782 of the Jewish calendar that we have just stepped into, and the Gregorian calendar year 2022 came to mind.

What spoke the most to me was firstly breaking down each number simply and finding their meanings then as a whole:

5 - “Heh” Grace, redemption, speech, and action. (Pictograph of man with arms raised).

7 - “Zayin” Crown, sustenance, and weapons. (Pictograph of sword).

8 - “Chet” Doorway, community, & life (pictograph of a door and people linking arms).

2 - “Bet” House of God, tent, family of God, covenant, and tabernacle. (Pictograph of a house or tent).

In that sense you could say that 5782 speaks of the grace to speak, act, and slay what stands in our way entering into a new season/rebirth, where the church is baptized in the spirit and reacquainted with Jesus. Wow!

As we moved into 5782 it’s important to remind you that 80 - which in Hebrew is “Pey” representing the mouth, the voice, the roar, and the testimony - initiated what has been a major focus for the church, to be a prophetic voice for the world to look to and see Jesus. Now in 5782 the focus is on “pey - 80” and “bet - 2” which reveals the voice of the church but in the context of the house, or the family of God, and personal revival. To me this is the Lord saying that in this next year there will be a focus on: 

  • The church coming back to the heart of worship.
  • God purifying the heart motives of the church.
  • A new and pure sound of worship emerging from the church, not the polished radio songs that don’t carry the oil.
  • God is dealing with the fear of man and where the Church has been silenced.
  • He is dealing with where we have rejected the prophetic from the house.
  • We will see the tent of meeting be the focus again because It’s time for the church to not just be a voice but to HEAR and know the voice of Jesus in a new way.

What will this accomplish? Well, mainly fresh intimacy and connection but secondly, it’s going to expose the counterfeit Christs’ being accepted by the church.

Regarding 2022, these are the scriptures that came to my spirit:

“As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated” 2 Chronicles 20:22.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven” Exodus 20:22.

This will be a year of the revived and unadulterated voice of the Lord in our midst so that it reminds the church who we are so we can defeat and scatter the enemy.

THE RAW WORSHIP MOVEMENTS RISING

In terms of the pure worship I see flowing from the church: In a dream I saw a riot breaking out in a street with millions of people in uproar. But then my attention was drawn to a building, and I knew instantly it was Abbey Road studios in Westminster UK, where some of the most famous albums of all time have been recorded. God has shown me visions of this place before, but this felt different. I felt like it represented the Church. They were hidden or separate from the chaos outside, insulated, and not really part of it or influencing it. It grieved me.

Inside though they were all busy and focused. As I listened to what the orchestras and bands in each studio were busy doing, I heard them say that they were wanting to write hit songs that would put them on the map... They needed the songs that would win them awards and how that would help the world see Jesus in this time. But then I said “No, we need the raw cry for revival again!” As I said this everyone fell on their faces and begin crying out to the Lord, and soon a sound of messy intercession could be heard. Singing, tongues, and loud travail.

Then they started singing and grabbing their instruments and all these many songs and cries began to form one powerful song together, that was unlike anything I had ever heard. The volume seemed to increase to the point that it seemed to break through the walls of the building and then what I saw next was chilling. I was drawn once again to the streets and could hear the new sound of the church beginning to disrupt the chaos outside. People stopped and were listening and then started singing the same tune.

It was reviving cold, hard, and angry hearts. It was bringing peace to the fearful and anxious, it was restoring hope and a future to those who have only seen doom and gloom, and most of all people could see the heart of the Father for them in this time. A fresh sound of worship and new soundtrack for revival had been birthed and broken out of the walls and had disrupted the enemy’s agenda and drawn the world to the feet of Jesus once again!

I believe this is already happening. God is stirring up the raw cry of the church to release the fresh sounds and cry of a bride that is present and active and a voice in these times. For the last 4 years there has been a cap, or a ceiling, that has prevented the most anointed songs from being written and has brought a creative block and frustration over the psalmists of the earth. They have felt stopped up, and shut up, and shut down, yet they are bottling up the most anointed songs and prophetic anthems that we have yet to hear. But they are coming!

This dream also speaks to me of the church breaking out of the four walls in a greater way and being the public sound instead of the private symphony. I believe we are going to see not just worship movements birthed, but movements of all types, that simply carry the pure heart of worship, and focus on Jesus, that the earth needs right now.

THE HEAVYWEIGHTS & THE WILDCARDS

Just as it was David’s mighty men that defeated these giants, out of the fires of affliction are arising some pure hearted warriors who God is right now refreshing and readying for what’s ahead. They have They have only seen loss and defeat but in this next chapter they will ride the wave of triumph as God turns the page into this new chapter. I kept hearing these two words, heavyweights and wildcards.

Who are the heavyweights? They won’t look like heavyweights on the outside, but they have been through the fires of hell and the season of crushing and are now weighty glory carriers for this season.

The heavy weights of religion - aka Saul’s armor - just won’t cut it for this battle. We can’t fight these giants with our man made and institutionalized weapons. We can’t fight them with our intellect and knowledge, but with engaging our spirit. These heavyweights will move offensively using methods that will confront the stale and powerless methods of religion.

Heavyweights are weighty because they have been laying in the glory in heavenly realms. We have to fight this next season from our position IN CHRIST in heavenly places and quit battling personalities and flesh and blood. We have to come higher.

Heavyweights don’t rely on their own abilities, but God’s, and they don’t run from their posts but rest in the power that is inside of them. We have to stop evading and running from the reality of the enemy’s plans and the things taking place in the earth. We have a role, and we can’t hide from it.

And from the painful process of the past few years a remnant has risen up, who are the wildcards of heaven, who are those who have zero filter and zero motivation outside of loving Jesus. When He says go, they go. No questions asked. They are the ones the enemy is most afraid of because where most see giants, they simply see another opportunity to hurl their stones into a problem.

They are wildcards because God will use them to torment the enemy in the years to come. Just when situations look bleak and hopeless, and the enemy begins to laugh, God will flick his wrist and send these wildcards into impossible situations and expose the enemy’s hand.

THE FULL HOUSE, FIVE STONES, & THE SHIFT OF THE BATTLE

As I end this word, I want to just paint one last picture. The last word I heard for the year was “Full house”; which in a game of poker is a superior hand but even more than that spoke to me that the church is moving into its greatest days. We are going to see a full house. This is revival. This is harvest. This is fruit. What also came to me was that this year will be an awakening of the five-fold like we have never seen it before. The FULL expression of the house will be seen. The whole bride beginning to emerge.

God is looking for those, who despite the rapid darkness seeming to spread, will hear the laughter of heaven booming in their spirit because they know that regardless of the way the match seems to be going, it isn’t a match for God Almighty; who right now is pouring out His fiery Spirit upon a generation fed up with watching the narrative and story go the wrong way and are rising up as bold as lions to see history written according to heaven.

What if when David went down to the stream that day, he wasn’t just collecting stones for his battle, but what if he was inadvertently prophesying? He had 5 stones. 5 is the number of grace. 5 is the whole bride in unity. 5 is the five-fold church rising.

What if it was God speaking through him into this hour of history saying “Church, the giants look huge, but you have got this... it isn’t over, pick up your stones and take the land!” And the cry of my heart for you and I, is a resounding “Yes we will!”

Church our best days are ahead!

PRACTICAL GIANT KILLING TIPS FOR THE HOUR

  • Keep your knees in the throneroom no matter what. That way you will be sharp, discerning, and connected. You won’t buy into the lies around you.
  • Be reacquainted with the voice of the Lord. Invest time with Him more than social media time.
  • Refuse to stay still, inactive, and uninvolved in this hour. If you are unsure what to do then pray.. and ask Holy Spirit to reveal his heart to you.
  • Be in constant surrender.
  • Let the Holy Spirit untangle you from the veils and webs of your dark tomb season.
  • Let go of your disabling comforts and be desperate to know “the comforter” Holy Spirit.
  • Allow the worlds events to make you feel grieved so you can no longer stand back as a spectator but like David step up to your post.
  • Desire to know how God feels about issues and injustices around the earth but rooted in HIS solutions.
  • Let go of the fear of man and pick up your courage. Stand up for righteousness. Bold lions arise!
  • Refuse to be a sheep that does what they are told without applying your own wisdom and processing with the Lord.
  • Decide that you will be a voice for what matters - and know that this hour of history hinges on you and I.
  • Know that you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus and that the victory is sure!
Sow a seed

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

By Nate Johnston December 19, 2024
Next year is going to be an Acts 2 Year because we’re going back to simplicity. We’re leaving behind the hustle and bustle of institutions and empires for the basics once again. We’re choosing the humble over the proud and lofty. We’re choosing the private over the public stage. We’re choosing connection over club mentality or even shallow community. We’re choosing fellowship over programs. We’re choosing true worship over performance. We’re choosing the nameless and faceless over celebrity Christianity. And we’re choosing the pure over the convoluted and tainted. This is going to be an Acts 2 year because God is rebuilding our definition of the church, and He’s rebuilding us in the process. We’re coming back to the true foundations of the church again. We’re coming back to the simplicity and power of the fivefold, where people are built up into who God has called them to be. We’re going to see the breakdown of man’s hierarchies and systems. We’re coming back to the simple foundation of people gathering not around a man, but around Jesus and the finished work of the cross. We’re coming back to signs, wonders, and miracles again. We’re coming back to daily salvations and the pursuit of souls instead of preaching to the choir. We’re coming back to baptisms and lives being transformed, rescued from darkness and addiction. We’re coming back to being the hospital church again, instead of a museum or a palace. We’re coming back to what looks small and insignificant but carries immense weight in the spirit. We’re coming back to experiencing His face and His glory once again, instead of simply coming to a service to hear a cool cliché quote to take home. We’re leaving behind the goosebumps of man’s religion and trading them for true encounters and visitations with God. So, this next year, watch as God leads you in a new direction. Watch as your appetites begin to change. Watch as the Lord leads you away from systems and places that look good on the outside but have brought you into bondage. For many, this will mean breaking away from what you’ve been part of for years. It may mean relocation. Shifting. Migrating. It may mean leaving behind compromises, false coverings, and shallow accountability in communities that resemble but are far from the Acts 2 church God has destined for you. It will mean stepping out of isolation to find the people God has for you. It will mean leaving behind dead works and performance to discover the fire of His Spirit and a fresh baptism that overhauls your life. And it will mean closing the door on Act 1 so that we, as the church, can step into Acts 2—a season of power and baptism in the Holy Spirit that empowers us to walk in the fullness of everything Jesus made available to us at the cross. It’s going to be a year of departing from the flesh and man’s pursuit of building Babel and stepping into a year of building what looks simple but reaps eternal fruit. It’s going to transform your family, marriages, and every area of your life as you realign with God’s purpose and His original blueprint for the church. Watch, friends, as we leave behind decades, even centuries, of dysfunction and as the Lord begins to build His house. This is why you have felt the discontent in the last few years that has grown inside you. It’s the desire to go back to the original plan. It’s the longing for true connection with God and His people. And build something pure and not of man’s hands. If this is you, pray this dangerous prayer with me “Lord do Acts 2 in my life in 2025 onwards in Jesus name! And lead me to my Acts 2 people!” “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” Acts 2:42-47 
By Nate Johnston December 17, 2024
(REPOST FROM DEC. 2020 - PROPHETIC WORD FOR NOW) Towards the end of November, I had a significant dream where God spoke to me about the power of the posture of rest as we crossover into 2021. I had been asking God for specifics regarding many areas of our own family life, ministry, and dreams and was needing some clarity. At the time we were finishing up a very busy and fruitful year in our ministry school, finalizing writing for future projects, and preparing for our baby that is due early January. I felt like I needed practical strategies to navigate some areas of life and I needed some pieces to drop to be able to know how to move forward in the new year. Have you felt this way? I want to share what God spoke to me regarding rest in this dream so that you crossover into 2021 refreshed, full of vision and purpose, decluttered, and knowing where you are going in Jesus' name! OFF THE HAMSTER WHEEL & OUT OF THE DRIVER SEAT “Enter my rest, enter my rest, you need to enter my rest!” I heard audibly as I slept and I knew this was not just an order but a warning from the Lord and a powerful strategy to escape the burnout, disillusion, and panic that can set in when you are walking through a season of conflict like this year has been. His words felt like a cool drink on a hot day. So many have been on the hamster wheel of life in 2020, running, running, running, and treading water just to stay afloat because of the many changes and curveballs that have come, but now God is saying to you that it is time to surrender that place to Him. Finish the year out of the driver seat and giving Him permission to end it well. Do you trust Him to do that? Can you move out of your strength and put your trust in His? What areas of your life are you still trying to hold onto the wheel? Let go and let Him do what only He can do. Key: Hand him the keys to your vehicle, ministry, purpose, and life, especially the areas you have been trying to push and strive in. MIRACLE WORKING POWER WHERE YOUR STRENGTH HAS FAILED “This is where I MOVE IN POWER as they rest!” I heard the Lord say. “If you lean into my rest I WILL DO WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO! So enter my rest and let ME MOVE, let ME ORCHESTRATE, and let me DELIVER!” Is what the Lord continued to say. God wants to take over where you have been burning out trying to make ends meet and hoping to see that breakthrough, that miracle come to pass, and that promise manifested. This is where you rest and as you do you will see HIS power take over and BREAK THROUGH for you! Key: Rest in His miracle-working power where it feels like you are in the 11th hour. Will He not do it? THE TRANSITION INTO REST & THE CHANGE OF THE GUARD “It's the transitioning into rest and the changing of the guard” He continued to say, but it wasn’t an order of inaction or decommissioning but an order to change posture. In the same way that if you are swimming a long distance you change up your swimming style to preserve your strength God is saying “TRANSITION into rest” meaning “Change your stance!” In Hebrews 4:11 the rest spoken of had to be an intentional decision or move that resulted in God working where man's ways didn’t. The changing of the guard spoke to me of an army that was changing its position and right now I believe that God is calling the army of God to shift its formation. We will not be moved from our post, but now we turn, we set our sail. Like Nehemiah’s men, we continue to hold up our swords but we bow our heads. Now watch what He does as we shift. Key: Ask God what slight adjustments you can make to posture yourself in rest to receive and be refreshed? What areas of your life are unnecessarily wearing you down? REST WILL REVEAL WHERE YOU ARE SPREAD THIN & CREATE “CAPACITY” FOR THE UNEXPECTED This is what He spoke to me about next. Capacity. He said that heading into 2021 that He was looking for people that weren’t already too busy or had their hands too full because there were going to be UNEXPECTED opportunities and assignments that He would be giving. Posturing in rest was the key that would reveal areas where God was wanting to untangle you from, commitments you shouldn’t be involved in, and open up your schedule for new possibilities He had waiting for you as you crossed over. Key: Allow God to show you what carries His glory on it and what is just taking up space in your life. What are you doing that is good that isn’t God? He will show you. REFRESHING TO THE BURNT OUT AND FATIGUED & THE RE-IGNITION OF DREAMS Then He said “You can’t do this in survival mode. You can’t do this fighting for air, fighting for scraps, and scrambling to make ends meet” I knew that He was speaking to the subtle and seductive mentality of survival that is birthed from a traumatic year of hearing endless news stories and constant fear-mongering, and it has driven so many to the brink of burnout and fatigue. But as you rest God is breaking both the survival mentality and the fatigue that comes with it. He wants you to step out of the place of fear and begging for bread and back into faith so you can DREAM with Him as you crossover. Key: Ask him to break off the fatigue and reignite your creativity, innovation, and passion. HAND IN YOUR OLD JACKETS & I WILL BREAK THE HEAVY YOKES “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 “Watch me break your heavy yokes! Watch me shatter the mantles of madness that have tried to settle! For I am mantling you afresh in the rest! Hand me your old jackets and rags and let me replace them!” This year the enemy has tried to put his yokes of heaviness and hysteria upon believers causing them to chase after the wind and go on a wild goose chase. These yokes are demonic and are the counterfeit of true mantles and mandates. But as you rest watch as Holy Spirit breaks every heavy yoke and mantles you with power and purpose for the season ahead. Key: Give him your old rags. Give him your heavy yokes. Ask for discernment between what are the yokes of the enemy and the easy yoke of the Lord. What causes rest and peace, and what brings burnout and heaviness? That’s your key. THE SHADOW-BOXING WILL STOP IN THE VORTEX OF REST “The shadow-boxing must stop!” I heard Him say and in the dream, I saw a picture of a whirlwind of imaginations that were swirling around people and they were wearing themselves down by trying to fight it. Close your eyes in the next few weeks every day for a moment in His presence and the 10 fights and opponents you have been shadow-boxing will suddenly disappear. Every whirlwind and storm you have been facing will stand still and you will see it for what it really is. No hype or cheap gimmicks of fear. Key: Learn the art of the secret place again. Lay there and learn to be still even when the thoughts against your mind are warring. Soon they will be silent and you will get your peace back and enter that rest. RECEIVE THE NEW WINE ORDERS FROM HEAVENS PRINT PRESS & THE NEW DOWNLOADS There is something about the posture of rest in the presence that PRODUCES. In the next few weeks, God wants to give you “new wine orders” as he told me that will be fresh off the printing press of heaven orders that have not been seen or heard yet. Generals are going to receive their new orders.. leaders are going to download the blueprints for the thing that the SPIRIT is upon. The old wineskin won’t cut it and you know it so it’s time to RECEIVE and you can’t receive unless you are postured in rest, in ENCOUNTER. This is where you lay down like Jacob at Bethel and have the dream and lay down like Samuel and get your orders and the download that will shift the course of your family, your city, and nation. Key: Fight the temptation to be busy and realize that without the fresh download you are stuck. You need the fresh thing so rest to receive it. MISSING PIECES ARE GOING TO DROP & DOTS WILL CONNECT It’s a “strengthen yourself in the Lord” moment where God takes your faithfulness to stand and multiplies it and opens the way for the ANSWER to reveal itself, the missing pieces to drop, and the needed direction to appear. There are significant COMPONENTS & TOOLS that many need right now leading into 2021 to solve dire, 11th-hour decisions. As you rest God is making sure that EVERY missing piece drops and the mess and rubble you are walking through suddenly begin to make sense. This is where what has not been connecting suddenly starts to align and where there has been fogginess and no clarity you will start to see a clearing open up before you. Key: You can’t be a piece filler, trying to fabricate the piece that fills the gap because if you do it will eventually break down. REST and let the pieces come. RELOCATIONS, MIGRATIONS, & NEW ADDRESSES God told me that addresses and new cities would suddenly be shown to people in dreams and impressions for those who have felt like the season where they have been is over but they haven’t known the next step or place to go. There are mass relocations that are going to take place in January/February as God downloads new assignments and purpose that is attached to physical locations around the world. Your kids might even dream it. You might start randomly hearing a name, but it will come! In REST you will hear your change of address! Key: Don’t stress over the details. He knows where you need to be and He will make your transition and migration seamless. THIS IS WHERE OBSTACLES ARE EXPOSED & REMOVED This is where the things HIDDEN IN DARKNESS are exposed, as we rest, and war from our worship. This is why the enemy has tried so hard to get you into the hamster wheel.. so this would be in your strength and the miracle DID NOT SHOW UP. But as you rest the brick walls and endless obstacles you have been facing will be exposed and removed. You will suddenly see the weak spot, the open door, and the ways the enemy has been robbing you.. and you will SLAM THE DOOR SHUT! As you rest God is doing a spring clean and a protective reinforcement to make sure you are going into 2021 without the foxes robbing your vineyards . Key: Be open to see where the enemy has been robbing you. Adjust and shut doors that have been affecting you. It might be people, places, or even just things, but as you discern them you will make a clean break. IN REST, THE MONKEY WILL GET OFF YOUR BACK, THE SNAKES WILL RETREAT, & YOU WILL FIND THE SOLACE YOU HAVE LONGED FOR Lastly, I heard the Lord speak about “ALTITUDE” and I heard the scriptures; “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:6 “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Revelation 4:1 God is saying that as you rest in HIM in heavenly places you will move into the altitude that snakes start to retreat and the monkey of warfare gets off your back. So many have been facing a myriad of warfare in 2020 and this is God's way of delivering you, freeing you, and healing you as you crossover. This is where you breathe in the clean and fresh air of hope and posture yourself back into the delight of the Lord where you will be able to see what is to come and be tethered once again to the glorious future ahead of you and not the dim and dark future the enemy has been prophesying. So people of God, REST! This is where it shifts. This is where the reinforcements come in. This is where the blueprints are made clear and the pathway opens up before you where you have been detailed and delayed. REST is your scepter and your powerful key so that you crossover READY & ROARING in Jesus' name!
By Nate Johnston December 19, 2024
Next year is going to be an Acts 2 Year because we’re going back to simplicity. We’re leaving behind the hustle and bustle of institutions and empires for the basics once again. We’re choosing the humble over the proud and lofty. We’re choosing the private over the public stage. We’re choosing connection over club mentality or even shallow community. We’re choosing fellowship over programs. We’re choosing true worship over performance. We’re choosing the nameless and faceless over celebrity Christianity. And we’re choosing the pure over the convoluted and tainted. This is going to be an Acts 2 year because God is rebuilding our definition of the church, and He’s rebuilding us in the process. We’re coming back to the true foundations of the church again. We’re coming back to the simplicity and power of the fivefold, where people are built up into who God has called them to be. We’re going to see the breakdown of man’s hierarchies and systems. We’re coming back to the simple foundation of people gathering not around a man, but around Jesus and the finished work of the cross. We’re coming back to signs, wonders, and miracles again. We’re coming back to daily salvations and the pursuit of souls instead of preaching to the choir. We’re coming back to baptisms and lives being transformed, rescued from darkness and addiction. We’re coming back to being the hospital church again, instead of a museum or a palace. We’re coming back to what looks small and insignificant but carries immense weight in the spirit. We’re coming back to experiencing His face and His glory once again, instead of simply coming to a service to hear a cool cliché quote to take home. We’re leaving behind the goosebumps of man’s religion and trading them for true encounters and visitations with God. So, this next year, watch as God leads you in a new direction. Watch as your appetites begin to change. Watch as the Lord leads you away from systems and places that look good on the outside but have brought you into bondage. For many, this will mean breaking away from what you’ve been part of for years. It may mean relocation. Shifting. Migrating. It may mean leaving behind compromises, false coverings, and shallow accountability in communities that resemble but are far from the Acts 2 church God has destined for you. It will mean stepping out of isolation to find the people God has for you. It will mean leaving behind dead works and performance to discover the fire of His Spirit and a fresh baptism that overhauls your life. And it will mean closing the door on Act 1 so that we, as the church, can step into Acts 2—a season of power and baptism in the Holy Spirit that empowers us to walk in the fullness of everything Jesus made available to us at the cross. It’s going to be a year of departing from the flesh and man’s pursuit of building Babel and stepping into a year of building what looks simple but reaps eternal fruit. It’s going to transform your family, marriages, and every area of your life as you realign with God’s purpose and His original blueprint for the church. Watch, friends, as we leave behind decades, even centuries, of dysfunction and as the Lord begins to build His house. This is why you have felt the discontent in the last few years that has grown inside you. It’s the desire to go back to the original plan. It’s the longing for true connection with God and His people. And build something pure and not of man’s hands. If this is you, pray this dangerous prayer with me “Lord do Acts 2 in my life in 2025 onwards in Jesus name! And lead me to my Acts 2 people!” “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” Acts 2:42-47 
By Nate Johnston December 17, 2024
(REPOST FROM DEC. 2020 - PROPHETIC WORD FOR NOW) Towards the end of November, I had a significant dream where God spoke to me about the power of the posture of rest as we crossover into 2021. I had been asking God for specifics regarding many areas of our own family life, ministry, and dreams and was needing some clarity. At the time we were finishing up a very busy and fruitful year in our ministry school, finalizing writing for future projects, and preparing for our baby that is due early January. I felt like I needed practical strategies to navigate some areas of life and I needed some pieces to drop to be able to know how to move forward in the new year. Have you felt this way? I want to share what God spoke to me regarding rest in this dream so that you crossover into 2021 refreshed, full of vision and purpose, decluttered, and knowing where you are going in Jesus' name! OFF THE HAMSTER WHEEL & OUT OF THE DRIVER SEAT “Enter my rest, enter my rest, you need to enter my rest!” I heard audibly as I slept and I knew this was not just an order but a warning from the Lord and a powerful strategy to escape the burnout, disillusion, and panic that can set in when you are walking through a season of conflict like this year has been. His words felt like a cool drink on a hot day. So many have been on the hamster wheel of life in 2020, running, running, running, and treading water just to stay afloat because of the many changes and curveballs that have come, but now God is saying to you that it is time to surrender that place to Him. Finish the year out of the driver seat and giving Him permission to end it well. Do you trust Him to do that? Can you move out of your strength and put your trust in His? What areas of your life are you still trying to hold onto the wheel? Let go and let Him do what only He can do. Key: Hand him the keys to your vehicle, ministry, purpose, and life, especially the areas you have been trying to push and strive in. MIRACLE WORKING POWER WHERE YOUR STRENGTH HAS FAILED “This is where I MOVE IN POWER as they rest!” I heard the Lord say. “If you lean into my rest I WILL DO WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO! So enter my rest and let ME MOVE, let ME ORCHESTRATE, and let me DELIVER!” Is what the Lord continued to say. God wants to take over where you have been burning out trying to make ends meet and hoping to see that breakthrough, that miracle come to pass, and that promise manifested. This is where you rest and as you do you will see HIS power take over and BREAK THROUGH for you! Key: Rest in His miracle-working power where it feels like you are in the 11th hour. Will He not do it? THE TRANSITION INTO REST & THE CHANGE OF THE GUARD “It's the transitioning into rest and the changing of the guard” He continued to say, but it wasn’t an order of inaction or decommissioning but an order to change posture. In the same way that if you are swimming a long distance you change up your swimming style to preserve your strength God is saying “TRANSITION into rest” meaning “Change your stance!” In Hebrews 4:11 the rest spoken of had to be an intentional decision or move that resulted in God working where man's ways didn’t. The changing of the guard spoke to me of an army that was changing its position and right now I believe that God is calling the army of God to shift its formation. We will not be moved from our post, but now we turn, we set our sail. Like Nehemiah’s men, we continue to hold up our swords but we bow our heads. Now watch what He does as we shift. Key: Ask God what slight adjustments you can make to posture yourself in rest to receive and be refreshed? What areas of your life are unnecessarily wearing you down? REST WILL REVEAL WHERE YOU ARE SPREAD THIN & CREATE “CAPACITY” FOR THE UNEXPECTED This is what He spoke to me about next. Capacity. He said that heading into 2021 that He was looking for people that weren’t already too busy or had their hands too full because there were going to be UNEXPECTED opportunities and assignments that He would be giving. Posturing in rest was the key that would reveal areas where God was wanting to untangle you from, commitments you shouldn’t be involved in, and open up your schedule for new possibilities He had waiting for you as you crossed over. Key: Allow God to show you what carries His glory on it and what is just taking up space in your life. What are you doing that is good that isn’t God? He will show you. REFRESHING TO THE BURNT OUT AND FATIGUED & THE RE-IGNITION OF DREAMS Then He said “You can’t do this in survival mode. You can’t do this fighting for air, fighting for scraps, and scrambling to make ends meet” I knew that He was speaking to the subtle and seductive mentality of survival that is birthed from a traumatic year of hearing endless news stories and constant fear-mongering, and it has driven so many to the brink of burnout and fatigue. But as you rest God is breaking both the survival mentality and the fatigue that comes with it. He wants you to step out of the place of fear and begging for bread and back into faith so you can DREAM with Him as you crossover. Key: Ask him to break off the fatigue and reignite your creativity, innovation, and passion. HAND IN YOUR OLD JACKETS & I WILL BREAK THE HEAVY YOKES “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 “Watch me break your heavy yokes! Watch me shatter the mantles of madness that have tried to settle! For I am mantling you afresh in the rest! Hand me your old jackets and rags and let me replace them!” This year the enemy has tried to put his yokes of heaviness and hysteria upon believers causing them to chase after the wind and go on a wild goose chase. These yokes are demonic and are the counterfeit of true mantles and mandates. But as you rest watch as Holy Spirit breaks every heavy yoke and mantles you with power and purpose for the season ahead. Key: Give him your old rags. Give him your heavy yokes. Ask for discernment between what are the yokes of the enemy and the easy yoke of the Lord. What causes rest and peace, and what brings burnout and heaviness? That’s your key. THE SHADOW-BOXING WILL STOP IN THE VORTEX OF REST “The shadow-boxing must stop!” I heard Him say and in the dream, I saw a picture of a whirlwind of imaginations that were swirling around people and they were wearing themselves down by trying to fight it. Close your eyes in the next few weeks every day for a moment in His presence and the 10 fights and opponents you have been shadow-boxing will suddenly disappear. Every whirlwind and storm you have been facing will stand still and you will see it for what it really is. No hype or cheap gimmicks of fear. Key: Learn the art of the secret place again. Lay there and learn to be still even when the thoughts against your mind are warring. Soon they will be silent and you will get your peace back and enter that rest. RECEIVE THE NEW WINE ORDERS FROM HEAVENS PRINT PRESS & THE NEW DOWNLOADS There is something about the posture of rest in the presence that PRODUCES. In the next few weeks, God wants to give you “new wine orders” as he told me that will be fresh off the printing press of heaven orders that have not been seen or heard yet. Generals are going to receive their new orders.. leaders are going to download the blueprints for the thing that the SPIRIT is upon. The old wineskin won’t cut it and you know it so it’s time to RECEIVE and you can’t receive unless you are postured in rest, in ENCOUNTER. This is where you lay down like Jacob at Bethel and have the dream and lay down like Samuel and get your orders and the download that will shift the course of your family, your city, and nation. Key: Fight the temptation to be busy and realize that without the fresh download you are stuck. You need the fresh thing so rest to receive it. MISSING PIECES ARE GOING TO DROP & DOTS WILL CONNECT It’s a “strengthen yourself in the Lord” moment where God takes your faithfulness to stand and multiplies it and opens the way for the ANSWER to reveal itself, the missing pieces to drop, and the needed direction to appear. There are significant COMPONENTS & TOOLS that many need right now leading into 2021 to solve dire, 11th-hour decisions. As you rest God is making sure that EVERY missing piece drops and the mess and rubble you are walking through suddenly begin to make sense. This is where what has not been connecting suddenly starts to align and where there has been fogginess and no clarity you will start to see a clearing open up before you. Key: You can’t be a piece filler, trying to fabricate the piece that fills the gap because if you do it will eventually break down. REST and let the pieces come. RELOCATIONS, MIGRATIONS, & NEW ADDRESSES God told me that addresses and new cities would suddenly be shown to people in dreams and impressions for those who have felt like the season where they have been is over but they haven’t known the next step or place to go. There are mass relocations that are going to take place in January/February as God downloads new assignments and purpose that is attached to physical locations around the world. Your kids might even dream it. You might start randomly hearing a name, but it will come! In REST you will hear your change of address! Key: Don’t stress over the details. He knows where you need to be and He will make your transition and migration seamless. THIS IS WHERE OBSTACLES ARE EXPOSED & REMOVED This is where the things HIDDEN IN DARKNESS are exposed, as we rest, and war from our worship. This is why the enemy has tried so hard to get you into the hamster wheel.. so this would be in your strength and the miracle DID NOT SHOW UP. But as you rest the brick walls and endless obstacles you have been facing will be exposed and removed. You will suddenly see the weak spot, the open door, and the ways the enemy has been robbing you.. and you will SLAM THE DOOR SHUT! As you rest God is doing a spring clean and a protective reinforcement to make sure you are going into 2021 without the foxes robbing your vineyards . Key: Be open to see where the enemy has been robbing you. Adjust and shut doors that have been affecting you. It might be people, places, or even just things, but as you discern them you will make a clean break. IN REST, THE MONKEY WILL GET OFF YOUR BACK, THE SNAKES WILL RETREAT, & YOU WILL FIND THE SOLACE YOU HAVE LONGED FOR Lastly, I heard the Lord speak about “ALTITUDE” and I heard the scriptures; “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:6 “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Revelation 4:1 God is saying that as you rest in HIM in heavenly places you will move into the altitude that snakes start to retreat and the monkey of warfare gets off your back. So many have been facing a myriad of warfare in 2020 and this is God's way of delivering you, freeing you, and healing you as you crossover. This is where you breathe in the clean and fresh air of hope and posture yourself back into the delight of the Lord where you will be able to see what is to come and be tethered once again to the glorious future ahead of you and not the dim and dark future the enemy has been prophesying. So people of God, REST! This is where it shifts. This is where the reinforcements come in. This is where the blueprints are made clear and the pathway opens up before you where you have been detailed and delayed. REST is your scepter and your powerful key so that you crossover READY & ROARING in Jesus' name!
By Nate Johnston December 12, 2024
For about a month now, I keep dreaming of the Lord saying to me audibly to detox. At first, I thought it was a personal instruction from the Lord but as I’ve been dreaming more and more about this, I’ve recognized this is what the Lord is really wanting us all to focus on leading into 2025. Because we have been caught up in so much in the last 4 years that has muddied the waters of our lives and callings. There’s spiritual toxins and parasites that need to be flushed out right now. There’s been flies in the ointment that God wants to clean out. Coming to the end of this chapter for many has felt like staggering to the finish line, worn out, burnt out, disillusioned, and flat-lining. You feel depleted.. The battles of the season has been costly, and the casualty of war is that you are carrying scars and toxins you don’t quite know how to shake. The other word the Lord keeps saying to me clearly over the body of Christ is that we need to UNTANGLE. The Lord was showing me that so many in the body of Christ have become entangled in so many issues and dramas and taken on so many burdens in the last four years. They’ve become entangled to the point of bondage in many areas that God never intended for them to be. It’s stolen your gaze and focus. It’s choked the life out of you and bled you dry. This may come in the form of the wrong relationships or the wrong dynamics in relationships, or it might be areas of wrong covering or involvements. It might be where the enemy has led you on the wrong path, on a diversion, and you’re currently living in an Ishmael reality. Or it might be even spiritually, where there’s become an entanglement in your life, in disappointment, hope deferred, or even areas of compromise and addiction. These are things that are causing you to be in bondage when God wants you to be set free. As I was praying into this, I just kept seeing this clear vision of a man being untangled from grave bandages until he was completely freed. It reminded me of Lazarus coming out of the tomb and untangling himself from the grave clothes. That’s what I’m seeing right now - it’s like the body of Christ is being untangled from every single demonic entanglement that we have allowed over the years. This is what the body of Christ at large is going through right now, where God is untangling the church from so much religion, witchcraft, slander, and Jezebel oppression that has become normalized and is choking the life out of the church. This is what you and I are experiencing - the tension right now between that bondage we’ve been feeling, that intense heaviness, and the new day dawning and the realization that we can no longer keep living with the heaviness and burden we’ve been carrying. It’s choking the life out of us, and choking our voices. It’s brought so much confusion to us. But the Lord is setting us free right now. The difficulty is that many are in burnout in a time where we need make the effort to shake some things off. But there’s a struggle and a lingering defeat. You know that God’s been leading you to freedom, but there feels like there’s just not the will or the strength to lean into it. But let God shake you free right now as you simply crash land in His presence. I felt the Lord saying to begin now, leading into 2025: untangle in His presence. Get on your face. Lay on your back. And ask Him to detox and untangle you. It means surrendering to the process of being untangled, healed, and delivered. And He will do it. It means leaning into Him and allowing Him to begin to break the yokes of bondage that have placed you in a place of burden for a long time. As I was in worship last night, I kept seeing this vision of Psalm 23:5: “He anoints my head with oil. He seats me at a table in front of my enemies.” It hit me so hard because the way I was seeing it was like the Lord pouring gallons and gallons of oil upon your head. It wasn’t just a little religious smidge of oil, it was a gushing out. It was a washing. It was a cleansing like the man healed of leprosy who said “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Mark 1:40) It’s the oil that breaks the yoke, the fatness as Isaiah 10:27 says. I decree over you that in the next month there will be a breaking of yokes and an untangling of everything that has been holding you back. The Lord will begin to detox you from pain, from trauma, from hope deferred, from so many spiritual toxins. These toxins have been working against you, poisoning your vision, poisoning your flow, poisoning your direction, and bringing confusion will be flushed out in Jesus name and you will get a fresh wind and a deep reviving of where you have felt like you have lost yourself and died. There is so much the Lord is wanting to untangle, In fact, He gives you permission today to untangle from the noise of culture and the drama of the church and to begin focusing on His face again. As you do, you will step into 2025 with fresh vision, full of hope, joy, and purpose for what He has called you to. 
By Nate Johnston December 11, 2024
I will be sharing a few different words for 2025 in the next few weeks in smaller pieces that will help give language to what God is doing, where we are going, and the process we are walking out. I recognize that I see in part, and so I humbly present what I believe God is showing me for you to determine if it aligns with your inner witness and with the Word. The first word I want to share is about the global and personal impact of the season where God is dismantling and rebuilding us. DEMOLITION & THE BLANK CANVAS Have you felt the internal shaking? Growing up, my father worked in the mines, setting up the infrastructure for the mining companies and then breaking it all down once they were done and moving to a new location. We tend to think of seasons where things that once worked and no longer do, as a bad thing, but it’s simply the effects of the ark moving and the Lord breaking down the old infrastructure for the new move of His Spirit. We have felt the repercussions of this personally and globally. Over the last four years, there has been a window of mercy to let Him demolish what is no longer working. In many ways, the church has become reliant on the infrastructure of man’s methods, and the Lord, in His mercy, has allowed us to see how they no longer “mine for gold” in the way that is now available. He has allowed us to see the frailty and limitations of our own methods so we can let them go and let Him build His house. We’ve seen this in mainstream churches and ministry empires, too, where it feels like many are running on the charisma and sales tactics of man. God has been inviting them to lay everything down to follow Him. When that doesn’t happen, demolition begins. Things start to fall apart because the grace is no longer there to continue in dysfunction, compromise, or man’s agenda. “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1). In the midst of what is breaking down, God is building His house. This is what we are seeing right now: the tension of two extremes. It reminds me of urban renewal - demolition alongside new construction. God is leveling strongholds and uprooting spiritual assignments that have plagued the church for too long (Jeremiah 1:10). Let me emphasize this: while it may feel messy, it’s the Lord’s mercy and His desire to see the church rebooted and rebirthed in purity. Here are the scriptures He gave me for this season: Exodus 20:25 – “If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it.” The Lord is saying we can’t build anymore using our own methods and man-made tools. Leviticus 20:25 – “You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean.” This rebuilding involves separating the unclean from the clean. Numbers 20:25 – “Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor.” This speaks of a changing of the guard and moving out of the old order. DETOXING FROM MARA/MURKY WATERS I believe the Lord is saying over the body of Christ that we have been camping around Mara, the bitter waters, for too long. We must take the body of Christ to the sweet waters. That is our responsibility because we’ve been camping in compromise, where the waters have been muddied and murky, and it’s time to leave that place. We have a responsibility to transition to the place of purity, the sweet waters. I truly believe this is a picture of the church that is no longer compromised by culture and demonic influences, which we have allowed to have a seat at the table for far too long. I believe this is part of a divine detox that the body of Christ desperately needs to move into the place God is calling us. Over the next two years, we will face critical decisions: Will we surrender to this detoxification process, or will we continue pretending the murky waters are sweet and clear when they are not? THE PERSONAL RESET The personal word I want to release over you is that the Lord is resetting you right now back to your factory settings. The season you’ve been in has been one where you’ve acquired a lot of pain, trauma, and bondage, but the Lord is unyoking you from that past season. This is a personal dismantling. The Lord, in His grace, mercy, and great love for us, dismantles us so He can rebuild us. In the natural, this process may feel cruel, like things are falling apart. But what it really is is the Lord delivering us and bringing us back into the freedom and joy that He wants us to have in our calling. Picture yourself carrying a 100kg backpack on your back, constantly bent over by its weight. That is what I believe the body of Christ, as well as many individuals, have looked like: burdened by religion, Jezebel influences, demonic lies, and witchcraft. These have weighed us down and prevented us from walking in the purity of our calling. God is leading us into a reset - a detox from all of this. Understand that much of what is happening around you right now is not the enemy. Sometimes, when doors close and you’re removed from places or relationships, it’s not the enemy. God is freeing your hand and delivering you from these weights. God is rebuilding His Church - not the bricks and mortar, but His people. He is detoxing us from the things we’ve normalized and allowed within the church. At the same time, He’s rebuilding us from the inside out. Many of you have been faithful to your calling, but you cannot continue in the same way because you’ve been burnt out, disillusioned, and frustrated. You can no longer operate on empty. God wants you in overflow. So let Him reset and rebuild you as you go into 2025! REBUILD IN THE SECRET PLACE How? You reset in the secret place and by untangling from the drama of the public place. You reset by prioritizing your heart process and preparation over trying to build prematurely. It’s a blank canvas moment. But what we build will firstly be built in secret. On our faces. In the fear of the Lord. Not in boardrooms or planning committees but from the overflow of lives dedicated to prayer and fasting. And He will inhabit the praises of His people and the train of His robe will fill the temple once again. Not of buildings but in the hearts of his laid-down lovers. It’s a time of fresh consecration and visitation. As the Lord uproots so then He plants. As he turns the page, a new day begins. So this moment is holy, and an invitation to the original call as priests unto the Lord and being the empty cup.. so He can fill us once again. This process may feel overwhelming, but I encourage you: Look beyond it. Ask the Lord to show you what to release and what to carry into the next chapter. Let this hard reset bring you back to the simplicity of the Gospel and the joy of relationship with Jesus. Embrace the refining process, knowing it’s the mercy of God preparing His bride for her finest hour. IT’S TIME FOR ACT 2 So lastly, let me make this clear - we are leaving the era of the religious institution and stepping into a return to Acts 2, or “ACT 2” as I like to think of it. In act 1 mans ways prevailed and were championed, but now in the second act, the HOLY SPIRITS ways will come back to the forefront! This is a shift from man-made systems, traditions, and programs to a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led church rooted in devotion to God, unity among believers, and supernatural power. In this new era, the church will no longer rely on charisma, methods, or structures built by human hands. Instead, we will embrace the simplicity and purity of the Gospel, the centrality of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s a call to lay aside the old ways of striving and performance and step into the freedom and joy of living as a true Acts 2 community, a people united, walking in God’s power, and carrying His presence into the world. This is where we are headed. The church is being recalibrated, realigned, and rebuilt according to God’s design. The old towers of man are being replaced by the humble and lowly move of God's nameless and faceless. Let us embrace this moment and surrender fully to the process, trusting that God is leading us back to His original blueprint.
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