Nate Johnston

"LEAN INTO MY REST, AND THERE WILL BE CLARITY, DIRECTION, AND MIRACLE WORKING POWER IN THE CROSSOVER."

Nate Johnston

"LEAN INTO MY REST, AND THERE WILL BE CLARITY, DIRECTION, AND MIRACLE WORKING POWER IN THE CROSSOVER."

"LEAN INTO MY REST, AND THERE WILL BE CLARITY, DIRECTION, AND MIRACLE WORKING POWER IN THE CROSSOVER."

(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!


Sow A Seed

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

By Nate Johnston May 16, 2025
God is peeling back another layer of the onion right now... That’s right. Not because He didn’t heal you the first time but because there’s greater levels of freedom to explore. You are still learning what the blood did to set you free because sometimes what you saw and walked through preaches loud and it needs to be kicked out of your head. Especially if you grew up around narcissism and extreme dysfunction and abuse. You have been made clean but your head needs reminding. Triggers can still happen. So the enemy looks for landing pads and entry points of agreement. Did God really set me free? Because you see the fruit that is unexplainable, but in vulnerable moments you feel like a failure. And right now the deeply uncomfortable shaking is not God exposing you but He is addressing truth to cancel the lies hiding in the cracks of thoughts and mindsets. It’s the Father reintroducing Himself to you in places you have avoided and releasing the power of the Spirit to redeem painful moments and memories. Why? Because you are stepping out of frustrating limitations and cycles that will keep robbing you beyond this point. That’s why you are wrestling. What you are feeling is not just a SHIFT moment but a STRETCH! It’s where the Holy Spirit puts pressure on the inside of you to increase your capacity and prepare you for the MORE He called you to be. It’s where He pulls you up higher in a moment and in the natural it looks like you are suddenly missing the mark because you now have room to grow and shoes to fill. It reveals the shortfalls, pitfalls, and blind spots. But it’s only growth. Not failure. It’s the fruit of healing and saying yes. But yes, at first it feels like pressure on all sides and God confronting limiting mindsets and old things trying to sneak into your new chapter. And right now many pioneers are trying to figure out their next steps but at first this is what it looks like. Heart process. Then the waiting suddenly begins to turn into the emerging but with it comes the INNER OVERHAUL and adjustment to the light outside of the cocoon of the past season. But know this - this is not to harm you but to get you ready. The enemy spent so long in the last 5 years squashing your confidence and passion that you keep interpreting this moment as assault when it’s you leaving the wilderness and seclusion and being brought into a wide open space of dreaming again. It’s you letting go of the pauper and becoming a general. It’s you coming out from under the table begging for scraps and sitting at the feast. It’s you breaking past constantly being broke, broken, and attacked. It’s tiring to live that way and it’s draining time meant to be dreaming and slaying giants. And today the Lord needs you to know that this stretch is not to add pressure to you but to CUT YOU LOOSE! This is a balm of gilead moment where God doesn’t want to bandaid you up, He wants the balm to go deep and make you whole for the days ahead. Fortify you. Make you bulletproof against the enemies schemes and constant arrows you have had every single day of your life. He is shifting something generationally and that’s why it feels so deep. It’s a marking moment and it’s designed with only freedom in mind. And I’m here to prophesy not over you, but to you.. Like the prophet Gad said to David when he was in the cave of Addullum feeling beat up and worn down.. “Leave the stronghold!” “Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” - 1 Samuel 22:5 It’s time for you to GET OUT OF THE CYCLE you have been in! It’s time to leave the going around the mountain! And right now God is leading you out! The things coming to the surface right now is the dysfunction LEAVING! And I prophesy come out from the discouragement and swirl the enemy has sent to you right now to lie to you about where you are at and your circumstances. I prophesy you are not going backwards. You are increasing. You are not falling behind. You are advancing. And this uncovering and nakedness you feel is only the uncovering and exposing of the demonic assignments that have been robbing you your whole life and siphoning off your joy! Now today Lord I am asking you show them a sign of your goodwill and evident favor. Reveal to them the future and a hope you have for them. Because the tide has shifted over your life so don’t let the enemy lie to you for another moment. Now, you prophesy with me: I am coming out of the dysfunction! I'm coming out of the cycles! I’m coming out of victim hood. Out of the swirl. Out of the limited mindsets and generation swamp I was handed, and i am coming into wholeness where attack and triggering no longer affects me or even shows up on my radar. Starting today my family are stepping out of feeling lost, under fire, and broken and starting our legacy as a set apart new bloodline holy priesthood family marked by the Holy Ghost and branded with destiny and to set captives free in Jesus name!! 
By Nate Johnston May 15, 2025
I have spoken about this topic alot lately, but I feel to encourage you again today... 10 years ago we birthed in a wilderness. I had nonstop calls from old friends saying it was illegitimate. It was uncovered. It was rebellion. I honestly believed them. I had never felt more isolated and alone. We were out of community at the time. Our old church friends would run a mile when they saw us at the mall. Just because we chose to step into our calling.. I wrestled it more nights than I can count. Kept trying to give it back to God and created so many excuses of why I should just let it all go and fall back in line. But as much as my head was telling me I was in error, my spirit was burning and the Father kept saying “Keep going, I have led you this way!” I could feel his delight in the midst of so much internal battle and daily messages and judgement. And I decided that was enough. We kept going. Then fruit started erupting. Yes, it was like streams in the desert. A wasteland season by religious standards was our personal revival. I can’t even tell you how much of a mental battle that season was though. I was unlearning while I was leaning into the voice of the Lord. The pressure was on all sides and the Jezebel spirit kept flaring up around us to make us cave in and shut up but we decided we have tolerated that long enough. And ten years later, it feels Iike another wilderness birthing season. But this time it’s not just us, but many. It’s grassroots. Building from the secret place up. It’s where you look around and see a wilderness but yet you also feel a fresh wind blowing. And while you could go with your head and wait til the weather changes and conditions feel more right and you have all the things in place, God says “NOW…” And as in writing this I keep feeling the grief of some of you reading this who have come to this moment many times before but fear and pressure around you has made you forfeit it over and over. It’s the grief of feeling like you missed it on one hand and also the grief of knowing if you choose it you will be letting go of the familiar. And right now the giants in the land are screaming loudly at you and telling you to sit down and shut up. “Get back to your seat!” They say. That’s the mental torment you have been feeling. It makes you feel double minded. But you know what breaks it? Saying yes even when it doesn’t make sense… John’s voice cried out in the wilderness and a movement was birthed. The battle has been so intense because the enemy knows that if you step into this it will turn not just your wilderness into a garden, but it will bring so many right now who are lost into a super bloom. It doesn’t add up. But it’s just what God does. So if this is you today, stop fighting it and giving God all the reasons you can’t. You weren’t created for the Gucci ministry model, you are called to the messy… And watch God do what you have been trying to do but has failed in your own strength and your own methods. Watch him take the ashes of your striving and trying to fit a honey and locust vision into a white-washed tomb, and use it to confound the wise.  So today I prophesy - no more wandering confused and conflicted. It’s time for you to see the fruit of radical obedience and placing the fear of man on the altar. No more barrenness and feeling like a cursed fig tree. For you will feel a fresh wind and anointing to step into Gods plan for your life and the weighty mantle and call ONLY YOU can wear in Jesus name.
By Nate Johnston May 16, 2025
God is peeling back another layer of the onion right now... That’s right. Not because He didn’t heal you the first time but because there’s greater levels of freedom to explore. You are still learning what the blood did to set you free because sometimes what you saw and walked through preaches loud and it needs to be kicked out of your head. Especially if you grew up around narcissism and extreme dysfunction and abuse. You have been made clean but your head needs reminding. Triggers can still happen. So the enemy looks for landing pads and entry points of agreement. Did God really set me free? Because you see the fruit that is unexplainable, but in vulnerable moments you feel like a failure. And right now the deeply uncomfortable shaking is not God exposing you but He is addressing truth to cancel the lies hiding in the cracks of thoughts and mindsets. It’s the Father reintroducing Himself to you in places you have avoided and releasing the power of the Spirit to redeem painful moments and memories. Why? Because you are stepping out of frustrating limitations and cycles that will keep robbing you beyond this point. That’s why you are wrestling. What you are feeling is not just a SHIFT moment but a STRETCH! It’s where the Holy Spirit puts pressure on the inside of you to increase your capacity and prepare you for the MORE He called you to be. It’s where He pulls you up higher in a moment and in the natural it looks like you are suddenly missing the mark because you now have room to grow and shoes to fill. It reveals the shortfalls, pitfalls, and blind spots. But it’s only growth. Not failure. It’s the fruit of healing and saying yes. But yes, at first it feels like pressure on all sides and God confronting limiting mindsets and old things trying to sneak into your new chapter. And right now many pioneers are trying to figure out their next steps but at first this is what it looks like. Heart process. Then the waiting suddenly begins to turn into the emerging but with it comes the INNER OVERHAUL and adjustment to the light outside of the cocoon of the past season. But know this - this is not to harm you but to get you ready. The enemy spent so long in the last 5 years squashing your confidence and passion that you keep interpreting this moment as assault when it’s you leaving the wilderness and seclusion and being brought into a wide open space of dreaming again. It’s you letting go of the pauper and becoming a general. It’s you coming out from under the table begging for scraps and sitting at the feast. It’s you breaking past constantly being broke, broken, and attacked. It’s tiring to live that way and it’s draining time meant to be dreaming and slaying giants. And today the Lord needs you to know that this stretch is not to add pressure to you but to CUT YOU LOOSE! This is a balm of gilead moment where God doesn’t want to bandaid you up, He wants the balm to go deep and make you whole for the days ahead. Fortify you. Make you bulletproof against the enemies schemes and constant arrows you have had every single day of your life. He is shifting something generationally and that’s why it feels so deep. It’s a marking moment and it’s designed with only freedom in mind. And I’m here to prophesy not over you, but to you.. Like the prophet Gad said to David when he was in the cave of Addullum feeling beat up and worn down.. “Leave the stronghold!” “Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” - 1 Samuel 22:5 It’s time for you to GET OUT OF THE CYCLE you have been in! It’s time to leave the going around the mountain! And right now God is leading you out! The things coming to the surface right now is the dysfunction LEAVING! And I prophesy come out from the discouragement and swirl the enemy has sent to you right now to lie to you about where you are at and your circumstances. I prophesy you are not going backwards. You are increasing. You are not falling behind. You are advancing. And this uncovering and nakedness you feel is only the uncovering and exposing of the demonic assignments that have been robbing you your whole life and siphoning off your joy! Now today Lord I am asking you show them a sign of your goodwill and evident favor. Reveal to them the future and a hope you have for them. Because the tide has shifted over your life so don’t let the enemy lie to you for another moment. Now, you prophesy with me: I am coming out of the dysfunction! I'm coming out of the cycles! I’m coming out of victim hood. Out of the swirl. Out of the limited mindsets and generation swamp I was handed, and i am coming into wholeness where attack and triggering no longer affects me or even shows up on my radar. Starting today my family are stepping out of feeling lost, under fire, and broken and starting our legacy as a set apart new bloodline holy priesthood family marked by the Holy Ghost and branded with destiny and to set captives free in Jesus name!! 
By Nate Johnston May 15, 2025
I have spoken about this topic alot lately, but I feel to encourage you again today... 10 years ago we birthed in a wilderness. I had nonstop calls from old friends saying it was illegitimate. It was uncovered. It was rebellion. I honestly believed them. I had never felt more isolated and alone. We were out of community at the time. Our old church friends would run a mile when they saw us at the mall. Just because we chose to step into our calling.. I wrestled it more nights than I can count. Kept trying to give it back to God and created so many excuses of why I should just let it all go and fall back in line. But as much as my head was telling me I was in error, my spirit was burning and the Father kept saying “Keep going, I have led you this way!” I could feel his delight in the midst of so much internal battle and daily messages and judgement. And I decided that was enough. We kept going. Then fruit started erupting. Yes, it was like streams in the desert. A wasteland season by religious standards was our personal revival. I can’t even tell you how much of a mental battle that season was though. I was unlearning while I was leaning into the voice of the Lord. The pressure was on all sides and the Jezebel spirit kept flaring up around us to make us cave in and shut up but we decided we have tolerated that long enough. And ten years later, it feels Iike another wilderness birthing season. But this time it’s not just us, but many. It’s grassroots. Building from the secret place up. It’s where you look around and see a wilderness but yet you also feel a fresh wind blowing. And while you could go with your head and wait til the weather changes and conditions feel more right and you have all the things in place, God says “NOW…” And as in writing this I keep feeling the grief of some of you reading this who have come to this moment many times before but fear and pressure around you has made you forfeit it over and over. It’s the grief of feeling like you missed it on one hand and also the grief of knowing if you choose it you will be letting go of the familiar. And right now the giants in the land are screaming loudly at you and telling you to sit down and shut up. “Get back to your seat!” They say. That’s the mental torment you have been feeling. It makes you feel double minded. But you know what breaks it? Saying yes even when it doesn’t make sense… John’s voice cried out in the wilderness and a movement was birthed. The battle has been so intense because the enemy knows that if you step into this it will turn not just your wilderness into a garden, but it will bring so many right now who are lost into a super bloom. It doesn’t add up. But it’s just what God does. So if this is you today, stop fighting it and giving God all the reasons you can’t. You weren’t created for the Gucci ministry model, you are called to the messy… And watch God do what you have been trying to do but has failed in your own strength and your own methods. Watch him take the ashes of your striving and trying to fit a honey and locust vision into a white-washed tomb, and use it to confound the wise.  So today I prophesy - no more wandering confused and conflicted. It’s time for you to see the fruit of radical obedience and placing the fear of man on the altar. No more barrenness and feeling like a cursed fig tree. For you will feel a fresh wind and anointing to step into Gods plan for your life and the weighty mantle and call ONLY YOU can wear in Jesus name.
By Nate Johnston May 13, 2025
What if Orange County became a sending ground for revival? That's what we believe God is building and we want to invite you into it. We're establishing an apostolic hub in Orange County. Not a church service. Not a ministry brand. But a KINGDOM GREENHOUSE designed to train, heal, equip, and send. Think of it like an air traffic control tower: helping people hear clearly from God, align with their assignments, and land on the right runways, churches, cities, ministries, nations. This is for the leaders, intercessors, creatives, and reformers who are asking, “Where do I fit in this new move of God?” We're building on Ephesians 4:11–13 , apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers working together to equip the saints for ministry and maturity. What's Next? We're preparing to launch the foundation of this hub by: • Rallying the hungry • Equipping the Church • Calling out reformers • And inviting pioneers to build with us But we can't do this alone… WE'RE ASKING FOR TWO THINGS AS WE TAKE THIS BOLD STEP: 1. Prayer – for protection, provision, and clarity. 2. Financial Partnership – one-time or monthly partnerships, every seed helps us build. Would you pray about joining us either in intercession, generosity, or both? Click below to read more and give! Thank you for linking arms with us as we contend for a new wineskin in this hour. With hearts burning, Nate + Christy
By Nate Johnston May 13, 2025
I’ve had this dream more times than I can count where I’m holding a hammer and I hear the Lord say “What will you do with what I’ve given you?” It echoes the parable of the talents. I know the guilt of burying what God gave me out of fear, out of a desire not to rock the boat. But for me right now? I can’t bury it anymore. And I know I’m not alone. I see others - seed carriers with pockets full of heaven’s plans, who can feel the fire of God stirring them to finally come out of hiding and build what He gave them long ago. But it’s been a journey to get here right? Because the enemy saw what you carried long before you even knew it so he tried to discredit you, silence you, shame you and wound you. You were called heretic, rebel, false prophet, and disruptor of the peace. And maybe that last one is true. But here’s the burning message on my heart to you rogue builders... To the ones who’ve been off the grid, outside the system, who have felt misplaced and displaced - you’re not lost, you’ve been on assignment. You have been pregnant waiting for the moment. And l believe for many that moment has finally come but it’s a strange and uncomfortable tension. I feel this tension even in myself. That feeling of not wanting to step on toes, of not wanting to rock the boat. But let’s be honest, you were never meant to go with the flow. God led you into the wilderness because you’re not called to walk the road everyone else walks. The anointing on your life is not activated in comfort. It activates in disruption. You need to swing that hammer to see your calling come to life. But you have been hesitant because of what you have been through. You are called to disturb what is stagnant, to confront systems that stifle, and to release what heaven is building. That’s where your oil flows. Not in compromise, not in trying to appease the structures you were never meant to serve or come under. This doesn’t give you permission to be arrogant or critical. You’re not building against anyone. You’re building for the King. Like David dancing before the ark, undignified, misunderstood, but in a state of deep worship, you carry this call in that same way. Its worship. And yes, some people will misunderstand your motives. That’s the cost of carrying something holy and different. But it’s no longer a time to hesitate or wait. It’s a “strike while the iron is hot” moment. And even as I am writing this I am seeing a scene from Lord of the Rings where the rogue king Aragorn has the sword of his ancestors restored that was broken in pieces from battle. Maybe that represents you and what you have been through or your mission. You have felt the hammer on the inside of you and you have walked through the fire but not God is restoring you to your post in a pivotal hour of history. You see, we are shifting from an institutional model to a harvest age. The Lord is asking, “Who will build it? ” It’s 2 Kings 6 all over again where the sons of prophets realized, “This place is too small.” And they began to build but in the middle of construction, the axe head fell in the Jordan. One of the building prophets yelled out “Oh no, that axe head was borrowed! Then Elisha threw in a stick, and the iron floated to the surface. And there’s a prophetic message in this passage for us right now. The axehead represents the apostolic office and regional authority. The Church has lost its edge, relying on old models, and borrowed tools. There is a rising cry to recover true supernatural authority and power and you are called to bring it back. The Jordan represents massive change and baptism into a new era. Old systems, though not evil, are insufficient for the harvest ahead. The time for murky waters and mixture is over. The building of the bigger house represents movement in expansion but not in the way we expect. We have to build for the harvest but this means looking beyond a building and building into homes, cities, nations. It’s building beyond the current blueprint and limited infrastructure that unleashes the church into full occupation as the ecclesia. We are in a moment where it’s uncomfortable because we are leaving maintenance behind and embracing mission. This isn’t rebellion, it’s return. It’s not pride, it’s prophetic alignment with the original vision. We’re stepping back into the apostolic mission of Acts, where apostles and prophets set the foundation, and the whole body is activated to move, grow, and expand. So let me keep stirring you for a moment. Think of Nehemiah overcome by grief for the ruins, but driven by the call to rebuild. What if he had listened to Sanballat and Tobiah? What if he laid down his hammer out of fear of man? We’re at the same crossroads. This is not us vs. them, it’s us FOR them. We are leaving behind a shepherd-only model and stepping into a fivefold framework. This is where cities are won, regions are reclaimed, and the local church actually thrives because apostolic centers rise and the saints are sent. And this is what I keep seeing in the Spirit, wildfires igniting across a map. Not chaos but commissioning. Not destruction but awakening. Apostolic hubs of true power, Kingdom authority, cultural shift, deep belonging, and the rise of the firebrands. In the next five years, God is recommissioning the decommissioned rogue ones, the factionless, the wanderers and calling them to pick up their hammer and build. To set fire to the beacons. To call in the hungry. To prepare places for the harvest. It’s like Joseph who saw in a dream what was coming and PREPARED for it by building goshen. What if this was a similar moment? What if this alarm we feel is the Lord saying “PREPARE, BUILD, PIVOT!” Not out of fear but out of a strategic zeal to get the church in order, ready for the return of Jesus and our most glorious days seeing the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Yes we need to build! The reason many feel unrest is because we have a LONGING in us for what the church will be and what she is becoming but we haven’t seen it modelled yet! Until you step into your shoes and swing your hammer. Because we need the messy hospitals where the lost and broken come. We need the places where the glory comes and there is no ceiling on it. And in order for that to happen, we need our ducks out of a row for a season. We need our systems ruined so we need HIM again! But rogue builders, you may be misunderstood. What you’re building may look different, offend traditions, and challenge norms but it’s not yours - it’s Gods. You are just the carrier. So, today I believe He wanted me to write this to you as a way to shake off the dust and intimidation...He is calling you to dream with Him again. It’s time to step into the mantle and office. It’s time to stop hiding, running, and waiting for the conditions to be perfect. Oh and it’s time to stop apologizing. Pick. Up. Your. Hammer. There I said it. Yes, the hammer breaks, but it also builds. It restores, it heals, it forges foundations. That’s your call. That’s your assignment. That’s your mission. You were never rogue, you were set apart. So no more casting your pearls to be trampled. No more forfeiting your mandate. Do you keep reaching the moment of birthing and handing your baby to someone else? Do you silence your vision for fear of being seen as “too much”? Are you shrinking back because what you carry doesn’t look like the norm? You are carrying something sacred. And the enemy has been trying to convince you that it’s a pipe dream. That you’re rogue, uncovered, and a heretic? Because the Father says that you are highly favored, and even now you are breaking hard ground. So stay focused. Keep plowing by faith and don’t be bullied. This is the moment where OBEDIENCE meets DISCERNMENT meets BOLDNESS and PUSHHHH. It’s time to bring it forth In Jesus’ name. “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem… And they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” — Nehemiah 2:17-18 “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.” — Ephesians 2:20 “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” … Then he made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.” — 2 Kings 6:5-7