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Nate Johnston

PROPHETIC WORD - STAND & WATCH THE DELIVERANCE OF THE LORD!

Nate Johnston

PROPHETIC WORD - STAND & WATCH THE DELIVERANCE OF THE LORD!

PROPHETIC WORD - STAND & WATCH THE DELIVERANCE OF THE LORD!

PROPHETIC WORD - STAND & WATCH THE DELIVERANCE OF THE LORD! 


As we start another week let me prophesy over you - this week you are going to enter a shift where as you adjust your sight you will leave the labor of your ability and strength and enter into the deliverance of the Lord. 


I HEARD, “PAST DUE”


I heard the Lord say, “Many feel past due. They feel as if it’s too late for them. That I have passed them by and what they were believing for has left the harbor, but it’s not past due but I am right on time”


It reminded me of Lazarus. There was a four-day-long and painful moment between the death of Lazarus and the time Jesus showed up and called him out of the tomb. Martha even said to

Jesus, “Why weren’t you here?” 


I know many have said the same thing in this season, “Jesus where were you?”


Many are still right now in the messy middle between death and resurrection, yet you just don’t know the resurrection is on its way. 


It just feels like the death of so many things and you are left with the grief and the heartache of trusting in God and feeling left by the wayside. 


But watch as Jesus arrives on the scene of your life’s biggest hour and begins to transition you out of death and into new life. 


That which felt past due is actually right on time. 


THE TRAUMA OF LONG-TERM BARRENNESS


That’s the phrase I heard “long-term barrenness” like someone who was pregnant but not with a baby but with barrenness. 


So many have felt barren for a long time and God is shifting your womb in this season where in a moment you will go from feeling barren to ready to deliver. 


You will go from empty and lost in grief to ripe and ready to reveal what God has been doing in your life behind the scenes. 


It looked like it was all over for you, but this shift is the miracle-working power of God to OVERTURN the enemy's agenda keeping you barren and making you suddenly and unexpectedly fruitful. 


But you are going to have to let go. Let go of what didn’t happen. What didn’t work out and what you feel should have taken place. 


“Sarah’s faith embraced God’s miracle power to conceive even though she was barren and was past the age of childbearing, for the authority of her faith rested in the One who made the promise, and she tapped into his faithfulness” - Hebrews 11:11


It’s time to embrace God's miracle-working power and as you do you will conceive and tap into the faithfulness of God. 


SHIFT TO EXPECTANT BIRTHING


I shared a word a few days ago about the Lord shifting us into delivery mode. You can read the short word here.


We have been so focused on false labor and stillbirths that we have begun to feel jaded over whether the birthing will ever come. 


But I feel that this week God wants us to shift into EXPECTANT faith that the birthing feeling is leading to tangible delivery. 


We just get our eyes of awe and wonder back!


Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. 

- Isaiah 66:9


GET BACK YOUR EAGLE EYES 


It’s important this week to shift your sight from the problem and back onto Jesus. The problem has been preaching at you endlessly and trying to back you into a corner of hopelessness but this week you must shift. 


It starts with surrendering your parameters, expectations, and time limits you placed around the promise you were contending for.


It starts with giving them to Him to bring to fruition. 


It starts with getting back your eagle eyes and handing over the sandpit glasses you have been wearing. 


You can’t stay stuck in the mud right now, but you must shift into higher faith by getting back your sight!


“But Nate I’ve seen everything crash and burn. I have lost my hope and vision and I don’t know what to do”


Double down by faith. You don’t move by feelings but by faith. 


You don’t move by what you see, but by what you SEE! It’s time to ascend and get back your eagle's eyes that see through the realm of faith. 


“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” - Isaiah 40:31


What did God say? Lock your eyes with it again and don’t let go! 


SOUL SICK TO FULLY FILLED 


As I’m writing this I hear, “I am refreshing and refilling the empty”


Those who have felt empty and depleted are being filled right now. 


Specifically, those who have felt soul sick and unable to shake it. Like a poison or virus that seems like it just won’t leave. 


God is breaking the heaviness of the yoke that has been around you. 


He is pouring into you right now and cleaning your soul with His abundance. (Isaiah 55:2)


He is pouring water on the dry and thirsty and making rivers flow from your belly once again! 


UNTANGLE FROM THE DRAMA


“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame”

- Isaiah 50:7


This week watch as God untangles you from the drama. The web of lies and constant words against you trying to bait you away from your path. 


In the midst of contending for major promises, there has been an overt assignment of slander and mud-slinging taking place to get your eyes off the prize. 


The enemy has wanted you so surrounded by the drama that you lose sight of who the real enemy is and what you are pushing in the spirit for. 


But you must lose the drama. 


I especially feel this for the builders and pioneers. We can’t keep looking behind us and building simultaneously. Leave them to God and keep building! 


This week set your face like flint. Look to Jesus and not man and as you do you will get back your peace and the chatter will fade into the distance. 


DELIVERANCE IS COMING!


When God spoke this word to my spirit I heard, “Stand and see the deliverance of the Lord!” (Exodus 14:13) but then the second time I heard, “Stand and see the delivery of the Lord!” 


There is both deliverance and delivery taking place right now as we shift our focus. 


This week I believe we are placing the baton in the Lord's hand as we shift our eyes onto Him - our lord of war, strong and mighty in battle. 


And He will finish what He started. 


So let’s get back our eyes and watch the deliverance come! 


“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." - 2 Chronicles 20:17


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RELATED prophetic WORDS:

RELATED prophetic WORDS:

By Nate Johnston January 10, 2025
When you go through seasons of witchcraft, slander, and constant entanglements around you that are toxic, when you experience betrayal, become involved in other people’s messes, sin, and areas of compromise—without realizing it, you’ve entangled yourself and your soul in something that can feel difficult to shake off. This entanglement can create and produce situations around you that are toxic. You often wonder, “Why, God? Why is this happening to me? Why am I going through this situation? Why am I waking up feeling anxious, tired, worn out, burnt out, scattered, and frustrated? Why does it feel like I have creative block? Why have I lost my vision? Why am I feeling this sudden heaviness, not wanting to wake up, not wanting to step into my purpose and calling?” Many of these are signs that we’ve been through a season where slime and poison have been slung at us, and inadvertently, they have entered into our spiritual bloodstream. This has affected our emotional state, our soul state, and even our mental state. I believe this month the Lord is extracting that poison. He’s been doing this for a few months now, but I believe that this month, it’s coming to a head. The last two nights, I’ve had very similar dreams. In the first dream, a snake was trying to bite my hand, and as I grabbed the snake to prevent it from biting my other hand, venom began to drip down its teeth. In the second dream, I placed my hand on a tree when a spider crawled down and began to shoot out some kind of poison that landed on my leg. I began to feel the burning sensation until I washed it off. These two dreams only confirmed what the Lord has been showing me. We must wash off the poison. We must extract the poison. We must step out of situations and circumstances where poison and venom have been entering the bloodstream of our lives and calling, poisoning us for what is ahead. That is the ultimate plan of the enemy. If he cannot assassinate you just as you’re about to step into something powerful, then he will try to poison you. If he can’t stop what God has for you, he will try to poison you so that you enter into your next season weakened, without the mental, emotional, or spiritual capacity to handle what is coming. His plan is to weaken you bit by bit until you are in your sickbed. His plan is to get you in the wrong headspace, heart space, and spiritual space so you actually run from the new day dawning rather than embrace it. It’s this interesting space where the very breakthrough you’ve been praying for, when it finally comes, becomes difficult to seize because of the poison you’ve endured. That is why, right now, the Lord is saying, “Look away from the distractions and look to Me. Untangle yourself from the swirl leading you into decay and fragmentation. Come back to My face. Come back to My presence.” Because in His presence is the healing and deliverance you need to extract the last bits of poison that have been wreaking havoc on your system. Now, I know there are many out there who are facing even physical symptoms, and you’re probably wondering, “Does this include me as well? I’ve literally had toxins, parasites, and other things wrong with my blood, my body, my system.” I believe in many cases what is taking place in people’s bodies right now is connected to what is taking place in the spirit. It’s not all the time, but it can happen. What occurs in the spiritual realm often creates effects in our physical bodies. As I’m sharing this word, I want you to grab this by faith that the Lord would not only cleanse you spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, but He would cleanse your body as well. He will extract the poison, the heavy metals, parasites, disease, and issues affecting your body, and remove the parasites of this past season. Amen? I love the scripture where Jesus said to the leper; Be clean!” (Matthew 8:3) And I believe that right now, He is saying this over the church: “Be clean! Be made whole! Come out from the poison!” Many of us have spiritualized being involved in messes, but not all messes around us are ours to engage with. When God leads you into places where there is poison or venom, He anoints you for it. But when He has not given you the instruction, you will only reap the effects of being involved in something there is no grace for. So God is untangling you from those places right now. So be made whole. Be cleansed in the name of Jesus. I command all venom and all poison that have been in your system, affecting you emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically, to be broken off your life now, in the name of Jesus! 
By Nate Johnston January 7, 2025
Can you hear the sound of water flooding desert plains where the weary and tired have gathered in their season of deep detox and religious exodus? They are no longer the wise. They are no longer the arrived. They are no longer adorning gold-studded garments and speaking the eloquent words that cause people to marvel. They are broken. They are on their knees, desperate for the living water once again. For they tried to drink the water of the Pharisee for many years, but it only left them sick and parched. And now, here we are in a season of the wilderness washing, the deep cleansing that can only come from departing from the shores we’ve become accustomed to. The shores of convenience and comfort. The shores of our ambition and the American dream. Once green, then we ripened, and then the rot began to set in because we grew fruit apart from the Vine. We looked for a savior in ourselves instead of the Savior. We built monuments to our achievements instead of constantly looking for ways to give Him every part of ourselves, constantly emptying, constantly dependent for every breath. We have been full. We have been fat. We thought we knew everything. And then we leveled out because we lost Him in the process. But now, here we are in the season of the wilderness washing. Many are departing and leaving the place of man’s towers and breath-taking babels. The place we crashed for the sake of building kingdom. Burning ourselves out. Leaving ourselves spent. Cutting ourselves up for the masses like manna. “Look at God’s anointed” we said. “Look at my crowns” All the while, blocking out the Son. But we are in the days of great humbling and coming back to the place where it all started, the brokenness, the repentance, and the washing. And I can hear it now. I can hear the water rippling like a ravine filling to overflow. The river of the Lord is looking for the people who are parched and dry just as much as they are looking for Him. And it’s time for a fresh baptism of repentance and cleansing once again. (Acts 3:19) Because we need it. We’ve all felt like Naaman, leprous, covered in sores, feeling like our own decisions and vain ambitions have led us to this point. “God, why would You rescue me? Why would You show me mercy?” Yet in His mercy, He’s leading us to the washing. “Go down to the river and wash.” He is saying (2 Kings 5:10) Nine times, up and down. “But It’s not doing anything, Lord.” “Go down again.” Then we emerge cleansed, pure, wholly set apart once again. We’ve all felt like Peter, who denied Him. Yet Jesus still calls, “Peter, feed My sheep.” The Lord is restoring us back to our first encounter, to the place where it all began. The church is headed for a wilderness washing. We’re not going to see it in the synagogues. We’re not going to see it where the cameras can broadcast it, where we can yet again marvel at our cleverness. There is a grassroots movement beginning, leading the church out from the whitewashed tombs, festering with dead manna and maggots. And He’s leading us back to sonship. Back to the voice of the Dove declaring: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) So right now, if you’re looking at the wilderness your path leading into the wilderness and not understanding why you’re being led here again, it is because He’s delivering us. It’s not because you were lost but because you are on track. It’s the road to Emmaus where you feel like crying, “Jesus, where are You?” (Luke 24:13-35) Not knowing He was there with you the whole time. He’s leading us back to the beginning. This, my friends, is the wilderness washing. Are you ready?
By Nate Johnston January 10, 2025
When you go through seasons of witchcraft, slander, and constant entanglements around you that are toxic, when you experience betrayal, become involved in other people’s messes, sin, and areas of compromise—without realizing it, you’ve entangled yourself and your soul in something that can feel difficult to shake off. This entanglement can create and produce situations around you that are toxic. You often wonder, “Why, God? Why is this happening to me? Why am I going through this situation? Why am I waking up feeling anxious, tired, worn out, burnt out, scattered, and frustrated? Why does it feel like I have creative block? Why have I lost my vision? Why am I feeling this sudden heaviness, not wanting to wake up, not wanting to step into my purpose and calling?” Many of these are signs that we’ve been through a season where slime and poison have been slung at us, and inadvertently, they have entered into our spiritual bloodstream. This has affected our emotional state, our soul state, and even our mental state. I believe this month the Lord is extracting that poison. He’s been doing this for a few months now, but I believe that this month, it’s coming to a head. The last two nights, I’ve had very similar dreams. In the first dream, a snake was trying to bite my hand, and as I grabbed the snake to prevent it from biting my other hand, venom began to drip down its teeth. In the second dream, I placed my hand on a tree when a spider crawled down and began to shoot out some kind of poison that landed on my leg. I began to feel the burning sensation until I washed it off. These two dreams only confirmed what the Lord has been showing me. We must wash off the poison. We must extract the poison. We must step out of situations and circumstances where poison and venom have been entering the bloodstream of our lives and calling, poisoning us for what is ahead. That is the ultimate plan of the enemy. If he cannot assassinate you just as you’re about to step into something powerful, then he will try to poison you. If he can’t stop what God has for you, he will try to poison you so that you enter into your next season weakened, without the mental, emotional, or spiritual capacity to handle what is coming. His plan is to weaken you bit by bit until you are in your sickbed. His plan is to get you in the wrong headspace, heart space, and spiritual space so you actually run from the new day dawning rather than embrace it. It’s this interesting space where the very breakthrough you’ve been praying for, when it finally comes, becomes difficult to seize because of the poison you’ve endured. That is why, right now, the Lord is saying, “Look away from the distractions and look to Me. Untangle yourself from the swirl leading you into decay and fragmentation. Come back to My face. Come back to My presence.” Because in His presence is the healing and deliverance you need to extract the last bits of poison that have been wreaking havoc on your system. Now, I know there are many out there who are facing even physical symptoms, and you’re probably wondering, “Does this include me as well? I’ve literally had toxins, parasites, and other things wrong with my blood, my body, my system.” I believe in many cases what is taking place in people’s bodies right now is connected to what is taking place in the spirit. It’s not all the time, but it can happen. What occurs in the spiritual realm often creates effects in our physical bodies. As I’m sharing this word, I want you to grab this by faith that the Lord would not only cleanse you spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, but He would cleanse your body as well. He will extract the poison, the heavy metals, parasites, disease, and issues affecting your body, and remove the parasites of this past season. Amen? I love the scripture where Jesus said to the leper; Be clean!” (Matthew 8:3) And I believe that right now, He is saying this over the church: “Be clean! Be made whole! Come out from the poison!” Many of us have spiritualized being involved in messes, but not all messes around us are ours to engage with. When God leads you into places where there is poison or venom, He anoints you for it. But when He has not given you the instruction, you will only reap the effects of being involved in something there is no grace for. So God is untangling you from those places right now. So be made whole. Be cleansed in the name of Jesus. I command all venom and all poison that have been in your system, affecting you emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically, to be broken off your life now, in the name of Jesus! 
By Nate Johnston January 7, 2025
Can you hear the sound of water flooding desert plains where the weary and tired have gathered in their season of deep detox and religious exodus? They are no longer the wise. They are no longer the arrived. They are no longer adorning gold-studded garments and speaking the eloquent words that cause people to marvel. They are broken. They are on their knees, desperate for the living water once again. For they tried to drink the water of the Pharisee for many years, but it only left them sick and parched. And now, here we are in a season of the wilderness washing, the deep cleansing that can only come from departing from the shores we’ve become accustomed to. The shores of convenience and comfort. The shores of our ambition and the American dream. Once green, then we ripened, and then the rot began to set in because we grew fruit apart from the Vine. We looked for a savior in ourselves instead of the Savior. We built monuments to our achievements instead of constantly looking for ways to give Him every part of ourselves, constantly emptying, constantly dependent for every breath. We have been full. We have been fat. We thought we knew everything. And then we leveled out because we lost Him in the process. But now, here we are in the season of the wilderness washing. Many are departing and leaving the place of man’s towers and breath-taking babels. The place we crashed for the sake of building kingdom. Burning ourselves out. Leaving ourselves spent. Cutting ourselves up for the masses like manna. “Look at God’s anointed” we said. “Look at my crowns” All the while, blocking out the Son. But we are in the days of great humbling and coming back to the place where it all started, the brokenness, the repentance, and the washing. And I can hear it now. I can hear the water rippling like a ravine filling to overflow. The river of the Lord is looking for the people who are parched and dry just as much as they are looking for Him. And it’s time for a fresh baptism of repentance and cleansing once again. (Acts 3:19) Because we need it. We’ve all felt like Naaman, leprous, covered in sores, feeling like our own decisions and vain ambitions have led us to this point. “God, why would You rescue me? Why would You show me mercy?” Yet in His mercy, He’s leading us to the washing. “Go down to the river and wash.” He is saying (2 Kings 5:10) Nine times, up and down. “But It’s not doing anything, Lord.” “Go down again.” Then we emerge cleansed, pure, wholly set apart once again. We’ve all felt like Peter, who denied Him. Yet Jesus still calls, “Peter, feed My sheep.” The Lord is restoring us back to our first encounter, to the place where it all began. The church is headed for a wilderness washing. We’re not going to see it in the synagogues. We’re not going to see it where the cameras can broadcast it, where we can yet again marvel at our cleverness. There is a grassroots movement beginning, leading the church out from the whitewashed tombs, festering with dead manna and maggots. And He’s leading us back to sonship. Back to the voice of the Dove declaring: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) So right now, if you’re looking at the wilderness your path leading into the wilderness and not understanding why you’re being led here again, it is because He’s delivering us. It’s not because you were lost but because you are on track. It’s the road to Emmaus where you feel like crying, “Jesus, where are You?” (Luke 24:13-35) Not knowing He was there with you the whole time. He’s leading us back to the beginning. This, my friends, is the wilderness washing. Are you ready?
By Nate Johnston January 6, 2025
THE CALL TO FASTING & PRAYER The first area I want to encourage you in this week is the importance of fasting and prayer. This is not just a seasonal focus but something I believe the Lord is emphasizing for all of 2025. God is seeking a people of prayer. Historically, every revival and reformation in the earth has begun with a praying people. As the scripture declares, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7). I believe the Lord is restoring this mandate for His people. As a prophetic community, we are called to intercede. When you see chaos and brokenness around you, your response should be to pray, not to gossip, criticize, or react in judgment. Our call is to legislate spiritually through prayer and fasting. As Jesus declared, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). Prayer is what breaks strongholds, shifts atmospheres, and brings breakthroughs in families, communities, and nations. Ask the Lord what He is calling you to fast and how to dedicate yourself to this lifestyle of intercession in 2025. RESTORATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD The Lord is restoring the priesthood in this hour, much like in the days of Eli and Samuel. We are living in a time where the spirit of Eli’s house—compromise and corruption, has monopolized much of the Church. Yet, God is raising a Samuel Generation, a people who will minister unto the Lord with purity of heart, even in a barren spiritual landscape. “Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind.” (1 Samuel 2:35) This generation is called to lay down in His presence, posture themselves to hear His voice, and remove every idol or distraction that has drawn them away from true intimacy with the Lord. Return to your first love and minister unto Him alone. BRING YOUR PLANS BEFORE THE LORD As you step into 2025, bring your plans before the Lord. Seek His wisdom on what you are meant to be doing and what you are not. This is not a year to be overwhelmed or scattered in a million directions. The Lord is calling His people to steward well the few assignments He has given, rather than spreading themselves thin. “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3) He is rebuilding you, and as He does, He will also call you to build and rebuild. Pay attention to what He reveals. Some projects will need to be laid down, while others will require your full focus. Trust the process and avoid comparison or pressure to overcommit. NEW RELATIONAL ALIGNMENTS This month, new alignments are forming. These connections will be pure and will strengthen you instead of robbing you, as in the past. The Lord is realigning people with divine partnerships that will bring support, encouragement, and true heart knitting. Trust the Holy Spirit to highlight the relationships that will propel you forward and help you fulfill your calling. LET GO OF OLD BAGGAGE The Lord is calling His people to lay down unnecessary baggage that has hindered their progress. This includes mindsets, daily fears, cycles of bad thinking, and anxieties that have weighed heavily. It’s time to surrender these burdens at His feet. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) Release the burdens you’ve carried from the past season and walk in the freedom Christ has given you. You can’t operate at the emotional intelligence level you did in 2024. A MONTH OF MOVEMENT & TRANSITION January is a month of significant movement and shifting. This can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re still recovering from the weight of the previous year. However, this shift is necessary. It’s a wind of change that will move you from places of stagnation into new clarity and purpose. As you navigate this movement, here are two keys for clarity: Unusual Instruction: Be attentive to unusual guidance from the Holy Spirit. The Lord often breaks patterns by giving instructions that seem unfamiliar yet are marked with peace. Peace as Confirmation: Follow the peace of God as your guide. Even when the instruction feels challenging, divine peace will accompany it. “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3) A MAJOR FOCUS ON SOUL HEALTH The Lord is delivering His people from emotional and spiritual fragmentation. Many have been operating under a “shroud” a false covering that has limited their identity and purpose, much like when David attempted to wear Saul’s armor (1 Samuel 17:38-39). This year will be marked by soul restoration. The Lord is calling His people to prioritize their emotional health and wholeness. It’s a year where you will need to say no to many things in order to protect your well-being. The days of being the “savior” for everyone else while neglecting your own health are over. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2) SINGLE MINDED FOCUS The Lord is bringing His people back to singular focus. The body of Christ has been scattered and double-minded for too long. But now He is simplifying and refocusing His people. “If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22) A single focus on the Lord will bring clarity, peace, and a return to the original vision God gave you before distraction set in. DREAMS WILL GUIDE YOUR PATH The Lord is releasing prophetic dreams like never before, aligning with Joel 2:28: “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” Pay close attention to these dreams as they will give divine direction, strategy, and confirmation for your next steps. Write them down and seek the Lord for their interpretation. TAKE THE HIGHER ROAD This is a season where the Lord will lift you to a higher vantage point. He is calling His people to rise above the battles and limitations of 2024 and see from His heavenly perspective. “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:19) The Lord is positioning you for victory by taking you higher. DISCERNING GLOBAL SWIRLS I believe the Lord is releasing a governmental grace upon His people in this season. He is giving divine wisdom, prophetic clarity, and strategy to navigate the complex and shifting global landscape. There are many unusual signs, strange events, and chaotic narratives swirling in the world right now. This atmosphere has left many believers feeling unsafe, unsure, and disoriented. However, the Lord is calling His people to rise above the confusion and discern with clarity what is truly happening. The Holy Spirit will serve as a lie detector, helping the body of Christ distinguish truth from deception. This prophetic insight will not only expose the tactics of the enemy but also reveal heavenly strategies on how to respond effectively. God is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). He is providing supernatural understanding to help His people stand firm and not be shaken by the instability of the world. Trust Him to guide you with wisdom and boldness as you pray and act in alignment with His purposes. I pray this word blesses and strengthens you In Jesus’ name!
By Nate Johnston January 1, 2025
Right now we are in a new beginning. Both macro and micro. The church. Nations. You and I personally. The world we once knew is gone. Something else has begun. The clock ticked over. The old epoch expired. The guard changed. The old wine ran out. Your seed fell to the ground the last few years. 2024 was a year of death and burnout to the old thing. Old methods. Thinking. The hamster wheel fell off its hinges. Sandcastles crumbled. Hearts of stone are becoming hearts of flesh again. Desperation and brokenness are leading us back to the source. Man’s regime found itself outdated. Irrelevant. Powerless. We left the pews and began longing for the upper room again. “Rubble! I’m surrounded by rubble and ruin!” many cried out. Steeped in seeming failure and painful years of pioneering, we have come to the end of the road and yet a new unmarked path has begun. But now watch for what comes next. For in the midst of so much coming to a painful end, something new is erupting. Grassroots. Honest. Pure. Without guile. Thrones falling. Our eyes are back on the manger. That’s right. A manger season is upon us. Unexpected birthing in places no one imagined. And an unexpected timing. We had to die so we could experience what is it like to truly live again. Old mantles falling. Scales being wiped away. Hearing the beat of the lion of Judah once again. The parade and the fanfare of man’s movements are already becoming the sideshow and noise we are blocking our ears to. We don’t want shiny. We want desert dust if it comes with throne-room fire. We will eat locusts if it means we taste honey once again. Baptized and cleansed. We can hear the page turn awkwardly and slowly yet it’s music to our ears and lifting grief and hope deferred with it. A blank slate? Back to the beginning? Yes we have to. We have to become small and He greater. On our pilgrimage back to the still small voice and the good news that has been lost in the years of the machine age. Back to the narrow road and uninterrupted visitation. So while you are feeling the discomfort of this moment. Let deliverance come to anything and everything you are grieving behind you. For this is not a death but a new beginning. let the last few feet of grave clothes fall to the ground. Shake off the lies that you have let settle into your heart like a poison. And lean in. For life is ahead of you. The unknown calls you. What you are really born for is in the years ahead of us. This is a birthing.. War eagles are being hatched as we speak. For this new beginning is going to be the tension of peace and chaos. Revival and reformation. Establishing and movement. Greater glory and the clashing of kingdoms. But is what we were created for. Well done for making it through the crucible years and welcome to the days of kingdom occupation. A laid down people and a big God. The Acts 2 church and the greatest move of God we have yet seen. Let’s turn the page together.
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