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WORD FOR 2025 - WE ARE ENTERING A RESET & REBUILD MOMENT
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.
RELATED prophetic WORDS:
RELATED prophetic WORDS:
By Nate Johnston
•
February 4, 2025
This feels like a very simple yet direct word for the pioneers out there this week, and I believe it will be a continual theme for the year. It feels as though the Lord is setting us on the right path right now. He has been shifting us off the wrong track and onto the right one, aligning us with the right conditions and out of the round-the-mountain-goose-chase many have been on. It almost feels like God is bringing us into an environment or season where things around us finally work or connect. It no longer feels like we are living in clutter or at least God is beginning the process of getting us out of it. We can no longer live bombarded by a constant, overwhelming number of influences and distractions on a daily basis. For the last four to seven years, our pioneering journey has felt noisy, filled with constant swirling chaos. It’s normal in that part of the pilgrimage. It’s settling sail with little to nothing to go on. It’s the season of trial and error - learning to hear His voice and lead as best as you can. That’s why 2024 felt difficult because at the end of that road it feels like it’s the culmination of some wins and advances but so many more painful outcomes to navigate, regrets, and even failures. But coming out of that, the Lord wants to establish us. He wants to set us up for victory in our pioneering efforts so that we are no longer expending so much energy defending ourselves or constantly being on the offensive due to a lack of wisdom in certain situations, circumstances, or decisions we have made. Over the past few years, we have been moving toward a new level of maturity. I believe 2024 was the year of realizing what was not going to work and what would. Now, in 2025, the Lord is bringing us into a place of settling and clarity in key areas, our people, our mission, and our calling. Many of us have gone through a season of redefining our calling. As pioneers, we tend to see needs, recognize things that must be done, and take action. However, not all of these tasks are what the Lord has called us to do. Many are simply things that need to be done by someone, but not necessarily by us. The Lord is teaching us to discern what is from Him and what is simply a distraction. This also applies to the people in our lives. As highly empathetic individuals, we naturally see the needs of those around us. We see hurting people, and we see those who want to run with us. Because we have experienced seasons of isolation, times of feeling like an outsider, there is a part of us that craves companionship. We don’t want to feel like a Lone Ranger right? As a result, we may gravitate toward people who validate or flatter us. We may also be drawn to those who are needy and require help. While these things are not inherently wrong, they can drain our energy and prevent us from fulfilling our main mission. This is something we must address. Right now, the Lord is calling us to establish boundaries. He is leading us to greater wisdom and discernment regarding who we align with, who we pour into, and who we allow into our lives. In our desire to avoid loneliness, we have sometimes allowed “bad apples” into our circles. But the Lord is dealing with these misalignments now. Another challenge pioneers face is our familiarity with mess. We have spent so long dealing with chaos that it has become normal to us. We have accepted clutter and disorder as part of our calling. Some of us have even come to associate progress with drama, as if things must be chaotic in order to be “The Lord” But I truly believe this next season of pioneering will be different. It will be a season of building from a place of peace and rest. The Lord is bringing the right people into our lives, and He is making our assignments clear. We are shifting from a pilgrimage phase of pioneering into a settling phase. This means we are coming to the end of searching for the right location or environment. Migrations are still happening but that will begin to change as God anchors people. Now, it is time to plant, establish, and build the things we have been talking about for the last seven years. At the beginning of this year, I felt a strong warning from the Lord: “Do you really want to go around the mountain again?” There are areas in our lives where the Lord has been calling us to maturity. Yet, it is easy to fall back into old patterns, opening the floodgates once again to unnecessary drama, noise, and distractions. The Lord is asking: “Do you really want to go around that mountain again? Do you really want to keep expending energy filtering out the noise just to hear My voice?” I know the answer is no. The wisdom of the Lord in this season is clear: We must filter better. We must discern better. We must step out of the cesspool of drama, noise, and constant demands. We must break free from the need to appease people and from our own need for affirmation from the wrong places. We must embrace the truth that less is more. We must work smarter, not harder. I believe the Lord wants me to pray today for pioneers, that a great level of discernment and wisdom would come upon your life in this next season. Write this down in a journal: People, Assignment, and Heart. The Lord is calling you to govern and steward these areas well. He is calling you to guard your heart well. He is calling you to steward your one true calling well. He is calling you to nurture the small community of people He has placed around you. As you do this, you have permission to block out everything else. Focus on His face. This will ensure that you are no longer caught in the enemy’s wild goose chase, constantly going around the same mountain, losing time, losing joy, and nearly losing your divine calling. It is time to move forward with a high altitude, spiritual and emotional aptitude, and a clarity and peace that only comes by getting off the broken carnival car of demonic distraction and coming back in step with Jesus. I prophesy, you will not go round the mountain in 2025 in Jesus name!
By Nate Johnson
•
February 3, 2025
For the last week, I have felt an intercession in my spirit for the emerging breed of prophets that are rising up. I remember being at a massive prophetic summit in 2018 when I went into a vision. I saw an older generation of prophets and apostles opening up the gates, opening the doors of a massive church, and they were calling in the next generation of prophets to arise. I saw them coming in, and they were covered in rags, yet they carried the fire of the Lord on their tongues. As soon as they stepped inside the building, the older generation of prophets almost regretted what they had done. “Oh, this isn’t what we expected them to be. This is not what we wanted in here.” They wanted polished. They wanted suits. They wanted the image. They also wanted praise. And so, this group of prophets was turned away. I stood there in the vision, my heart sinking, knowing that the future of what God wanted to do in the church would require a healthy generation of prophets, young and old, not removing the older generation, but rather bringing them into partnership with something fresh that God was doing. For the last six to seven years, I have been praying and interceding for this next generation of emerging prophets to arise. I have seen the coming and going of trends, voices stepping out of the wilderness, only to be shut down quickly by the gatekeepers, the prophetic police, territorial prophetic guardians, wardens, and apostolic wolves. I have seen it time and time again. I have walked through it myself. It is not an easy road as a prophetic voice, especially when there is a lack of mothering and fathering in the prophetic movement. It is a difficult road, and only a few seem to make it through to the other side. But something is shifting... An emerging prophetic company has arisen, one with boldness and unbridled zeal to step onto the scene and establish what no one else is establishing. This is a company of prophets that recognizes that there is a vacuum to be filled. It is like the sons of the prophets in 2 Kings 6:1-2, who recognized that their dwelling was too small and that it was time to build something bigger. “Look now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” (2 Kings 6:1-2) We are in the midst of empires crumbling, people who have operated with “flies in the ointment” (Ecclesiastes 10:1) are falling. This new breed of prophets recognizes that if they do not step out, ignore the fear of man, and begin to build, then: Who will be the marker for this generation? Who will point the way and lead the body of Christ forward? Who will break the stereotypes and religious, whitewashed dogma of past regimes? Who will establish something pure? Something Has Shifted My friends, in 2025, this new breed that has been underground for years—coming in and out, in and out, in and out, has finally arrived at a place of boldness and courage. They have walked through deep orphan mindsets and Jezebelic attacks, but now they are ready to step out and be who God has called them to be. In these last few weeks, I have heard the Lord say: “There is a faceless group of prophets rising up right now, untangled and untainted by the past prophetic administration. And because they have been untangled and rejected by the system, that very rejection was their protection, so they could now build something pure.” They are a generation whose hands have not been in all the religious pies. They have not been muddied and soiled by the compromise and the leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6), which have brought division, error, and polarization to the prophetic movement. A Prophetic Reset This group of prophets is rising to reset the prophetic movement. They will bring healing. They will bring humility. They will destroy thrones and golden calves. They will restore the prophetic movement to what it was meant to be. And I keep hearing the Lord say: “Listen to what the wild prophets are saying right now. Listen to what the wild prophets are saying right now!” People are looking for those with a track record. People are looking for the household names. I am not against any of that, but right now, the anointing is on the wild prophets. God has anointed the faceless for a purpose. They are like the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3) They have no agenda. They have no personal ambition. Their only mission is to lead people to Jesus and move the body of Christ forward. God is Looking for the John the Baptist Voices God is looking for those John the Baptist voices who look different, sound different, yet carry the pure word of the Lord, the kind of word that clears the air in a time of unrest, distraction, and noise. God is looking for those Micaiah voices (1 Kings 22) who will say what He is saying, even when thousands of others have bowed to Baal and kissed his lips for approval and fame. “Then Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.’” (1 Kings 22:14) Micaiah was hated by the religious system but loved in heaven. A Call to the Wild Prophets And I want to simply say to the emerging wild voices out there this week: Please rise up. Please rise up. What is the Lord saying to you? What has He put on your heart? What are the dreams He has given you? It is time to release them. It is time to decree them. It is time to pray. It is time to break past the lies of false coverings and ideologies that have tried to keep you muzzled and silent, at a time when both the church and the world need to hear what you have to say. Because you carry the heartbeat of heaven. And as you rise, it will bring a reset to the body of Christ and lead the church forward.
By Nate Johnston
•
February 4, 2025
This feels like a very simple yet direct word for the pioneers out there this week, and I believe it will be a continual theme for the year. It feels as though the Lord is setting us on the right path right now. He has been shifting us off the wrong track and onto the right one, aligning us with the right conditions and out of the round-the-mountain-goose-chase many have been on. It almost feels like God is bringing us into an environment or season where things around us finally work or connect. It no longer feels like we are living in clutter or at least God is beginning the process of getting us out of it. We can no longer live bombarded by a constant, overwhelming number of influences and distractions on a daily basis. For the last four to seven years, our pioneering journey has felt noisy, filled with constant swirling chaos. It’s normal in that part of the pilgrimage. It’s settling sail with little to nothing to go on. It’s the season of trial and error - learning to hear His voice and lead as best as you can. That’s why 2024 felt difficult because at the end of that road it feels like it’s the culmination of some wins and advances but so many more painful outcomes to navigate, regrets, and even failures. But coming out of that, the Lord wants to establish us. He wants to set us up for victory in our pioneering efforts so that we are no longer expending so much energy defending ourselves or constantly being on the offensive due to a lack of wisdom in certain situations, circumstances, or decisions we have made. Over the past few years, we have been moving toward a new level of maturity. I believe 2024 was the year of realizing what was not going to work and what would. Now, in 2025, the Lord is bringing us into a place of settling and clarity in key areas, our people, our mission, and our calling. Many of us have gone through a season of redefining our calling. As pioneers, we tend to see needs, recognize things that must be done, and take action. However, not all of these tasks are what the Lord has called us to do. Many are simply things that need to be done by someone, but not necessarily by us. The Lord is teaching us to discern what is from Him and what is simply a distraction. This also applies to the people in our lives. As highly empathetic individuals, we naturally see the needs of those around us. We see hurting people, and we see those who want to run with us. Because we have experienced seasons of isolation, times of feeling like an outsider, there is a part of us that craves companionship. We don’t want to feel like a Lone Ranger right? As a result, we may gravitate toward people who validate or flatter us. We may also be drawn to those who are needy and require help. While these things are not inherently wrong, they can drain our energy and prevent us from fulfilling our main mission. This is something we must address. Right now, the Lord is calling us to establish boundaries. He is leading us to greater wisdom and discernment regarding who we align with, who we pour into, and who we allow into our lives. In our desire to avoid loneliness, we have sometimes allowed “bad apples” into our circles. But the Lord is dealing with these misalignments now. Another challenge pioneers face is our familiarity with mess. We have spent so long dealing with chaos that it has become normal to us. We have accepted clutter and disorder as part of our calling. Some of us have even come to associate progress with drama, as if things must be chaotic in order to be “The Lord” But I truly believe this next season of pioneering will be different. It will be a season of building from a place of peace and rest. The Lord is bringing the right people into our lives, and He is making our assignments clear. We are shifting from a pilgrimage phase of pioneering into a settling phase. This means we are coming to the end of searching for the right location or environment. Migrations are still happening but that will begin to change as God anchors people. Now, it is time to plant, establish, and build the things we have been talking about for the last seven years. At the beginning of this year, I felt a strong warning from the Lord: “Do you really want to go around the mountain again?” There are areas in our lives where the Lord has been calling us to maturity. Yet, it is easy to fall back into old patterns, opening the floodgates once again to unnecessary drama, noise, and distractions. The Lord is asking: “Do you really want to go around that mountain again? Do you really want to keep expending energy filtering out the noise just to hear My voice?” I know the answer is no. The wisdom of the Lord in this season is clear: We must filter better. We must discern better. We must step out of the cesspool of drama, noise, and constant demands. We must break free from the need to appease people and from our own need for affirmation from the wrong places. We must embrace the truth that less is more. We must work smarter, not harder. I believe the Lord wants me to pray today for pioneers, that a great level of discernment and wisdom would come upon your life in this next season. Write this down in a journal: People, Assignment, and Heart. The Lord is calling you to govern and steward these areas well. He is calling you to guard your heart well. He is calling you to steward your one true calling well. He is calling you to nurture the small community of people He has placed around you. As you do this, you have permission to block out everything else. Focus on His face. This will ensure that you are no longer caught in the enemy’s wild goose chase, constantly going around the same mountain, losing time, losing joy, and nearly losing your divine calling. It is time to move forward with a high altitude, spiritual and emotional aptitude, and a clarity and peace that only comes by getting off the broken carnival car of demonic distraction and coming back in step with Jesus. I prophesy, you will not go round the mountain in 2025 in Jesus name!
By Nate Johnson
•
February 3, 2025
For the last week, I have felt an intercession in my spirit for the emerging breed of prophets that are rising up. I remember being at a massive prophetic summit in 2018 when I went into a vision. I saw an older generation of prophets and apostles opening up the gates, opening the doors of a massive church, and they were calling in the next generation of prophets to arise. I saw them coming in, and they were covered in rags, yet they carried the fire of the Lord on their tongues. As soon as they stepped inside the building, the older generation of prophets almost regretted what they had done. “Oh, this isn’t what we expected them to be. This is not what we wanted in here.” They wanted polished. They wanted suits. They wanted the image. They also wanted praise. And so, this group of prophets was turned away. I stood there in the vision, my heart sinking, knowing that the future of what God wanted to do in the church would require a healthy generation of prophets, young and old, not removing the older generation, but rather bringing them into partnership with something fresh that God was doing. For the last six to seven years, I have been praying and interceding for this next generation of emerging prophets to arise. I have seen the coming and going of trends, voices stepping out of the wilderness, only to be shut down quickly by the gatekeepers, the prophetic police, territorial prophetic guardians, wardens, and apostolic wolves. I have seen it time and time again. I have walked through it myself. It is not an easy road as a prophetic voice, especially when there is a lack of mothering and fathering in the prophetic movement. It is a difficult road, and only a few seem to make it through to the other side. But something is shifting... An emerging prophetic company has arisen, one with boldness and unbridled zeal to step onto the scene and establish what no one else is establishing. This is a company of prophets that recognizes that there is a vacuum to be filled. It is like the sons of the prophets in 2 Kings 6:1-2, who recognized that their dwelling was too small and that it was time to build something bigger. “Look now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” (2 Kings 6:1-2) We are in the midst of empires crumbling, people who have operated with “flies in the ointment” (Ecclesiastes 10:1) are falling. This new breed of prophets recognizes that if they do not step out, ignore the fear of man, and begin to build, then: Who will be the marker for this generation? Who will point the way and lead the body of Christ forward? Who will break the stereotypes and religious, whitewashed dogma of past regimes? Who will establish something pure? Something Has Shifted My friends, in 2025, this new breed that has been underground for years—coming in and out, in and out, in and out, has finally arrived at a place of boldness and courage. They have walked through deep orphan mindsets and Jezebelic attacks, but now they are ready to step out and be who God has called them to be. In these last few weeks, I have heard the Lord say: “There is a faceless group of prophets rising up right now, untangled and untainted by the past prophetic administration. And because they have been untangled and rejected by the system, that very rejection was their protection, so they could now build something pure.” They are a generation whose hands have not been in all the religious pies. They have not been muddied and soiled by the compromise and the leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6), which have brought division, error, and polarization to the prophetic movement. A Prophetic Reset This group of prophets is rising to reset the prophetic movement. They will bring healing. They will bring humility. They will destroy thrones and golden calves. They will restore the prophetic movement to what it was meant to be. And I keep hearing the Lord say: “Listen to what the wild prophets are saying right now. Listen to what the wild prophets are saying right now!” People are looking for those with a track record. People are looking for the household names. I am not against any of that, but right now, the anointing is on the wild prophets. God has anointed the faceless for a purpose. They are like the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3) They have no agenda. They have no personal ambition. Their only mission is to lead people to Jesus and move the body of Christ forward. God is Looking for the John the Baptist Voices God is looking for those John the Baptist voices who look different, sound different, yet carry the pure word of the Lord, the kind of word that clears the air in a time of unrest, distraction, and noise. God is looking for those Micaiah voices (1 Kings 22) who will say what He is saying, even when thousands of others have bowed to Baal and kissed his lips for approval and fame. “Then Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.’” (1 Kings 22:14) Micaiah was hated by the religious system but loved in heaven. A Call to the Wild Prophets And I want to simply say to the emerging wild voices out there this week: Please rise up. Please rise up. What is the Lord saying to you? What has He put on your heart? What are the dreams He has given you? It is time to release them. It is time to decree them. It is time to pray. It is time to break past the lies of false coverings and ideologies that have tried to keep you muzzled and silent, at a time when both the church and the world need to hear what you have to say. Because you carry the heartbeat of heaven. And as you rise, it will bring a reset to the body of Christ and lead the church forward.
By Nate Johnston
•
January 29, 2025
Over this last month, as I’ve been off social media, the Lord has been highlighting a profound yet simple instruction for 2025 and beyond. This is something He has spoken to me personally, but I know it applies to many others who have felt a deep reverence stepping into 2025. There has been a real fear of the Lord regarding what we are meant to do, what we are meant to be involved in, and how we are to advance His kingdom. It feels as though, especially over the last six months, the Lord has been shifting our appetites and affections, down to our appetites and desires. He has been prompting us to redefine and even question what we have been doing in the past and what we are called to do moving forward. It feels like the Lord is making a very loud statement to us - begin to build unusual! As pioneers, what we step into in 2025 must be a brand-new blueprint. It is as though we have come to the end of the last map. We had to write it, plot it, and walk into the unknown to discover it. But now, that map is complete. We have walked the path we were meant to walk. And now, stepping into 2025, the Lord is handing us a blank slate, a new parchment and a pen to begin charting a new course. This means stepping into something that has never been done before. It means forging a path that has not yet been paved. But it is impossible to step into the new while still clinging to the old instructions, methods, and mindsets of our last pioneering journey. What needs to happen now is a grand departure. That is why your affections have changed. That is why your appetites have shifted. That is why you have felt an unusual discontent watching what others are doing. It is not that those things are wrong; rather, the Lord places that discontent in us when He is calling us to detour from familiar paths and step into our own unique journey. In 2014, Christy and I felt this pull deeply. At the time, we were involved in a church where I was serving as a worship pastor and we both began to sense that if we didn’t step into what God was calling us to, we would be forfeiting a decade of our lives. We knew that if we ignored the call, we would be stuck going around the same mountain, doing what everyone else was doing instead of what God had placed on our lives. The Lord was asking us, “Are you willing to feel uncomfortable for a season to step into the destiny upon your life?” I can tell you, it was a deeply uncomfortable season of leaving behind the familiar. We had to burn the oxen and the plow and be okay with being misunderstood. Yet now, ten years later, we are reaping the fruit of that obedience. We chose the unfamiliar, the unpopular. We took hold of the blank parchment and began to etch out the revelation of the Lord, taking daily steps of obedience. That journey has now formed a map for many others to follow. And I believe we are at that same moment again. I know many pioneers reading this are asking, “What is my next step? Why do I feel lost? Why does nothing seem to be coming together? Why do I feel the pull to leave this, to walk away from that, to not do what others expect me to do?” It is because the Lord has called you for seasons, not to be a lone ranger, not to be isolated, but to walk in the grace He has given you for the unusual. You are called to step into the unfamiliar, to embrace the unknown, to pioneer a new language and build an infrastructure that no one else is building. Right now, God is redirecting many. It reminds me of the Macedonian call, when they were set to go in one direction, but God gave them a dream and redirected them elsewhere. In the same way, God is now releasing mass revelation to His pioneers. He is sounding a clarion call: “You cannot follow the same path as before” There is a temptation to fall into complacency because it is comfortable. It is easy to think, “God, I’ve paid my dues. I can settle into ease now.” But the Lord is saying, “I have not called you to ease. Ground does not break beneath your feet through comfort. I have placed a sledgehammer in your hands to break the hardest of ground. And as you break that ground, what has been hidden and concealed will begin to erupt.” Wells need to be uncapped and YOU are called to do this in cities and regions that are blocked. We are in a season where the nations are ripe, but the ground must be tilled to prepare for the harvest. So, pioneers, my word for you today is this: Lean into the unusual. Do not do what everyone else is doing. Do not fall into the trap of continuing with the same religious or ministry endeavors simply because they are familiar. Step into the unusual. There is a grace and anointing upon the unusual. There is a grace and anointing upon that which is organic and grassroots in this season. You do not need the masses. You do not need widespread approval from people. You simply need the yes of the Lord. Step into what may not make sense to others, because in heaven, it makes perfect sense. This is your call.
By Nate Johnston
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January 28, 2025
As we begin the week, I have a word for you. God is resetting our circuit boards and rewiring areas of our lives that aren’t visible on the exterior or sometimes even apparent. Do you feel it? It’s been happening for months now. He is working behind the scenes, doing a deep work right now to get us back on track and declutter many, many years of loose wiring and heavy burdens in our lives. This is where our journeys lead us through unexpected roads, terrain, and difficulties that scatter us and these challenges bring in external influences and distractions that slowly rob us. Think, for instance, about a jug with a pinhole in it. Over time, the jug leaks water until it’s depleted. If it’s not refilled constantly, it requires more and more input to sustain it. I believe many people have been like that leaky jug, slowly losing themselves over time. Right now, the Lord is repairing those small holes, those small fractures and areas of our lives. This work has been ongoing for many months. I even wrote about this in October, November, and December, but I felt led to encourage you again: God is at work. However, if we misdiagnose this process as the enemy’s doing, asking, “Why am I feeling this way? Why are these things coming to the surface? Why does it feel like I have so many issues right now?” We will miss it. God is healing you. He is setting you free. God really wants you whole in this season. This reminds me of how, as a father, when my kids get hurt playing a sport, I want to see them patched up and healed before they head back out onto the field. It feels the same way with God. He wants you completely restored and ready, with the capacity to embrace the amazing things He has for you in this season. But if you’re still running with the mindsets of the last season - empty, soul-sick, or hope-deferred, it will create issues down the road. This morning, I woke up in our new house here in California and discovered a fuse issue. The bottom part of the house wasn’t receiving power. Instantly, I went to the circuit board and flipped the switch for the circuit that wasn’t working and nothing happened. I tried again, but it just kept flipping back. Normally, this is the fix for a tripped fuse. That’s when I realized I needed to reset the entire house. Once I reset the main circuit, the power came back for the whole house, fixing the issue. This reminded me of how God sometimes needs to do a hard reset of our internal wiring, our hearts, and our souls . Every area of our lives needs resetting so we can function properly and the power can turn back on. What does the power represent? It represents the power of God and the Holy Spirit working mightily in our hearts and lives. This process requires us to lean in and surrender to the rewiring. Here are three areas I feel the lord asking us to do this in right now; Our Assignments: God is asking us to surrender the work we are doing for Him. It feels like a holy moment, a new chapter, where He is asking: “What’s in your hands? Are you going to keep doing what you’ve always done, reaping the same results? Or are you willing to surrender it to me, empty your hands, and let me place in them what is needed for this season?” This is a time to step back and evaluate if what we are doing is truly aligned with His plan or if we’re holding on to outdated assignments. Surrender your work, your ministry, and your efforts to Him so He can give you the clarity and provision you need. Our Relationships: God says, “Give me your relationships, your connections, and the people you’re running with. Empty yourself and allow me to put the right people and alignments in your life.” Some relationships may no longer be fruitful for the season you are stepping into. Trust God to realign your community and partnerships, placing the right people in your path. Be willing to let go of unhealthy ties or connections that are holding you back, and allow Him to bring new relationships that will propel you forward. Our Dreams: What dreams, desires, or expectations are you clinging to? Are you willing to release them to God? Enter the secret place, lay them before Him, and allow Him to give you what is truly necessary for this season. Some of the dreams we hold onto may be good but not God’s best for us or the right timing. Others may need refining or replacing. Surrender your ambitions and plans to the Lord, and let Him give you fresh vision and purpose. God is also restoring childlike joy and adventure in this season. As I voice-record this, I see a picture of a child laughing with their father. This child is filled with joy and delight, eagerly participating in the father’s work. I believe God wants to restore that childlike faith and joy to us, something the enemy has robbed from many of us. In recent years, so many pioneers have lost their joy, fire, and fight. They’ve been running on empty. Now, in 2025, God is beginning to fill us with fresh vision. But even with fresh vision, without the power supply to sustain it, it won’t come to fruition. God can give us building plans, but without the power to execute them, they will fail. Right now, God is recalibrating us back to our original factory settings. This morning, I was led to the story of Peter, who denied Jesus three times. After Jesus died, Peter went back to his fishing boat. In a powerful moment of restoration, Peter, still carrying the weight of guilt, ran to the shore when he realized it was Jesus. Jesus asked him three times, “Do you love me?” and instructed him to feed His sheep. This moment not only overwrote Peter’s denial but also brought deep soul and heart healing, restoring him to his original mission. Can you see how this is happening right now both personally and also corporately in the church? It’s the Lord loudly pleading “Come back to your first love! Be made whole!” As I say this, I feel led to declare: Dry bones, come alive! You migh t feel like those dry bones in the valley, scattered, lifeless, and forgotten. But hear the word of the Lord: The breath of God is coming upon you. He is breathing life into your weary soul and raising you up to stand as a mighty army. Just as Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones and they came together, bone to bone, God is knitting you back together. He’s covering you with tendons, flesh, and skin and filling you with His Spirit. You will no longer live in the valley of despair or feel abandoned in the shadow of death. The Lord is calling you out of darkness, out of hopelessness, and into the fullness of life. You may feel like you’ve been lying in a grave, hidden, forgotten, and lifeless, but the Lord is saying, “Come out! I am not done with you.” He is restoring your strength, renewing your vision, and filling you with a fresh wind of His Spirit. This is a moment of awakening. The things that felt dead, the dreams that seemed lost, and the purposes that seemed unreachable are being revived. The Lord is calling you to rise up. No longer will you carry the weight of shame, guilt, or defeat. No longer will the enemy hold you captive in the graveyard of past seasons. The Lord is saying, “Stand to your feet! Mighty ones, it’s time to live again.” He is placing His Spirit within you, empowering you for the days ahead. Get ready for new assignments, fresh alignments, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. The dry bones are coming alive. This is your season of restoration, renewal, and revival in Jesus name!
