Make It Real March 09

Question: What is the Holy Spirit revealing to you concerning the next move of God?

God has been restoring the church since the dark ages. Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic Church after encountering the Holy Spirit. If you study Church history, you will see the emergence of the pastors being restored. Church life became more about fellowshipping in small groups of believers with one person overseeing who truly cares for the ones that God sends to them. The denominational churches came on the scene with the Protestant church forming from the enlightened former Catholics. Years passed and the evangelical movement came to the forefront. We now learned the importance of being born again of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis was on a salvation experience and the power of the cross of Christ. Altar calls for salvation and traveling evangelists became a part of church reformation. We then can follow history and see the introduction of the teaching movement. The faith teachers as well as other bible teachers began to teach the Word of God and the emphasis on God’s Word became of the utmost importance. Schools that emphasized teaching the Bible and believing the promises of God became widespread. A new breed of Bible teaching pastors began to minister. With this movement we found Christian books and tapes, as well as radio and television broadcast becoming common place. The move of God that is currently beginning to mature and prepare the way for the restoration of the Apostolic (next move of God) is the prophetic movement. The Toronto Blessing is one of the most known occurrences that ushered in the presence of God to heal the broken hearted. The excitement of feeling the presence of God emerged in a powerful way. This move included the reintroduction to worship and intimacy with Jesus. Many had never thought of seeing Jesus as our soon coming bridegroom. The work of Holy Spirit sanctification and inner healing with deliverance became part of this movement. We saw spiritual warfare, laughter and signs and wonders restored. People began to flock to conferences and telecasting on the web became widespread.

Now to your question, what is the next move of God? I believe God is preparing for the restoration of the Apostles to bring forth an apostolic people. It seems that as God is restoring the five fold ministry that you see in the early church, He is also stirring a hunger in the people of God to walk in the fullness they see in the five fold leaders. So we have become people with a love for ministering to one another. We are a people who have been empowered to share our faith with the unsaved and with nations. We are a people who want to learn and understand the Word of God for our own life. We are a people hearing the Holy Spirit and having an intimate relationship with Jesus. We have embraced and become evangelical, word believing, prophetic children of God. 

The exciting conclusion to this Holy Spirit restoration of the Church from the dark ages is an Apostolic people who actually do the greater works that Jesus told us would take place. You and I are being disciplined, trained and tested to be people who can reveal the love and power of God. Teaching which will prepare us to fear the Lord and walk in true unity is on the near horizon. God is dealing with the idols in our hearts that stop us from truly glorifying Him alone. We are entering into a period of history in which God is about to restore the Apostles. The word apostle means one who is a delegate of someone else. The delegate has the same authority and power as the one they represent. Think about that, the same power and authority as Jesus. How will God give us this great high calling to represent Him with His power? I believe He is purging a people so that we will have His heart and all of our needs will be met in our relationship with Him. We will learn to live in His presence. We will be the people who enter His rest and no longer strive. The Holy Spirit will actually work through our bodies for His purposes and glory. He will do the works that glorify the Father and lift up Jesus as Lord of all.

How do we prepare for this awesome move of God that is on the horizon? I will answer that question next month.