This morning I woke up to a dream about a local church who ministers to and is focusing on the younger generations. I was visiting, and for some reason needed to pop over and visit a traditional Catholic church as well to go to confession. The way to the old church was through the leadership team's meeting area. So after I went over to the traditional church and was coming back, the leadership team of this young church was gathered around and getting ready to pray (it was after service was finished), they saw me there and asked me to stay and pray with them. As soon as we started to pray, I was reminded of the dream/inspiration I had on Tuesday about the Lord calling us to go higher than strategy and tactics on into vision, dreams and inspiration. I started to pray and exhort them to set their sights higher, to not settle for "Church as we know it, with an update for Millennials", and that is where I woke up.
As soon as I woke up I felt like the Lord continued to direct my thought and share the following bit.
"The church is supposed to be the Body of Christ here on earth! You are here to represent the Glorious, Ever-Expanding Kingdom of God! You are just starting to turn back toward the 5-fold ministries of the church and as you do so, you must look higher and deeper, dream bigger and not settle for church as you have known it. You are supposed to represent the ministry of Jesus! You are supposed to embody the Kingdom of God, to be victorious over the enemy and shine for all the world to see. In other words, you are meant for MUCH more than you are experiencing."
Letting that roll around in my spirit for a while I felt like the Lord is calling us to dream bigger dreams, to seek Him for divine inspiration, for vision that goes way beyond what we are experiencing today, or what we have always known church as. He doesn't want us sitting in our comfortable churches watching the world go to hell, He wants us out there representing Him to all the world! He wants us calling a lost world to Him, to His glorious body! He wants the world to know that they are His sons and Daughters, and that He loves them! He wants us extending mercy not judgment! He wants us to pursue the lost, the down-trodden, the poor and the harassed even as He did!
I felt like He said we need to see the resurgence of the Five-Fold ministries! We need the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers (Eph 4:12) fully engaged and functioning. We need to be led once again by the Holy Spirit. We need to receive His inspirations! We need to see visions and dream dreams! We need to cast these dreams and visions to our brothers and sisters! We need to ask the Holy Spirit for Holy strategy and tactics! We need to ask Him for inspired plans for execution and delivery! We have settled for man-made and man thought up strategies and it is time we look to Heaven, to our Lord and receive from Him!
We are supposed to be a world-changing, signs and wonders working, glorious Body of Christ! We are supposed to rise and shine forth (Is 60:1-4)! The Glory of the Lord is supposed to inhabit us, to hover over us, even as it did the over the ark of the Covenant and the tent of Meeting (Ex 33:7-10). We are supposed to minister in Jesus' authority, going to all the Nations, proclaiming the Good News and the Word of the Lord, and God has promised to confirm His Words (Mark 16:15-20). We should experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, pouring forth and setting people's hearts on fire for Him! The places we are meeting should be shaken by the Power of the Spirit! The Glorious Name of Jesus should be lifted up for all to see! Its not about us, its about Him!
We need to lift our eyes up and look higher! We need to believe for more, more than we can even imagine! We need to dream bigger dreams, and encourage one another to go after the greater gifts! We need to be for one another, building one another up, not competing with one another! We need to build each other up, to encourage each other to maturity. I believe Paul was expressing these exact sentiments when he was writing his letter to the church in Ephesus. Here is an excerpt of him describing the growing and maturing of the Body - Ephesians 4:11-16 NIV:
[11] "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, [12] to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up [13] until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
[14] "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. [15] Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. [16] From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
This morning I am encouraged to pray for my local church, for the people, for the pastors, for the leadership, for the churches in the city, the region, even the whole world! We are all part of the One Body of Christ, regardless of our denomination or organizational affiliation! I am encouraged to pray for MORE, to dream for MORE, to believe for MORE!
Lord may Your name be Glorified in and through us!
Amen!
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