Right after midnight, the night of the election in the United States, I woke up with Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke on my mind. I had a very strong longing for him to begin ministering in America. I had heard he was coming to America, however I felt an intense desire for him to begin. I was trying to remember if I had heard he would begin meetings in 2015 or 2016. As these thoughts were going through my mind, the Lord began to show me some things.
First I saw that it's good for us to cry out for the ministry gifts the Lord gives, at that moment I felt the evangelist was especially important. I believe He wants us to understand how valuable these gifts are to the body of Christ--the evangelist, the prophet, the teacher, the apostle and of course the pastor. I saw how important it is for us to value these gifts and to cry out for God to raise up these ministers throughout our land. It's important to have godly politicians, but we must not ignore the value of His ministers, and in some cases they may be one and the same.
Next, I saw as important as it is for us to appreciate ministers of the Lord, it is equally important for us not to become impatient or compromise and settle for false gifts because we grow tired of waiting for the true gifts to be released. Immediately I thought of Aaron and the golden calf. Moses had gone to the mountain to meet with the Lord and the people grew impatient waiting for him to return. They ended up giving all their gold to Aaron who made the golden calf to be their new god and leader. Their impatience in waiting for the man of God to return with the Lord's instructions caused them to turn from the Lord who had miraculously freed them from slavery, bringing them out of Egypt.
After I saw these things, I became hopeful. My feeling was that God was answering the prayers of His people. He will raise up His ministers, but it will be in His timing. In the meantime, we need to continue to pray that He releases these powerful anointed gifts to us. We also need to take time to grow in our understanding of these gifts and realize just how much we need them. In Ephesians 4 we are told that these ministry gifts are given for the equipping, building up, unification and maturing of the body of Christ. However, we must not let impatience get the best of us and cause us to compromise and be deceived by the false.
Jesus said in the last days of this age that there would be many false prophets that would come and deceive many. We need the prophets and ministers of God, however we need the ones truly sent and anointed by Him. Those filled with the Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is not to imply that the ministers who are currently ministering are not true, anointed ministers of God, but that there is a greater anointing--a greater depth--to come on these ministry gifts that the body of Christ needs right now. It may be that those who "go to the mountain" to meet with the Lord as Moses did, will be the ones who receive this gift.
First I saw that it's good for us to cry out for the ministry gifts the Lord gives, at that moment I felt the evangelist was especially important. I believe He wants us to understand how valuable these gifts are to the body of Christ--the evangelist, the prophet, the teacher, the apostle and of course the pastor. I saw how important it is for us to value these gifts and to cry out for God to raise up these ministers throughout our land. It's important to have godly politicians, but we must not ignore the value of His ministers, and in some cases they may be one and the same.
Next, I saw as important as it is for us to appreciate ministers of the Lord, it is equally important for us not to become impatient or compromise and settle for false gifts because we grow tired of waiting for the true gifts to be released. Immediately I thought of Aaron and the golden calf. Moses had gone to the mountain to meet with the Lord and the people grew impatient waiting for him to return. They ended up giving all their gold to Aaron who made the golden calf to be their new god and leader. Their impatience in waiting for the man of God to return with the Lord's instructions caused them to turn from the Lord who had miraculously freed them from slavery, bringing them out of Egypt.
After I saw these things, I became hopeful. My feeling was that God was answering the prayers of His people. He will raise up His ministers, but it will be in His timing. In the meantime, we need to continue to pray that He releases these powerful anointed gifts to us. We also need to take time to grow in our understanding of these gifts and realize just how much we need them. In Ephesians 4 we are told that these ministry gifts are given for the equipping, building up, unification and maturing of the body of Christ. However, we must not let impatience get the best of us and cause us to compromise and be deceived by the false.
Jesus said in the last days of this age that there would be many false prophets that would come and deceive many. We need the prophets and ministers of God, however we need the ones truly sent and anointed by Him. Those filled with the Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is not to imply that the ministers who are currently ministering are not true, anointed ministers of God, but that there is a greater anointing--a greater depth--to come on these ministry gifts that the body of Christ needs right now. It may be that those who "go to the mountain" to meet with the Lord as Moses did, will be the ones who receive this gift.
Exodus 32, Ephesians 4:11-16, Matthew 24:5, 11, 23-24
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