Today’s move of God is for tomorrow’s church, too
John Adams once said that “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
What a time to live in when you constantly hear about Stage 4 cancer getting healed, missing limbs growing back, marriages being restored, deaf ears opening up, blind eyes now seeing, cancellation of debt, children’s hearts turning back to their parents.
Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
The church has a unique and tremendous opportunity to see the kingdom of God continue to touch our world in our time and to see it increase in the next generation. It’s important that we live our lives in such a way that will set up a generation we will never see for success.
Our perspective on how God moves is important as it can determine our ability to steward the kingdom momentum that is happening in our day. As we study history of revival and the different moves of God, it is important that we don’t come to any conclusion outside of what God had in mind.
Kingdom and revival are themes that are echoing through the hearts of believers all around the world. It is so encouraging, as this didn’t seem to be the case even 20 years ago. What we are seeing across the landscape of churches and cities around this globe is unique. For some, revival has been a lifelong pursuit and others just happened to stumble upon it. Either way, it is the heart of God to see His kingdom established on earth through His sons and daughters.
One of the things you will notice in revival history is that most revivals lasted a handful of years. And because of this, we tend to make the mistake of creating theology, doctrine and a philosophy that assume God only likes to move in short spans of time. What this can create in us is an unhealthy understanding of the way God moves, which causes us to steward the move of God in a way that is rooted in fear.
In September 1997, my wife and I got married. What a wonderful day that was. But what if we got married with a mindset that marriages are only to last two to four years? How we lived day-to-day would probably look like one of two things. First, we would work extremely hard and strive to the extreme to see if we could make this marriage last beyond two to four years. We would live in fear of it ending and every little thing that we did would be done with the thought, “This could end our marriage.”
Secondly, if we expected that our marriage would only last two to four years, we would potentially approach our relationship as “I am going to get as much out of it as I can because it is going to end.” We would then lead a very self-centered life and become experts at making sure we got what we needed and what we should have. This welcomes the spirit of entitlement. Either of these unhealthy approaches can sometimes be our common reaction to a move of God.
One of the great promises that we can read about in Scripture is that when God starts or creates something, He designs it to continue. Sometimes because of our inaccurate perspective on revival, we don’t steward it from that place of understanding but from a place of fear. Have you noticed that in Gen. 1:3, God said, “Let there be light,” and that light is still working? It is the heart of God to see something He starts continue from generation to generation.
Our deep desire is to see this move of God continue from generation to generation. As you lead people in your ministry and life, begin to make decisions that are not just for today, but ones that will create a foundation for the next generation to build on. Let’s begin to co-labor with God and explore the realms of the kingdom that future generations will get to live in daily.
Along with his wife, Candace, Eric Johnson serves as the senior leader at Bethel Church in Redding, Calif. A sixth-generation minister, Eric is the author of Momentum: What God Starts Never Ends. Eric and Candace, who have two daughters, have a passion to see transformation take place in the lives of people, cities and nations around the world.
Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
Dr. Mark Rutland's
National Institute of Christian Leadership (NICL)
The NICL is one of the top leadership training programs in the U.S. taught by Dr. Mark Rutland. If you're the type of leader that likes to have total control over every aspect of your ministry and your future success, the NICL is right for you!
FREE NICL MINI-COURSE - Enroll for 3-hours of training from Dr. Rutland's full leadership course. Experience the NICL and decide if this training is right for you and your team.
Do you feel stuck? Do you feel like you’re not growing? Do you need help from an expert in leadership? There is no other leadership training like the NICL. Gain the leadership skills and confidence you need to lead your church, business or ministry. Get ready to accomplish all of your God-given dreams. CLICK HERE for NICL training dates and details.The NICL Online is an option for any leader with time or schedule constraints. It's also for leaders who want to expedite their training to receive advanced standing for Master Level credit hours. Work through Dr. Rutland's full training from the comfort of your home or ministry at your pace. Learn more about NICL Online. Learn more about NICL Online.
