As the year draws to a close, the LORD really began to deal with me last month about how I positioned myself to end this year. With so much being devoted into finishing well, I found myself not looking further down the road and into 2018. Recognizing that we have only a few days left in 2017, I began to seek the LORD what He was saying about the new year. Many prophetic voices have already released powerful and anointed words about the upcoming year. They are words that are encouraging and exciting to hear. I am believing in agreement with many of those declarations. With that said, my spirit kept sensing that there is more with what God is going to reveal in 2018. So, I set my face to seek His Heart. What I began to hear was not what I was anticipating. So, as you read this don’t start and quickly stop or you will fail to see the HOPE and the PURPOSE of what will be unfolding in 2018.
A Great Divide
The LORD said, “There will be A Great Divide coming among those who profess to love me. They will be leaders and followers who have served for many years, but they have served in function, rather than with the devotion of their heart. I will permit them to walk away. For in this time , I will have a remnant that will see a surge of abundant growth. My remnant will be ridiculed for what they declare. My remnant will release the heart of The Father, and yet they will be mocked, despised, criticized, and slandered. Those who choose to walk away do so because they refuse to receive the advancement of My Kingdom. They want to receive from Me, but only willing to do so on their standards of acceptance. There is A Great Divide coming, but do not become consumed with worry or guilt, for this is a part of what I have for My Sons and Daughters. You will see a remnant of Leaders and Followers emerge with fresh oil, new wine, and fire.”
2018
Immediately after hearing this my mind began to race with what the LORD was saying. The LORD brought to remembrance the scripture found in the book of John. I want to share with you John 6:47-67, but I also want to encourage you to read John 6:22-71.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”
There were never just 12, but in reality there were many more disciples who followed Jesus that one day could not receive what Jesus was saying as they viewed it to be an impossibility and too difficult to understand. They chose to walk away, leaving behind a remnant of 12. That remnant, although small would one day end up changing the world. And they changed the world through a reformation of what was, and into what will be.
The year 2018 will be a year of A Great Divide. Many Leaders will make the decision to no longer lead from a Kingdom perspective, rather they will lead from a point of view that will satisfy them personally. Many followers will make the decision to no longer follow the advancement of the Ekklesia (Church), rather they will follow from a point of view that will personally satisfy their desire for complacency. There will be an increased amount of leaders who once professed to acknowledge a reformation of Apostolic Ministry, to one day do a 180 and publicly criticize anything Apostolic. We will see in 2018 denominations, networks, fellowships, churches, organizations, and more have a Divide within its leaders and members. It will seem drastic, it will be painful, but it will be necessary.
As Jesus invested into the lives of many, they chose to go a different path. You will also have those you’ve invested in choose to walk away. As difficult as this will be, it will be needed to move forward.
There is HOPE
Words like this can be troubling and heartbreaking to receive. We seek for what is best and want to see the best of everything. And yet, there is HOPE in this word. Though many disciples left Jesus that day and He only had 12 to remain, those 12 launched a powerful movement of the Kingdom. We have to recognize that our HOPE has that same kind of reality. Those 12 Disciples were one day gathered in an upper room to be filled with power from Holy Spirit. That one moment in time launched them from Disciples to Apostles and the Kingdom became effective in a way that no one had anticipated.
The same is with you and I today. It’s evident that we have seen the emergence of Apostles and Prophets within the recent years. What’s exciting is to recognize that there is more coming. So much more! We are in the early stages of a true reformation in which we will see the fullness of Five-Fold Ministry. It’s not about a title or a position. It’s about the Kingdom! Though many will argue, disagree, and mock, there will be a fullness for the Glory of God and not for man. Naturally our hearts will break for those who choose to deny what God is doing, but we must be more determined to seek the heart of the Father more than the satisfaction of man. Be encouraged to know that 2018 will position you for an emergence of His Glory. Though they walk away, there is a remnant that will go onward with the purpose of the Kingdom! There will be major transitions, but with those will be the evidence of Glory.
2018 will be a phenomenal year!