As I've felt stirred to release a
prophetic word for 2013, much of what the Lord has shown me has been building
over the last two or three years. We are now entering 2013, and much of what
has been prophesied and declared in years past, is coming to fruition this
year.
Change is Upon Us
We are living in a time of great
change, largely because of the Church that is coming forth in this hour. We are
looking into a Church that has never been seen before. She is bold, she is
beautiful, and she knows her identity is in Christ. There is a great
reformation going on within the body of Christ, where there have been so many
misunderstandings regarding scripture and the way we interpret the bible. I
believe God is raising up anointed teachers that will have a heart after God,
they will teach out of a deep love for the Lord, bringing a solid biblical
foundation to the Church (James 3:1).
There is going to be a great
return to the scriptures, with the power of revelation flowing through the
Church again. God wants all of His children to have a personal encounter with
Him for themselves. The spirit of wisdom & revelation are going to
illuminate our understanding of Gods heart toward us, this will include how He
feels about the world, and those who dwell in darkness (Eph 1:17-19).
There have been many people who
feel like their lives have been on hold for a number of years; and they have
not known how to move forward with the plan of God for their lives. God is
granting His people the grace they need to step out in faith and move toward
the things He has already placed inside of them. Many people are going to take
the plunge and move towards the things that have been in there heart from the
beginning. This will require wisdom and faith, but God is more than ready to
supply you with everything that you need.
God wants His people to flow in
the spirit of revelation this year, revelation is a divine empowerment much
like grace. Revelation will empower you to accomplish what God has placed in
your heart. Many people have been waiting for God to tell them what to do, when
in reality God has already placed His desires within them.
Investigation
2013 will be a year of
investigation for the body of Christ, as God is going to stir up a spirit of
discovery in His people to look into His word and ask hard questions. Currently
the Church is being challenged to become a new wineskin, in order to retain the
new wine of God's Word & Spirit. God is stirring up a desire to search out
the truth. You will hear of many people who are willing to lay aside what they
know, in order to search out what they do not know (Proverbs 25:2).
The Role of a Prophet
The role of a prophet in the New
Testament is to encourage the Church to fully engage with the voice of the Lord
for themselves, not settling for anything less than an authentic relationship
with God. A New Testament Prophet has not been anointed to be a mediator
between God and the church, as Christ has become our mediator for all eternity
(1 Timothy 2 :5).
The ascension gift of a prophet
is to help mature the body of Christ, not to be the go between for you and God.
There is a great restoration of prophetic anointing that is flowing out of the
Church today, but God is far from finished regarding the biblical function and
application of prophetic ministry. (Eph 4:11-16)
A true prophetic anointing will
remove the spiritual limitations in your path, and enable you to see what you
were not able to see before. A true prophetic anointing will stir you to run
further into your future than you ever thought possible, seeing the future as
God intended you to see it.
In 2013 and beyond, the
misunderstandings much of the Church has had regarding the prophetic anointing,
and how it relates to the Church today under a New Covenant are going to be
cleared up. There have been many prophets who are still prophesying out of a
former glory, rather than speaking to Gods people through His finished work.
There are many people who want to
be the voice of the Lord to this nation, yet they are prophesying based on
their opinion of how God sees this nation. This can create confusion because
they are filtering what God is telling them through their own pre conceived
idea about what is in store for us. I believe God is raising up prophetic
voices that can keep their opinions out of the equation, while releasing a pure
word in season.
The Father wants His children to hear
His voice for themselves; He wants us weaned from the dependency of prophetic
words. God wants us to look to Him for the answers, and not go chasing a
prophetic word. This does not diminish the value of prophetic ministry, this
just means that it's time we mature in our relationship with God and let
prophetic words enhance that relationship when needed.
The Maturation of the Church
God is forming a fully functional
body for Himself; as the church is becoming more like Jesus. We are learning
what pleases Him, as we are made in His image and likeness. The days of living
under a hierarchy form of Church government are coming to a close, as God never
intended the Church to have positions that Lord over one another. The
difference between the kingdom of God and all the other government structures
we see in the earth is that Gods kingdom is a family, built on relationship
with God and one another.
Many have tried to govern the
Church as a top down structure, much like that of a pyramid, rather than seeing
the church as a living, breathing person. The various ministry gifts in the
Church that are considered the greatest, are actually meant to be positioned at
the bottom, near the foundation. The Apostle Paul wrote: Having been built on
the foundation of the Apostles & Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the
cornerstone (Eph 2:20). A true Apostolic & Prophetic ministry will always
come underneath the people of God and lift them up into the next realm of glory
God has prepared for them. I believe there is going to be a greater
understanding of the five-fold ministry, and how it will function within our
churches and the community's we live in.
Blessings,
Josh Crofton
www.croftonhouseministries.com
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