Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.”
Habakkuk 2:2, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end-it will not lie.”
Have you ever been in a spot where you did not know what was next for you? Wondering around, you feel aimless and unsure of what your purpose is in said season? I’ve been there and I never wish to return. In fact, I call these days my “BC days”…before Christ. When the Lord gripped my heart and brought me to my knees, a lot changed. I was no longer purposeless. God had given me a breath of vision…allowed me to see glimpses of my future. It was beautiful. I would spend hours pondering what the Lord was showing me, days spent dreaming with God as I would frequently call it. Those hours and days spent with Him birthed something deep within my spirit and it infiltrated my soul. What I have since discovered is…I’m not the only one.
Since I encountered the Lord, I’ve known I would spend the rest of my life in ministry. Early in my faith I read about several people that I would categorize as revivalists. Maria Woodworth-Etter, Smith Wigglesworth, Kathryn Kuhlman and Aimee Semple McPherson were some of the main ones. I related to these individuals because I had experienced a radical encounter with the Lord. Over the years I began to work it out and grew a lot in my faith, which led me to believe that we must experience the truth in God’s Word, and it has to be more than words on a page. I quickly realized that a large portion of the body of Christ lacked spiritual fervor and lacked an urgency. I felt like a square peg in a round hole. I felt isolated and misunderstood. I got quiet about my beliefs and stood from afar observing. I have spent a lot of time praying that I would “find my tribe” or that the Lord would allow me to bond with like-minded believers. In this season, I got the opportunity to finally start pursuing my credentials with the Assemblies of God. I knew I agreed with their theology, I just had no idea that I also aligned with their heartbeat. You may be asking why I am sharing all of this. Why am I talking about vision and my random encounters with the Lord? Well, I believe it is time we rise and proclaim our faith. It is time for the body of Christ to step into its inheritance. It’s time we asked God to revive us, give us vision, and allow our feet to run with the good news.
In the early 1900s several revivals broke out. The main one that really stuck out was the Azusa Street Revival. As the revivals broke forth, salvations, healings, and deliverances took place. As time went on, doctrinal positions were challenged. Specifically, the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues, sanctification, and the nature of the Godhead were called into question. Over time, the group of believers known as Pentecostals began to realize the need for doctrinal guidelines, support for missions, unity in the bodies of believers, need for a legal name, and preservation of the work accomplished across the nations. In writing, there needed to be a groundwork for what we believe in order to help stabilize the body of believers and bring an opportunity for accountability which led to the creation of the fundamental truths. Unity amongst these believers and their desire to take the gospel to the nations were hallmarks of this mission’s movement. It was evident that the Spirit was uniting people for the cause of the gospel. The need for structure became evident and as time went on and the Assemblies of God fellowship was formed, people had hesitancies that this would distract from the Spirit’s leading. Despite this fear, the Assemblies of God continued to see salvations and growth occur. Many good things came out of the next generations such as consistent support and training for missionaries, and a more developed, more stabilized “plan” or framework for moving forward. Something else also happened, and that was the decline of Spirit baptism. Over time, people continued to be rooted and grounded in the Word but began lacking in experiencing the fruit of the Holy Spirit baptism. Several leaders in the fellowship have spoken that it is time to rise back up and time to move forward. One of these statements was mentioned, “Let us never get the idea that God has brought us to our present plateau to terminate our progress – His command is, “Go forward’” (Zimmerman 1968, 17). The fellowship continues to grow and become more thorough and strategic in its ministries. I love this fellowship. As a result of someone walking in their anointing and calling, and not fearing what the call to revival looked like to others, I got the privilege of encountering the Spirit of God.
This is why I mentioned vision driven life. An entire fellowship came together as a result of the baptism of the Spirit and the boldness this drove in missions. There was an urgency to reach everyone with the good news of the gospel and the empowerment through the Holy Spirit. When I got saved and encountered the Spirit, boldness arose in me too. Yet over time, I sought more head knowledge. I began to love analyzing and putting together pieces to the puzzles in life. Yet, I too did not see the fervor in my life that at one time was so incredibly evident. I too knew it was possible, knew it was necessary, yet it just wasn’t there. What happened? I lost track of the vision. Psalm 27:13-14 states, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, wait, I say, on the Lord!” I “forgot” the vision.
Recently, the Lord has been so gracious to bring me into a place where I am reminded of the call to a Spirit filled, Spirit empowered life. I’ve been spending a lot of time recalling the visions the Lord laid before me early on in my walk with Him. Visions to see the blind and deaf healed, the dead raised, and the bound walking in freedom. I’m engaging with like-minded believers and I’m seeking community and accountability within a fellowship that desires to see revival. What will it take for me to walk in a level of this that healing and deliverance flow so naturally people are drawn to the Father just by being around us? I think as we look back to the early revivalists like I mentioned in the beginning we will have our answers. These men and women were not focused on what people thought of them. They were broken and desperate for a move of God because they knew it was only Him that could set the captives free. Despite hesitancy over what “revival” could look like, or the manifestations that may take place with a genuine move of God, the AG makes this point, “We reaffirm our desire not to hinder any move of the Spirit. If it is of God, we cannot and do not wish to stop it. If it is of man, it will in time fail, but we are advised by Scripture to discern with the help of the Holy Spirit who seeks to bless the church with lasting spiritual growth.” (General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God Website 2000, 2). As long as people are getting saved and delivered, Jesus is being exalted and the Word is being preached, we can know that we are moving in the right direction. This is what we need…brokenness and desperation. Where do we find this? On our knees.
setablaze 