Wait For The Mantle

Tags

Acts 1, Acts 2, Elijah, Elisha, Mantle, Rest, Trust, Waiting

When other people are getting book deals and you’ve written books with no deal; when others are out preaching, worship leading, doing missions or whatever it is you want to be doing and you are called to stay home and wait, it is not hard to realize how that slight shift from contentment to discontentment can take place. But, there is a still small voice that comes in and says, wait for the mantle. In the story of the Acts 1, upper room, 500 people started in the upper room together, but only 120 were there waiting when the mantle came. That means 380 people left the upper room because they were tired of waiting. Wait for the mantle.

The wait has felt long, some have prophesied, no more delay; others have said we are long overdue; but the still small voice of God says, wait for the mantle. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “My intentions are not always yours, and I do not go about things as you do. My thoughts and My ways are above and beyond you, just as heaven is far from your reach here on earth”. Wait for the mantle.

What is the mantle we are waiting for? The Lord showed me yesterday, that the mantle is something He is going to put on us, it is not coming from within us, it is coming upon us. He said it is like the garment of praise that is spoken about in Isaiah 61:3 or the mantle that Elijah threw on Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19; He went on to tell me that we are going to be clothed in power like in Acts 1:8 and Luke 24:49. It is literally going to be a mantle that comes upon us like the robe the father put on his son in Luke 15:22. This mantle is going to be put on us, like Joseph’s coat of many colors in Genesis 37:3 and when people see it they are going to see God not us; which will prompt them to ask who is your God, we will not have to tell them they need Jesus. Wait for the mantle.

Then today, as I sat down to write this blog, I Google’d mantle and this is the first definition that popped up, “a loose sleeveless cloak or shawl, worn especially by women”. My jaw dropped, I did not expect to read this, but it completely confirms what the prophets are saying, that God is going to do a mighty work with women, ladies, wait for the mantle, men watch for the mantle, we are about to experience a move of God like none in our generation. Men and women will be wearing a mantle that is so God, people will not want to know your name, they will want to know His name. Wait for the mantle.

In the lyrics of the song Take Courage by Kristi DeMarco remember,

Slow down, take time
Breath in, he said
He’d reveal what’s to come
The thoughts in his mind
Always higher than mine
He’ll reveal all to come

Take courage, my heart
Stay steadfast, my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold on to your hope
As your triumph unfold
He’s never-failing
He’s never-failing

Sing praise, my soul
Find strength in joy
Let his words lead you on
Do not forget his great faithfulness
He’ll finish all he’s begun

And you who hold the stars
Who call them each by name
Will surely keep your promise to me
That I will rise in your victory

Just Stand

Tags

Chuck Pierce, church, faith, maturity, Rest, Stand, Striving, Warfare, Watch and Wait

It is January and many churches have asked their congregations to fast, whether for the whole month, for a week, for a day, for whatever. Our church is no different, we are in the middle of a one week fast and for me, who has been fasting for years, this one is different. A friend of mine Leann, said to me at the beginning of this fast, that the Lord spoke to her and said, this is not a fast to ask for things, it is a fast to draw near to Me. Little did I know how true those words were going to be for me as well and maybe ringing true for you too.

This fast has brought on more spiritual warfare than I have experienced in times past, but there is a grace for this fast like I have never experienced before as well. So, last night while in worship, I was struggling to enter into worship. The songs were great, the atmosphere was heavy, but I figured it was just because people were low energy due to fasting, then I had a vision. As I was pushing, struggling, striving in worship, I felt like I was running into saran wrap, or to a screen door. I could not breakthrough, and I am not one that strives anymore. Worship comes natural to me, I love being in the presence of God and can enter there easily and quickly, but something is different tonight, so I was pushing, thinking I needed to strive a little bit. But, when I did I kept hitting this wall, and the Lord spoke to me and said, just stand! I said, what, He said, just stand!

Ephesians 6:13b-14a “…having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm…”

When I stopped pushing, striving, struggling to breakthrough, when I heeded the voice of God and just stood, in an instant, the presence of God rushed in and it was as though my bridegroom picked me up in His arms like a groom carrying His bride through the door. I saw the Lord pick me up in His arms and the door swung open and we walked through it. I did nothing, I just stood like He told me too and the door opened and we walked through it. It was different than anything I had been taught, or had experienced. It was all Him, I just had to stop striving and just stand.

As I have thought about this, I realized that we are living in a new day, the day of striving, struggling and making your own way is over. It is a day of just stand. Spirit led living is not about what we do, it is about what He does. Jesus said He did nothing, unless He saw the Father doing it. Many of us have struggled, fought, fasted, prayed, decreed, declared and we still have not seen the breakthrough. Our striving is not going to open the door we are asking the Lord to open, but our standing will. If we can learn to just stand, He will scoop us up and bring us into what He has prepared for us. He is waiting for us to stop striving and just stand.

Stand in Now Faith (Hebrews 11:1); stand in the finished work of Jesus on the cross (John 19:30); stand victorious (Romans 8:28); stand in your armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). It is a new day, there is a new way and glory is on the way, so we need to just stand. I know that when we do, He is going to carry us through and as Chuck Pierce said in his last prophetic word, “Doors are going to fall like dominos”. Just stand!