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

Knot in Wood

Tags

Christianity, Exposing, faith, Knots, maturity, Religion, Trials, Trust

 It has been a while since I was consistently writing my blog posts and the reason for that is due to a  job situation that was draining, I did not have the energy to communicate what God has been showing me. However, I have been convicted by the truth that when we withhold revelation God gives us, it keeps people enslaved and what we sow we will reap. So, I am going to freely share what the Lord shares with me, hoping it will liberate you as it has been and continues to liberate me. So, I am back and will not retreat again. Thanks for your understanding, I have missed you all so much and am ready to run and keep on running.

This morning, while I was doing my prayer time on the back patio, the Lord began to highlight for me a knot that was loose in the fence connected to my house. I went over, took the knot out and began to look at it, the Lord said, look up what a knot is. So, that is what I did and this is what I learned, thanks to Wikipedia.com.

Knot in wood is a particular type of imperfection that affects the technical properties of the wood, usually for the worst. The knot appears as a rough circular solid, that is usually darker than the rest of the wood. The grain of the wood all flows in one direction, but the grain flows around the knot, because the direction of the knots grain is 90 degrees different from the grain of the rest of the wood. A knot is a base of a side branch or a dormant bud, which is a flower that did not bloom. Dead branches produce knots which are not intimately attached to the tree. Knots affect cracking and warping in the material and are the cause for defects which weaken lumber and lower its value for structural purposes. The weakening is much more serious when forces produce tension or pressure, however, knots which appear near the end of the beam do not weaken it and a forest grown tree does not produce knots.

As I was reading about knots in wood, my spirit was jumping around with understanding, revelation and conviction. Knots in wood are like character flaws in our life. They weaken us, others have to flow around us, because we are out of sync with others. And when trials come into our lives, we can’t handle the pressure and we weaken the whole team, all because we were unwilling to deal with the knots in our own lives. As we listen to the news, read the paper, open our email, scan the internet, we realize this is a season of revealing the knots in peoples lives, publically. Presidents, politicians, pastors, leaders, are all being exposed for their knots that have been left undealt with. As I listen to various prophetic voices, they are saying that God is removing all idols from our lives, He is exposing the dark places in our lives, He is purifying His church and His people. Then just this morning Prophetess Brenda Todd said, whatever corrupt practices financially you are doing, whatever immoral behavior you are engaged in, stop it, stop it now! She was adamant, that we need to deal with the knots in our lives.

One thing the Lord has been revealing to me is that He is working on the infrastructure of people’s lives, churches, nations, etc. If the infrastructure is not sound, knot free, it will not be able to handle the pressure of prosperity, promotion, persecution, the presence of God. If God poured out everything He is promising to us, and we have knots in our lives, the pressure will reveal those knots and people will have to flow around us, but we will weaken the whole. I know some people polish knots and say they add character to the design, but God says, I want to remove the knots from your lives. When I removed the knot from the wood in our fence, it left a whole, as I looked at it, I realized if there is a whole in our lives, we are always looking for a way to fill it as fast as possible so no one can see our hole, but the Lord said, He will fill the whole with new wood, where the knot was removed. When God fills our holes, we are stronger than ever before.

There are two major moves coming on the earth, one is a move of God like we have never experienced before, it is going to be worldwide and the harvest is going to be enormous. So, God is building infrastructure in those who will carry His glory to the nations. In addition there is another move coming as well and it is an increase of wickedness. The enemy is going to launch an assault that is unprecedented in history, it is going to bring persecution like we have not seen before. Now with that said, both are going to come with pressure, glory is heavy (you know the song the weight of your glory fall on us, glory is a weighty thing); and wickedness is heavy as well. So, our infrastructure must be strong as individuals, companies, churches, families, communities, nations. The removal and exposure of knots is for the strengthening of our infrastructure, not for shaming us before others. I want to close with the following verse, I hope with this post as your context, this verse sheds some new light.

James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”