So until I come, be diligent in devouring the Word of God, be faithful in prayer, and in teaching the believers. Don’t minimize the powerful gift that operates in your life, for it was imparted to you by the laying on of hands of the elders and was activated through the prophecy they spoke over you. Make all of this your constant meditation and make it real with your life so everyone can see that you are moving forward. Give careful attention to your spiritual life and every cherished truth you teach, for living what you preach will release salvation inside you and to all those who listen to you. (1 Timothy 4:13-16 TPT)
God and I have been having some deep conversations lately, most of which I have not shared in this format. I have felt some of the “stripping back” and “relational spring cleaning” that the message below talks about. And I have also yearned for the “taps” of creativity flow to be open again beyond their current “dribble.” Maybe you, too, are in a place spiritually that you didn’t expect to be. Maybe God is bringing you back to a place where you once were – a place where you are fully alive.
“We have been in a process that is beyond a stripping back. Beyond just a season of closure and relational spring cleaning. It’s been more than a purging spirit, soul, and mind.
“It’s God leading you back to the beginning.
“Back to the place where it was you and Him and that burning in your belly. Back to the place you were fully alive. Back before the constant pressures of kingdom life, Christian politics, and religious duty kicked in. Back before you felt spread thin constantly. Back before you felt heavy laden and burned out from people and the hustle of the times.
“Yes, this isn’t God trying to rob you but to deliver you.
“LET HIM FREE YOU UP! LET HIM OPEN UP THE PRISON DOORS!
“Right now it feels like everything is coming to the surface but it’s the Lord exposing hidden traps and untying the deepest knots. It’s the Lord revealing spiritual ties and hidden areas of bondage that would stop you in the years to come.
“He is bringing you back to REVIVE YOU!
“So don’t grieve this moment. Don’t see it as an injustice but PROTECTION and the Father leading you out of the Egypt you didn’t even know you were in! That’s right, it’s time to leave that place. I know how familiar but it’s killing your passion and zapping you of joy. I hear the Lord saying “As you are obedient to follow me out, and let me do this deep heart work and recalibration of your life, the sign will be that the tap of CREATIVITY will flow again”
“That which has been stopped up will suddenly flow out of you after years of being in a creative and inspiration funk”
“The rivers have felt stopped up for years but soon they will burst the banks again”
“Soon you will see the anointing, authority, and favor I have placed on your life gush forth after years of feeling like they have been tamed”
“You have lived under a ceiling long enough where it feels like you are only getting by and living in an anxious state of survival. I feel like this will be for many like a renewing of vows with the Lord where it has felt like everything else has stolen your gaze and your focus. This will be a moment of fresh covenant with the Lord where He marks you for the days to come. So don’t be afraid to leave those tables and rooms keeping you on the hamster wheel. Don’t be afraid to leave those rooms of compromise and busy activity stealing your joy. For He is leading you back to GET YOU BACK!” – Nate Johnson*
Leading God,
Thank you for the times in which you bring us back to you, our First Love, and redirect us to greater fruitfulness. Help us to follow wherever you lead, even through times of spiritual spring cleaning that may be painful. Deliver us from the burdens and slavery of our sins, and bring us into a place of revival, freedom, and fresh creativity. Help us to not be living in an anxious state of survival, but to be thriving under your Holy Spirit’s complete and beautiful leadership. May we devour your Word, be faithful in prayer, and fully utilize the powerful gifts you have given us to operate in our lives. May our lives reflect your teachings and release salvation to those around us, we ask in Jesus’s name. AMEN.
“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment” —Exodus 6:6
https://nateandchristy.co/dont-be-afraid-to-go-back-to-the-beginning