I was sitting at my dining room table studying the Word when the Spirit of God entered. The air around me seemed to come alive with His glory. Then a deep stillness settled around me like a blanket, and I retreated to my bedroom to seek Him.
Even my two younger children (who were home at the time) were kept completely occupied and quiet during this time, except for goodnight kisses hours later.
As I remained in the Presence of the Lord, praying in the Spirit, I was led to pick up one of my journals from the beginning of this Jewish year 5780. When I opened it my eyes fell on notes I had made after reading Romans 1:4: “It is the Spirit of Holiness who appointed Jesus the Son of God, raising Him from the dead. You will be prepared by my Spirit for a new work. You will need to get your bearings as you ease out into the new territory I have for you…”Clearly, the Lord had something to say about new life and new beginnings!
After several hours, when I finally turned off my light, I glanced at the clock and saw that it was exactly 10:10 pm on 1/20/2020. Time and date had “synced” in the Spirit, and I fell asleep under the blanket of His awesome Presence.
A DEEPER ENCOUNTER
As I re-entered into prayer, Holy Spirit began brooding, moving, and shifting things both within and around me. At long last He spoke, and I began to understand what He was doing.
CHRIST THE CORNERSTONE
In their place, God was raising up stable, secure structures built on Jesus the Chief Cornerstone. These new structures were founded on holiness, truth, and righteousness. The former houses glorified self or the enemy; the latter houses glorifed God alone.
The Lord began speaking specifically to me about our youth. He revealed that creativity is one of the cornerstones the younger generation is building upon because it allows for freedom of individualism and self-expression, a value our youth hold dear. But when creativity is not founded on Christ, it becomes a house of cards.
The next generation is in touch with their essential need to create. They are the filmmakers, the gamers, the storytellers, the musicians, the actors, and the artists who began creating as a form of self-expression. They long to be understood, and the very soul of the nation is represented through their creative culture.
When the Lord takes hold of the next generation, the idolatry of self, the longings and the woundings expressed through their creativity will be transformed. The “soulish” creativity which previously marked them will now be replaced with God-given creativity, birthed by the Spirit. Glory to God!
USE CREATIVITY TO REACH THE NEXT GENERATION!
I heard the Lord say that creativity will be a key to gathering in the harvest for Christ.
Paul used a statue of an unknown God to preach Jesus to his generation. (Acts 17:23). Jeremiah was instructed to visit a potter’s house, and his visit became the touchpoint for a prophetic message to the leaders of his generation (Jer. 18).
Music, film, and media are capturing the hearts of our children now, and to engage them we must connect with them at their points of creativity. What they are creating is an authentic expression of what they feel and need in their souls.
This generation has forged its identity within the framework of individual self-expression and personal gratification. What they create produces attention and recognition they could not gain in traditional ways because of the decline of family, community, and society.
Like the prophet Jeremiah, we need a picture of God’s redemptive process in our minds as we reach future leaders of our faith. I believe the Lord is urging those in the church to use creativity to reach those outside of the church!
Just as music and the arts have captured the souls of our youth, so an ever-creative God would capture their spirits and mold their true identities IN HIM! When they are captured by the beauty of God, they will use their creativity to proclaim His goodness.
The identity-truths found in the book of Ephesians will also be essential for this hour. It is time for prophetic intercessors to decree and declare the birthing of a new generation of believers! The Spirit of God is brooding over and birthing a net-breaking harvest of souls!
The next generation needs a faith that is portable and reproducible. Their love for social justice and missions drives them to create more “fluid” ministries than we have been used to in the past. They have not rejected God, but have avoided the old wineskins and ministry models founded on pride or selfish ambition. Jesus did the same. (See John 2:12-22 and John 4:21-23.)
The beginning of this new era – 2020 – is being marked forever as a time of birthing: new ministries, new technologies, new relationships, and new ideas. Youth will play a significant role in this harvest, along with those who use creativity to both “read” and reach the next generation.My prayer is that the Body of Christ will respond to these brooding, birthing, and sometimes very mobilemovements of the Holy Spirit, welcoming the God-inspired creativity that will bring in a great harvest of souls.
As if to confirm this “1/20/2020” encounter, the very next morning my husband texted me a photo from his jobsite in Maine. To my great surprise, it was a picture of the ocean at dawn, with a fine layer of mist hovering over the waters. The mist, he said in his text, is locally described as “Sea Smoke.”
Glory to God, my husband had no idea what had happened the night before! His photo (here) reminds me of an infinitely creative and personal God.
All creation testifies of God’s glory!
