I see two major things are on the prophetic horizon.

One I am calling a new dispensation of grace.

The other has to do with some rough times ahead. It is difficult to share about one and not the other, because they are inextricably linked. Like the word given through the prophet Jeremiah that we like to quote recorded in 29.11

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’ NASB

Yet, we don’t like that this famous verse is sandwiched between verses 10 and 12

10 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.’ 

Right there, in the midst of being told by the prophet, they are going to be taken captive by Babylon and kept there for seventy years, is one of this generation’s favorite verses. The hard thing, the lousy thing, the devastating blow of being removed from their current place of blessing and proximity to the presence of God, is coming. Jeez! Really? We really like the whole idea that God’s plans are for our welfare, our well-being, happiness, security, comfort. What we don’t like is that hardship, sometimes great hardship is the road we must take to get there. 

Yes, Hard Times are Coming

A number of prophets have released words in recent months concerning hard times coming to our nation. They aren’t giving any real specifics. At the same time there are prophetic words pointing to impending revival, a great outpouring, reformation, or some kind of outpouring of Holy Spirit. Both I believe are accurate. 

I have shared bits and pieces of what I’m getting prophetically, since I started my blog in 2019. At the same time, prophetic vision develops. It grows. Especially when that vision pertains to something big. And something big is coming! It’s good, but tough times will accompany it.

We will not only endure, the Ekklesia will thrive in the midst of hardship. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John. 16.33 NIV

It is during times of hardship and difficulty when we can actually grow stronger in our walk with God. Maturity develops in ways it wouldn’t under easier circumstances. Take courage, there is strength from the Lord available to each of us. The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians saying:

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Phil. 4.12-13

New Dispensation of Grace

For a number of years Holy Spirit kept repeating the expression, a New Dispensation of Grace. Not being a dispensationalist, I decided to do a bit of homework on the subject. But the idea of a new dispensation, before the return of Messiah Yeshua, just didn’t settle in my mind. Every time Holy Spirit brought up the subject my mind would get in a twist. That is, until I decided to ask Him what He meant by what He said. Duh!

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: Ephesians 3:1–5 (NKJV)

The apostle Paul received a dispensation of grace from God to accomplish what God had called him to do. He was entrusted with a stewardship. The Greek word in this verse is used to describe the administration or management of Paul’s apostolic ministry. In the Greek version of the Old Testament, this word is used in reference to Shebna, the steward in charge of the royal household. [Shebna and Eliakim is another example of an administrative/authority shift (see Isaiah 22.15-22)]. Paul was given a stewardship. He was entrusted by God not only with authority, but mysteries and revelation. He was given insight that previous generations had not received. This new apostolic company will be given a new dispensation in which they will be entrusted with revelation not previously made received. 

A spiritual season is shifting

It’s not necessarily time for the return of the Lord

One season is ending and a new one is beginning. We are in a crossover season. There is also a bit of  an overlap. The new thing has already begun. The Ekklesia/Remnant is in the midst of major shift from one spiritual season to another. A new deposit of grace is being dispensed. There is a new anointing, a new empowerment that is going to be needed going forward. The grace that got us to this point is great. But it is going to take a new dispensation of grace to transition the Ekklesia for End Times. And it’s going to take a new breed of apostolic leaders that can be entrusted with the mysteries and new revelation to carry it. 

If we don’t assess correctly that a spiritual season is changing rather than assuming its the end of the age, we will prepare wrongly for what is coming. We are transitioning into a new season, one which will return the ekklesia to an apostolic and prophetic foundation. Just because a spiritual season is ending, doesn’t mean the world is ending. We aren’t staring into the face of the second coming, not yet. 

It is however time for some new power

The initial dispensation of grace was to ignite the Ekklesia with power to launch and start the race. A new dispensation of grace will be needed to provide even greater power to finish the race. 

That first dispensation seen through the lives of Peter, James, John, Paul and others was associated with Elijah. John the Baptist, a type of Elijah, was the forerunner. The new dispensation will be related with Elisha, indicating a double measure of the spirit of Elijah. It is going to take a greater grace, a more powerful anointing and greater authority, than what was seen through the first century apostles. Just as there was a prophetic forerunner declaring “make ready the way of the Lord,” there has been a prophetic voice making a declarations in our generation.

A process and a crossing over  

It was at the Jordan where Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind. It was at the Jordan that Elisha picked up the mantle of Elisha and crossed back over. It was at the Jordan that John was baptizing. There were four stops Elijah made before being taken up and Elisha received the double portion, Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and finally the Jordan. This represents a process before stepping into and receiving the Elisha mantle. 

• GILGAL is a place of reconsecration to the Lord. 
• BETHEL is a place of encounter with God where the door is standing open in heaven. Angels  are ascending and descending.
• JERICHO – The miraculous defeat of the enemy and entering in to take possession of the promise begins.
• JORDAN – This is the crossing over into the new season – Into the fulness. This is where the transition takes place, the passing of the baton from one generation to the next.  

Jordan represents the final step brings the dominion shift from one dispensation to the next. Like, Moses who had the authority to bring them out, Joshua, needed a new authorization by God to bring them in. John the Baptist was anointed with the authority to preach repentance and point to the Coming One. Jesus not only had the authority to manifest the kingdom of God, He had the power to release it in the earth. First century apostles were entrusted with the authority, power and anointing to shift the people of God out of the religious structure of the day and into the new revelation. Their job was to launch the Ekklesia. This new apostolic company will be empowered to shift the Ekklesia, as the Bride, who has prepared herself ready [Rev. 19.7]. 

We are in the awakening

An awakening has to happen before this new dispensation comes. This is not necessarily a revival that draws the unsaved to come to Christ. That might happen. But this awakening is for the Ekklesia of Christ, who thought they were awake but aren’t. Hearts are being awakened, in the sense that many are being called out of the current religious structure. We are being called, to come out from among them, so to speak, and meet with God for ourselves. 

Hard Times, and Great Awakenings and a New Dispensation of Grace

Yes, hard times are ahead of us. At the same time, God is preparing His people to not only get through, but to mature and grow in the our life with God. We are going to be facing challenges that will cause us to have to draw upon the Lord in ways we never could have imagined. He has promised He is not only here for us, but has all that we need. He is anchoring us in our ability to trust Him for all things. He is awakening our hearts to seek Him in new ways with a new passion. We are not settling for the mundane or church as usual. 

We are a Joshua/Elisha generation. It’s not about age. It’s about dispensation. God is entrusting new revelation, new mysteries, new anointing, and new authority to a newly emerging freshly commissioned apostolic company. 

Blessings