Moving Powerfully in Prophetic and Evangelistic Anointing | Jerame Nelson
God is raising up a new breed of Christians who will walk and move powerfully in the prophetic and evangelistic anointing.
Recently there has been much talk about it being a time of harvest in the Body of Christ. Pastors, teachers, apostles, evangelists, and many prophetic voices have all been hearing and prophesying the same thing: they have been declaring that there is a great time of harvest at hand.
I too have been hearing the Father in Heaven say the same thing, but I do believe that before God releases the harvest, He will first raise up harvesters. The Gospel of Luke tells us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to raise up harvesters. Now is a time when God will begin to harvest the harvesters for one of the greatest moves of the Spirit that the earth has ever seen.
The Cost of Breakthrough - From One Generation to the Next
As many of you know, Bob Jones (a papa prophet to so many in the prophetic stream) went on to be with the Lord on Valentine's Day of this year. Both my wife Miranda and I were so privileged and honored to have been able to spend much time with Bob while he was alive during the last few years of his life. Most of our time with him was at conferences where we were all guest speakers; nonetheless, we ended up speaking in approximately eight or nine events with him and were even ordained as seer prophets by both Bob and Bonnie Jones while in Austin, Texas, a number of years ago.
Almost every time we hung out with Bob he would tell us, "You're part of the new breed that's rising." He would then go on to tell us that he was the last of a dying breed of wilderness prophets. Every time he said this, he would explain to us that his generation was called to bring breakthrough in the wilderness so that our generation could freely walk in the things of the Spirit of God.
Bob would then go on to tell us how Christians today in the Body of Christ are "a bunch of spoon-fed Christians" and that they never had to pay the price for anything. He would say that now it only takes new Christians three or four years to start walking in what took him over 40 years to walk out in the Spirit with God; Bob was referring to things like healing, prophecy, and even speaking in tongues, which are now commonplace things in the Body of Christ.
Bob told us that if he prophesied in the 1970s and missed it even one time, he would have been called a false prophet and would have been alienated from some churches altogether. Then he would say, "But the young ones coming get to practice their gifts freely because of the culture of the prophetic that's around nowadays."
Bob said that healing is another thing that people are moving in so freely today. He said that in his day if he even mentioned that he got a word of knowledge for healing or prayed for someone to get healed, someone would accuse him of being a part of the New Age Reiki movement or occult.
Carrying on in conversation with Bob, he would say, "Now let's talk about tongues..." He told us that back in his early days as a Christian, people had to wait for days, or even months, before they were baptized in the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues. He explained how people in his time would tarry or wait on the Holy Ghost for days, months, or even years to receive their prayer language. In Bob's opinion, people now often receive that precious gift right at salvation.
After a conversation like this with Bob, he would go on to say, "Your generation is a silver spoon generation that never has to work to get anything. Everything you have was handed to you on a silver platter..." You'd think he was bitter or upset about it, but then he would go on to say, "But I'm happy about it, because I'm a papa, and my ceiling is your generation's floor." (Photo via Pixabay)
He then went on to tell us that oftentimes no one recognizes the cost of breakthrough from one generation to the next. He said that by recognizing the price that the past generations have paid actually releases the key to breakthrough in inheritance in this generation and causes things that weren't so easily accepted to become commonplace now in the Body of Christ.
Bob often reiterated, "I'm the last of a dying breed, but you guys are the new breed that's rising – you and your entire generation." He prophesied that our generation would see some of the greatest miracles, signs, and wonders that the earth has ever seen, and that our generations would do great exploits that would usher in a billion-soul harvest. He told us that an end-time army is rising that would carry a prophetic/evangelistic anointing like never before.
All of this talk of Bob said, I would like to say that with the passing of Bob Jones this last February, I believe that a baton or mantle was passed from one generation to another. Though we will all miss Bob (no doubt), I believe that his graduation to Heaven is a sign to this generation of a new breed rising.
Bob would often prophesy and talk about a generation that would walk as sons of light and become holy terrors to the devil and his kingdom – a generation that would walk in a double portion anointing of the power of God and see a harvest of a billion souls come into the Kingdom of God.
A Sign of the Double Portion Being Released
Even Bob's passing onto glory on 2/14/2014 is prophetically significant as a sign of what is being released right now. When I learned of Bob's passing and that it was on Valentine's Day, the Lord told me to pay attention to the date of 2/14/14. God spoke to me, saying that 2/14 is a prophetic sign of 2 Kings 2:14 and the release of a double portion over a generation. As I looked at 2 Kings 2:14, I was amazed to find that it was the exact portion of Scripture where Elisha followed Elijah across the river Jordan to receive the double portion mantle.
This portion of Scripture tells the famous story of when Elisha asks Elijah for a double portion of the spirit that was on his life. We know what happens: Elijah is taken up into Heaven in a whirlwind, and the mantle of Elijah falls from heaven to the feet of Elisha.
Second Kings 2:14 says, "Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, 'Where is the Lord God of Elijah?' And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over." (Photo via Flickr)
I believe that this is a prophetic statement of where we are in the Body of Christ right now. God is releasing that "double portion of Elijah" mantle in this hour, and Bob's graduation to Heaven is a sign that there is a new breed of the prophetic and evangelistic rising to usher in a massive harvest. This new breed will move in breathtaking displays of the prophetic and in the raw power of God.
I believe that when generals like Bob Jones go home to be with the Lord, there is an opportunity for people to pick up and move forward with what was seemingly lost in the passing. We have an opportunity to step onto the ceiling of that which has been established from the price that others have paid. The key to doing this is all in what I mentioned earlier: honoring the price that people have paid as forerunners.
When we honor the price that forerunners have paid, it launches us into the grace and power of walking in those free gifts that are so graciously available to us today. In Bob's case, it's time to get a vision for the harvest and recognize that Bob lived his life as a spiritual papa to the Body of Christ, teaching us about love, but also preparing us for one of the greatest revivals the earth has ever seen.
I believe that just like in 2 Kings 2:14, it is time to be aggressive for the harvest. Now is a time to train and equip and launch people into the harvest. Elisha received the mantle of Elijah and, striking the ground, he began to walk with the manifestation of the same authority that his spiritual father carried. That mantle of authority was activated right before his very eyes.
Despite a lot of negative prophetic words that have been released about America and the nations of the world, I continue to believe that God is actually preparing His people for one of the greatest moves of the Spirit the Body of Christ has ever seen.
In Elisha's day there were many prophets that tried to discourage Elisha from his inheritance. Fifty prophets even watched Elisha from afar to see if he would receive the mantle and actually saw him begin to walk in the same power as Elijah had. Don't be one of those who believe a negative prophetic report or just stand there and watch. Ask God for the double portion of Elijah and turn your love on to reaching people for Christ. Then just go for it! (Photo via Pixabay)
In closing, let's take a look at what this anointing of the double portion of Elijah looks like...
The Evangelist and the Prophet
The anointing of the double portion of Elijah is seen when an anointing of the evangelist and the prophet combine. It is a fiery anointing of boldness and power that causes "the hearts of the fathers to turn to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Malachi 4:5-6). You can see this anointing at work in the life of Elijah as he moved in an evangelistic anointing to turn the hearts of a backslidden generation back to God. When he called down fire from Heaven on Mt. Carmel and confronted the false prophets of Baal, he was boldly confronting the powers of darkness that were prominent in his time and day and operating in an anointing of signs, wonders, and miracles.
Not only did Elijah move in an evangelistic anointing, he moved in a powerful prophetic anointing. He was known to give crazy prophetic words that the Father in Heaven would back up. For example, Elijah told the king of his day (Ahab) that there would be no rain except by his word. When he declared it, it was established; God backed that word up. Elijah carried authority that caused even those who didn't want to hear what he had to say to hear it. Elijah moved both evangelistically and prophetically.
I believe that in this season we will see this manifestation of evangelistic and prophetic authority come upon a generation like never before. This generation has the potential to walk in so much authority that the world will marvel and fall at the feet of Jesus, having no choice but to choose salvation.
It's time to start asking God for that double portion mantle. As you begin to ask Him for it, get ready for a whole new level of evangelistic and prophetic authority with signs, wonders, and miracles to flow through your life!
A prayer for you: Lord, I pray that You would anoint me with this double portion anointing today. I receive this anointing of the new breed, and ask you for a fresh prophetic and evangelistic anointing. Help me to partner with you in this new breed authority to see the release of a massive harvest of souls on the earth so that Jesus would receive the fullness of His reward for His suffering. Amen.