Passing the Mantle to the Next Generation
Doing the Heavy Lifting
God is tri-generational! O, you will not find that word in the dictionary or your concordance. But it means that God is working in three generations simultaneously at all times.
He is working in the senior members of the Body of Christ, now in their 70’s and 80’s and beyond. And, he is working in those of us in the middle generation, in our 40’s and 50’s and 60’s. And God is working with our children, the teens and those in their teens, 20’s, and 30’s. God is blessing and teaching and developing His plans and purposes in all of us at the same time. That is amazing and wonderful! All of us fit in God’s program right now.
Moses told Israel to “only take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen and lest they depart from you heart all the days of your life. And, teach them to your children and to your grandchildren.” (Deut.4:9) That is a “tri-generational” God and a “trig-generational” gospel. (The Word of God is always relevant to all ages.)
But each generation must do some HEAVY LIFTING. And each generation is called upon to sacrifice for the next generation and to help lift it into God’s prophetic timetable and purposes.
During the Presidency of George Bush Sr. our nation successfully carried out a war half a world away. We helped deliver little KUWAIT from the ruthless aggression of Saddam Hussein in a military campaign in IRAQ called Desert Storm. In large part that war was a success because of our AIRLIFT CAPACITY and the ability of our naval forces to deliver the troops and supplies that were needed in a short period of time. As a nation we had great LIFTING CAPACITY.
However, when President Bill Clinton came to the oval office he made deep cuts in our military forces. He sold off a large part of our navy to third world nations and allowed our air-lifting capacity to deteriorate to a dangerously low level. Today our nation no longer has the air-lift capacity or the naval strength to reenact Desert Strom. We can not deliver troops and land support materials to the battle front as quickly as we did fifteen years ago. So, our nation has had to shift our war policy to air warfare. Thank God, we are being successful to date with our weakened military. And thank God that our current president is moving expeditiously to rebuild our military forces. The ability to do the HEAVY LIFTING is essential to our nation and our freedoms. But, HEAVY LIFTING is also essential for each generation of Christians. Our older saints have lifted us younger ones for years with their prayers and their strong adherence to biblical truth in the face of growing assaults and opposition out of hell.
Thank God for those white haired and balding grandmothers and grandfathers who have labored faithfully for Jesus in their generation; some in the public eye and most in obscurity. They carried the mantle of God’s anointing during years of acceleration revelation. Years when increasing hardships and trials and heartaches have struck at the Gospel from every direction. They held to the inerrancy of Scripture when challenged by the humanistic broadsides of modern theology. They continued to lift our faith against the tides of excess and materialism. And, they taught our generation to believe God’s promises when many were ‘naming and claiming’ and lusting after carnal pleasures in the name of religion.
These older saints of God have done their HEAVY LIFTING. They have held high the banner of the cross thus enabling the Holy Spirit to restore important truths lost in the dark ages of church history. Thank God that today we have received God’s renewed revelations of divine healing and biblical faith, of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and evangelism and world missions and the prophetic and apostolic offices. So much truth has been restored to my generation. And now the lifting of the older generation has brought us to the edge of the greatest revival and ingathering of souls in church history. But, as the older generation passes the mantle to us, we in the middle years must continue to do the HEAVY LIFTING. The younger generation will be mightily used of god in the closing days of this age! There is a strong and growing anointing on our children, teens and those in their 20’s and 30’s. But they need our help and our hearts turned toward them.
We are hearing and seeing the rise of a NAZARITE GENERATION in our nation. Young people are taking vows of commitment to Jesus as a REVOLUTION is already beginning. It is a call to radical faith, holiness, service, unity and especially to prayer and fasting.
It is now time to do the HEAVY LIFTING for the next generation. Moms and dads and pastors and leaders must turn to God in repentance and prayer with fasting. Saints of God in our churches and home groups must move beyond the coffee pot and line dance. We must take up the mantle now.
God’s word to Malachi (4:6) was to look for the day when the hearts of the fathers would be turned to the children. The older generation to the younger generation. And the hearts of the younger generation would be turned to the older generation, to their fathers in the Lord. And yes, there is a side to this verse that speaks to the natural restoration of family ties and relationships. We are earnestly believing for that to become a reality all over America. But there is something much deeper here. It is a prophetic picture of a day when the older generations would do the HEAVY SPIRITUAL LIFTING for the younger generation. It speaks of a day when the older saints will not be threatened or intimidated by the young ones. I believe THAT DAY of which Malachi prophesied is here! It is time to pass the mantle before we die. IT IS TIME TO DO THE HEAVY LIFTING. It is time to let the young men step up to our pulpits and learn by doing. We do not have time to send them off to Bible College only to see the fire of the Holy Ghost in their hearts diluted and destroyed. We need to encourage our girls and our young ladies to stand forth in their ministries. It is time to encourage the younger generation with our prayer and give room in our meetings for the exercising of the gifts of the Holy Spirit already in them.
If we wait too long, we will loose the prophetic hour that is already upon us. The church is in danger right now of selling off our God given mantles and destiny just like President Clinton sold off our military might and gutted our armed forces. It is the hour to move from our theology and our me-ology to reality. The forces of hell are already being marshaled against the western Christian nations. We are at a crossroad. If we do not lift the next generation with serious prayer and fasting and encouragement. If we do not have revival we will have judgment. Just check out Islam. Their knife is already at our throats and the threat of their persecution against the godly is already here!
Arise Church. Awaken all generations. Let us begin to do the heavy lifting and take the battle against the gates of hell. Ready!-Get Set!-LIFT! In Jesus name.
~ Pure Notes
| 