The Lord is doing a new thing. Will you recognize the new move?
If the Prophet Isaiah were with us today, he might repeat a
declaration from the 43rd chapter of the prophetic book he
penned. Since he’s among the great cloud of witnesses, I’ll
make this Spirit-led declaration instead. Behold, the Lord
is doing a new thing! We need to move forward with His
Spirit so we don’t get left behind in the desert.
Interestingly, Isaiah was the same prophet who announced
John the Baptist’s day, another time when the Lord was doing
a ‘new thing.’ John was a voice crying in the wilderness
(Isaiah 40:3). The Bible says he was filled with the Spirit
from his mother’s womb, and when he launched his ministry –
to prepare a way for the Lord – he was visibly anointed.
In fact, despite his less-than-luxurious meeting place, his
uncouth exterior and his fire and brimstone message, the
Baptist probably drew some of the largest crowds since
Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal hundreds of years
earlier. The Bible says people went out to him from
Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
As anointed as was John, though, there came One mightier:
Jesus of Nazareth. Baptizing Jesus and announcing him as the
“Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world” was among
John’s last assignments. Indeed, this was a defining moment
in both men’s ministries.
The spiritual burden to usher in the Kingdom of God would
shift from John to Jesus. John had done his duty. He was
decreasing that Jesus might increase. Or you might say, the
old move was now serving as a foundation for the new move.
Sure, the old move was still bigger than the new move. John
still had more disciples than Jesus. But it’s interesting to
note that the ones who discerned the ways of God followed
the Spirit – they followed Jesus. The ones who didn’t fell
prey to religion.
Andrew was the first of John’s disciples to catch on to what
the Spirit was doing. One day the Baptist was at the Jordan
with two of his disciples. When Jesus walked by he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35). When the disciples
heard him, they immediately followed Jesus. One of the
disciples, Andrew, fetched Simon Peter and told him he had
found the Messiah. From there, the movement began to gain
momentum. Philip and Nathanael joined the revolution next,
and the others soon followed until there were multitudes.
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John’s disciples followed the Spirit, though, and some of
them got religious. Remember when Jesus and John were both
baptizing? John’s disciples were none too happy. They went
to him and whined, “Rabbi, you know the one who was with you
on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with
your witness? Well, he’s now competing with us. He’s
baptizing, too, and everyone’s going to him instead of us”
(John 3:26 MSG).
Do you see the competitive, jealous, comparing religious
spirit? They were upset because Jesus’ congregation was
larger than John’s. Spoken like a true prophet, John tells
his disciples that “This is the assigned moment for him to
move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines”
(John 3:30 MSG). That’s just what happened. John soon landed
in prison. The message he was preaching – “Repent, for the
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” – didn’t fade away. Jesus
picked up the same message and added to it. See, the former
moves of God are treasures, foundations for what God plans
to do next. New moves often spring forth from the former
moves.
Even after John was put in prison, some of his disciples
still didn’t have eyes to see or ears to hear. Soon, they
would fall into the same mindset of the Pharisees and
Sadducees, the ones their leader called a ‘brood of vipers.’
Yes, John’s disciples had the unmitigated gall to ask Jesus
this pointed question: “Why is it that we and the Pharisees
fast often, [that is, abstain from food and drink as a
religious exercise], but Your disciples do not fast?”
(Matthew 9:14 AMP). Jesus’ response confirmed the transition
to the new move. He said, “No man putteth a piece of new
cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill
it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the
bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles
perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are
preserved” (Matthew 9:16-17).
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You would have thought these disciples, who had studied
under a man Jesus called the greatest of all prophets, would
have had ears to hear, wouldn’t you? We don’t know for sure
how they responded. Hopefully, they moved on with Jesus.
That’s what John would have wanted for those to whom he
imparted his prophetic insight while Jesus was awaiting His
revealing.
What about you, prophet? Are you holding onto a past move
that’s dried up? Or are you moving with God daily as He
continues to reveal His plans and His ways? Ask God to show
you if you’ve got some catching up to do. It’s never too
late to follow the Spirit out of those spiritually dry
places. The Message Bible puts it this way: “Forget about
what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be
alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s
bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a
road through the desert, rivers in the badlands” (Isaiah 43:
18-19). It’s 2008. Follow the river of God’s living water.
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