The Lord has been speaking to me for some time about "generations" and "glory." Earlier this spring, He said to me:
"Prepare. Plan. Pray. Prepare for the unexpected. I am the God of the unexpected. Embrace Me. Embrace My ways. Look to Me. I will direct you. I am giving you new strength. Rise up!"
"Arise, shine, your light has come! The glory of the Lord has arisen on you. His glory will be seen on you" (Isaiah 60:1).
"Open the gates, that the King of glory may come in" (Psalm 24:7, 9).
"All the generations will see My glory. The glory of the Lord will be revealed (Isaiah 40:5). The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). All the ends of the earth will see the glory of our God (Psalm 97:6).
"Expect it, claim it, walk in it!"
He Spoke "Generation(s)!"Last year, God spoke the words "generation" and "generations" to me over and over - more than 400 times - until I gave up counting. I kept asking Him what this meant. He didn't tell me right away, but just kept speaking the same words without explaining the mystery to me. After several months of this, the Lord gave me a prophetic word about generations:
"Call forth the generation to the purposes I have for them: the younger generation to follow Me, set an example (I Timothy 4:12), learn, and lead when it's time; the older generations to serve Me, teach by example, love and support, and lead or step back when it's time.
"Together, all the generations will experience a visitation of My Spirit and will be used to further the Kingdom of God on the earth.
"Together, all the generations will love and serve Me, love each other, and love, serve and reach the world.
"Together, all the generations will worship Me. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11; Isaiah 45:23).
"Is anything too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:27) says the Lord. "I have spoken, I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it (Isaiah 46:11). The vision hastens to its time; it will surely come, it will not delay" (Habakkuk 2:3).
"Hear this, and listen: has anything like this happened in your days or in your fathers' days? Tell your sons about it, let your sons tell their sons, and their sons tell the next generation. There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it, to the years of many generations. For I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old will dream dreams; your young will see visions; even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days" (Joel 1:2-3; 2:2, 28-29).
Feeling Broken, Alone or Forsaken?The way God moves among and through generations remains a mystery. But since the beginning of time, He has been working throughout history to draw people to Himself. We see in the genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38) that His human family line was filled with imperfect, broken people that God chose to work through.
Do you ever feel alone or forsaken? Ruth did. After her husband died, she was given a choice to stay in her own land with her relatives and everything that was familiar to her, or journey to a new land with her mother-in-law. So she ventured out in a new walk of faith, leaving behind her country, relatives and pagan religious system to follow the God of Israel.
The Lord gave her a new family and a new husband, Boaz. Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:13-17), and part of the family line of Christ (Matthew 1:5-6). Her obedience blessed her descendants and continues to bless us today through Jesus. As with Ruth, the decisions you make today have tremendous power to change history, influence the generations that will follow you and bear fruit that makes an impact for eternity.
God still chooses to work through imperfect, broken people today. He sees us through His eyes and not as we see ourselves. Do you struggle to overcome your fears or to know with certainty what the Lord is calling you to do? Gideon did (Judges 6). His life was ruled by fear and uncertainty. Yet God called him a valiant warrior!
Gideon was honest with the Lord, laying his fears and questions before Him, asking for signs to confirm his direction. God answered Gideon's prayers, helping him to step out boldly and confidently (Judges 7). The Lord taught Gideon to define himself by what He thought about him, and not by the expectations of others. He wants to do the same for us.
Have you suffered abuse at the hands of others? Joseph did. But God was faithful to bring him to a place of healing. It didn't happen overnight; the Lord took Joseph through a process. I see part of that healing process at work in Genesis 41:50-52, when Joseph names his two sons. The first son is named Manasseh, meaning "making to forget." Joseph said, "God has made me forget all my trouble in my father's household." The second son is Ephraim, or "fruitfulness." Of his youngest son Joseph said, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Later on in Genesis 48, Joseph's father Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob gives the firstborn blessing to the younger son. Ephraim (fruitfulness) will take precedence over and become greater than the process of working through the abuse (Manasseh). We see in Genesis 50 the healing of a whole extended family system with Joseph and his brothers fully reconciled after their father Jacob's death.
The stronghold of a deceptive spirit, passed down over generations from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph's brothers, was finally broken by Joseph's obedience and persistence. God also used him to help ensure the survival of two nations – Israel and Egypt.
Pioneers - Be the First in Your Lineage to Follow the Lord's WaysAll of us have generations in our family line that preceded us. Some were righteous and walked with God, while others did not. Their actions can influence us, yet we are individually accountable before God. We need NOT feel powerless to change.
God can help us sort through what has gone on before us in previous generations and know what to hold on to, what strongholds to break, and what new things to establish. Sometimes He calls us to make a generational "shift" so our obedience can help establish a pattern of blessing for future generations.
Some of us are pioneers in faith like Abraham and Ruth, the first in our lineage to follow the Lord's ways and establish new patterns for the future. If so, take heart - there is great blessing and reward in being a spiritual pioneer.
Genesis 15:1, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great." God has used the first-generation faith of Abraham and Ruth to bless the entire world.
Genesis 12:1-3, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Others like Timothy have an incredible spiritual inheritance spanning generations. II Timothy 1:5, "I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is within you as well."
Rejoice! He will enable you to build on this foundation (I Corinthians 3:10-11) of faith, experiencing even greater spiritual depth, intimacy, breakthrough and victory than your predecessors did. He may also call you to venture out and do something entirely "new" in His Kingdom.
Reclaim Parts of Our Spiritual Inheritance Whether you are a first-generation believer or can trace your spiritual roots back for generations, God wants to work through you to express His love to the world. He wants us to reclaim His Kingdom on the earth, securing His blessing in our own generation, and positively influencing those who follow us. Like He did for Gideon, He wants to teach us that our acceptance is rooted in Jesus - how He sees us and what He has done for us; not in any false expectations or wrong view of ourselves.
Ephesians 2:8-9, "By grace you have been saved through faith; it is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God; not as a result of works or human effort, that no one should boast."
The choices we make now can affect not only ourselves and our own survival, but like Joseph, also the very existence and survival of future generations.
My parents, like many in their generation, were profoundly impacted by the events of World War II. My father entered the U.S. Army, was seriously wounded in Europe and taken prisoner. He eventually ended up in a German POW hospital, nearly dying of starvation by the time he was liberated by Allied forces. He made a choice to survive, and his twenty direct descendants, including me, are alive today because of this decision.
God can help us reclaim parts of our spiritual inheritance and destiny which our parents, grandparents or other relatives did not fulfill. What one generation sowed, another may reap (Galatians 6:7-9; I Corinthians 3:6-8). What one generation did not or could not complete, another can through God's grace and power.
So rise, take up your place in your generation, and change the world for Christ! All the generations working together can help His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10).
All the generations will see His glory!
Carol Kelley
Email: opendoor2009@gmail.com
About Carol Kelley: Carol and Dave Kelley are the prophetic ministry leaders at Godsong Community Church in Newberg, Oregon. Carol, a musician, published composer, teacher and sixth-generation Oregonian, has a heart to intercede prophetically for Oregon and the Northwest, as well as cities and nations
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