Garris Elkins: A Vision of His Defining Light

I don't often post prophetic words by other authors here on this blog but I felt that I should post this one as it speaks powerfully and accurately on where the church is today and where she needs to go.

We have just come through a moment in time where the Church has been repositioned into a new place. Few of us really understand this new position. Something has changed. This new place is not yet fully defined, but will become more evident with each passing day as we seek God's face.

As I prayed to understand this repositioning, I began to see an image. In the image we were standing in a dark room. I could sense this was a room of transition. I could see someone standing at a dimmer switch that controlled the level of light allowed into the room.

As the dimmer switch was moved up, the level of light within the room began to increase. Those of us in the room started to see dimly lit objects around us. Things that seemed fuzzy in the low light level now began to take shape and definition. As the room became fully illuminated, four objects in the room became visible – a box, a boat, a sword and a journal.

I Saw a Box of Expired Methods

As I looked across the room, the first object I saw was a box. It looked like one of those antique wooden steamer trunks used for travel a hundred years ago. Across the face of the box was a large label that read, "Expired."

God was letting me know that some of the methods of ministry we have used in the past would no longer be used in the future – they had expired their season of usefulness. Methods that worked in the past had become, for some, a place where faith was no longer needed. The methodology linked to the known methods had now replaced the vulnerability of stepping forward in faith.

I Saw a Boat With a Punctured Hull

In the side of the hull of the boat was a large hole, just below the water line. It was obvious this boat would not be able to float if launched. This hole was defined as "Self-promotion."

Self-promotion had punctured the hull of the ship where ministry was allowed to become an industry. Industry in the natural requires promotion and advertising in order to survive in the marketplace. I felt the grieving of the Lord over this issue, when He said to me, "If I be lifted up – not what you do in My name – I will draw all men to Myself." I began to repent of this very sin in my own heart.

I Saw a Sword With a Dull and Chipped Blade

This sword was large, like a medieval knight's war-sword. The dulled edge of the sword was also chipped. I got the sense that it had been used to strike objects in its dulled state and was chipped because it had lost its ability to cut.

I knew this sword represented the Word of God. At first, I tried to understand what this meant since God's Word is described to us as "active, alive and sharp." The Word of God is a powerful weapon, so why was it not cutting?

I began to understand what I was seeing – this was an image of the Word in our hand unused, not the Word in its purest sense. The Word in the hands of some has grown dull because of the lack of use. Our opinions about life, ministry and the Kingdom had replaced the Word. As a result, it was easier to try and use the sword as a weapon to motivate people toward our opinions.

I believe God is asking some of us to navigate this new place through a return to a Word-based understanding of life and calling. As these images and words came to my mind, the blade of the sword began to repair and glisten in sharpness under the reflecting light in the room.

I Saw a Journal Covered With Dust

This journal was titled "Principles." There was a layer of dust covering the journal. This journal of principles had not been handled for a long time. I began to understand that principles we discovered in the last season had become slogans for our lives in the current season. These principles had lost their power because they had not been used. They had only been spoken, observed and recorded. The dust had gathered on this journal of principles because they had not been handled and had not come in contact with our inner man.

As I continued to view this now fully illuminated room and its contents, I realized God was calling us to see clearly and to make adjustments that will yield abundance and fruitfulness in this new place. The Early Church did not walk in assumption, nor did they follow intricate and developed long-term plans. They lived in the moment, dependent upon God to illuminate each step they took. This dependence on Him kept the room of their lives clear and uncluttered so they could move freely into the new and unchartered future of faith.

Father God, turn up the light of Your presence in the room of our lives. Show us the clutter. Show us what we need to reactivate. Make Yourself known to us in this new place so that we can move forward into the full light of Your presence.

Garris Elkins, Senior Leader
Living Waters Church – Medford, Oregon
Email: info@prophetichorizons.com

Garris Elkins' ministry, Prophetic Horizons, is a ministry of teaching, writing and prophecy committed to raising up a prophetic generation to speak to the cultures of our world with the empowered voice of Heaven. Garris and his wife, Jan, are the Senior Leaders of Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon, and have two grown children, Anna and David.

Sowing in the midst of the enemy

Isaac sowed in the land of the Philistines (Gen 26) and reaped a hundred-fold. Don't wait to take full possession but consider it as it was already yours and you will reap all that God has for you. The jealousy of those who surround you have stopped the wells which were dug for you but those wells will spring forth once again.

An Unveiling of the Light

God is revealing His light at this time. Scripture says that a city upon a hill cannot be hidden. For too long the light of the Kingdom has been obscured as our identity was unclear to us. But in this past season God has shown us who we truly are and a new era of revelation has come. It is time for the manifested sons of God to arise and display their light to the world.

I am reminded of the Lord of The Rings volume: Return of The King. In this book Gandalf, previously known as Gandalf the Gray, returns from a time of great trial. All of his friends had thought he died as he confronted the monster of the pit. But he had passed through the caverns of fire and returned far stronger than ever before. No longer was he Gandalf the Gray but now he was clothed in bright white garments. There is a dramatic scene as he marshals an army to come to the aid of Helm's Deep which was besieged by a large army. As he stands he holds up his staff and begins a charge towards the enemy. When he charges down the hill, a mighty army under his command, a bright light is revealed and blinds the enemy army.

This story is an allegory of what is going on within the spirit realm at this time. God has been working on His servants. The apostles, prophets, the miracle workers of our generation have been going through their time of testing and trials so that they might be prepared for the coming war. The time of revealing is now. We have passed through the places of death and trial so that we might have authority over them. God has raised up the leaders- it is now time for us to gather the armies. It is time for us to declare our victory and speak into the atmosphere. It is a time of beginning as we step into the final season. This is the time for us to avail ourselves of the angelic armies that we have at our disposal.

Will we see things as they appear in the natural or as Heaven sees them? Will we see the opposition or the might of God that is all around us? This is the time to arise and throw off the shrouds that have kept us hidden and safe during this current season. It is time to cross over and reveal our true power to the world. It is time! It is your time!

The Lord is raising up those to ride into the most dark places of this earth. It is our job to shine God's light into those places so that we might defeat the armies of darkness. This is a time to set the captives free. Christ did not come to this earth so that we might sit around and sing Kumbaya. He came and died to defeat the power of death. It is our job, as His ambassadors, to do the same. We must lay down our lives so that His light might be revealed through us and proclaim liberty to the captives. 

2013: A Year of Polarization & Taking Ground

2012 has been a year of government as God has been reestablishing the apostolic office and raising up those who are called to take dominion over the seven mountains of culture. God has ordained the apostles to rule over the Church. But for too long the Church has been held in captivity by a religious mindset and a Jezeblic structure. Many congregations have broken free from this structure but the Church on a whole has remained in the clutches of this deceit.

2013 will be a year of confrontation between the apostolic and the religious/Jezebelic structure. There is a war being fought over the Church as God is jealously pursuing the heart of the Bride. The Lord is calling His Bride back into true communion with Him- unhindered by any distraction. We are going to see war break out as the apostolic wages war against the religious spirit and throws her out of the Church. The Church must decide who she will serve as we are entering into a greater time of decision. Those who decide to break free will step into this new apostolic reformation and will be swept up into the third and final great awakening. Those who remain in the clutches of the religious structure will not be on the cusp of this move. I also believe, that if they don't repent for empty religiosity, then they will be a part of the great falling away that is prophesied to happen in the end-times. 

The religious structure brings death and bondage to all of those who come underneath her influence. The Kingdom culture brings life and freedom. This year will be one in which the religious structure will be exposed for who she is and her deeds of death and destruction will be shown for what they are. This will be a year in which the apostolic will gain an authority before both God and man as those who are called to the office of apostle will step into a greater fullness of their authority. This world has seen her prophets but we have not yet seen apostles within our generation exercise the fullness of their office.

At the same time there will be imitators. We must learn to recognize the difference between Kingdom and religion. They are many, operating out of manipulation and self-promotion, who will think that they are still within the will of God. We will see false apostles arise and embrace the name and prestige of the office. But the true apostolic is one more focused on furthering the Kingdom than their own ministry. We must look at the spirit in which people operate as there will be some who will operate out of mixture and bring deceit to many within the Church. We have to look more at the heart of the minister and not judge by mere actions or appearance.

This will be a year of separation. We are going to see gray separated into white and black. No longer will gray remain gray. The time of the compromised middle is over. No longer can God's people waffle between two opinions. It is as in the days of Elijah when he stood upon Mt. Carmel and asked who Israel would serve. We must choose who will be our master and stick to that master. No longer will we be able to claim that God is our Lord and linger at the altars of immorality and worldly compromise. This will also be a year of revealed power as the apostles move in signs and wonders. This is a showdown between religion and the Kingdom of Heaven. We are seeing a revealing of the manifested sons of God.

This is a year of taking ground. We are going to see many salvations take place. It has been prophesied that the Third Great Awakening has already begun. Until now it has been a harvest of harvesters. We are now going to see many more come to Christ. But the structure of the Church is not yet ready for the influx of souls. Perhaps in certain parts of the world it is- but the Western Church is not yet ready for the tens of millions of souls that are going to come into the Kingdom over the next decade. God must reform the container before He can pour the fullness of revival and awakening power into it. This year is one of reforming and testing the container.

We are also going to see many of God's people plucked out of obscurity into places of influence. The Daniels, Esthers, Ezras, Nehemiahs, and Josephs are going to be taken out of the place of hiding and placed into the mountains of culture. The world will not yet see it but there will be a rumbling within the mountains of culture as God's people start to take their place. This is a year of positioning within culture. God has been preparing His people for this time and now that they have obtained freedom from the world they will be placed back into the world so that they might bring transformation from the inside out. This is a time of the sleeper agents being placed into influence so that a great light might break forth in time. I see the mountain of Hollywood (arts, entertainment, and media) being highlighted at this time along with government.

This is a time of power for all of the offices within the Kingdom. Not just for the apostles. As the apostles arise, and take their governmental place, they will pull the other offices into their place as well. We have seen a prophetic revival as the prophets arose but they will step into a new place of greater authority as their co-foundation layers arise. The evangelistic anointing is also going to be revealed mightily as the apostolic prepares the wineskin for this coming move of God. The pastors and teachers are going to receive greater clarity as the prophets and apostles bring alignment to the Church. The apostolic age isn't just for the apostles- it's for the glory of the victorious Church.

I have previously called this the year of the campus. We are going to see the campuses of North America spearhead this movement of power evangelism. We will see the stirrings and beginning of stadium Christianity as it has been prophesied for decades- but it will be birthed out of the college and university campuses. The harvest of souls on the campus will be the fuel for this end time harvest of souls. Many of the endtime harvesters, who are going to go forth to the ends of the earth, will be raised up on the fields of the campuses. 

As there is war and shaking in the spirit realm we will see the similar in the natural. This will be a time of turmoil and uncertainty as the earthly structures will be shaken. Just as Elijah shook the political and religious structure of Israel so will the structures of this world be shaken as confrontation comes between light and dark. The world will be shaken as the wheat is separated from the chaff and the pure gold emerges from the piles of gravel in which it has been kept in hiding. The greatest moves of God have emerged from times of great turmoil and uncertainty.

This is a time of decision for America. We are positioned upon a time of second chances and finality. Much of the decisions made politically this year will set into motion the course of our nation for a generation. Abortion has been legalized here for an entire generation- January will mark 40 years. We are stepping into a kairos time for the ending of abortion. God is calling the Hispanic peoples within America to arise with a fire of prophetic evangelism and declare life over this nation. There is a call over the African-American people to take up a kingly and apostolic role and release the anointing within them to break the chains of deception and bondage that is over our nation and expose the culture of death that has fallen upon us. If the American Church truly unites against abortion, across denominational and racial lines,  then we will see it end far quicker than anyone thinks possible. The decision for life starts and ends with the Church- we must take a stand.

This is also a year of repayment. The Lord has kept score with what the enemy has taken from you. We will see God restore much of what the locusts have eaten. We will see a restoration and reconciliation of relationships within the Church and within the family unit. Where there was hurt and division there will be healing and understanding. There is also going to be an end of the debt and poverty mindset in regards to finances. Many people are going to see a multiplication of provision. This is a time of creative ideas and entrepreneurship opportunities. The transfer of wealth and a new measure of Kingdom provision has begun as the apostles have taken their place.

This year has seen great violence and 2013 will see even more violence. The sounds of revolution, both spiritual and natural, are echoing across the globe. The spirit of death has received much power over the past forty years within this nation. We are at a kairos time to confront the assignment of death and declare life over our nation, our families, and the Church. God is calling us to come in an opposite spirit to what has been manifest in this world. This is a year of discovery as God's people learn what true Kingdom culture looks like. We are going to see a great light emerge in this coming year just as great darkness is covering the earth. This is the time of our greatest glory if we simply believe and step into it.