2018 is the year many of us have been waiting for.
By Justin Akers
2018 Prophetic words
Over the past few weeks, God has been dropping in my spirit several words for 2018. These are the things I feel God has impressed so heavy on my spirit for this upcoming year.
I’m Coming Into The promise
The Lord began giving me messages several weeks ago beginning with “I’m Coming Out” referring to coming out of the wilderness. The Body of Christ has been in a wilderness season for the past 20 years. This has been a season of wandering, a season of depending on the Lord for survival, and a season of great difficulty. Many have felt like they do not belong, or not knowing what they were doing in life, or where they were going in life. Many have had the feeling of “what’s the point?”. This has also been a season where people have been unable to break free of the old cycles or strongholds. However, this is the year we are coming into our promise!! We are leaving Egypt behind and moving into a season with purpose and faith to lay hold of our promises!! In Joshua 3, the people camped at a place called Shittim. That word means thorny place. They had come to the Jordan and were about to cross over. The name Jordan means to take down or subdue. We are coming out of our thorny place and subduing what is ours!!
Breaking Out
We are breaking out of the old and into the new, out of the old identity and into a new identity. The Israelites were slaves, even when they came out of Egypt they still had a slave mentality. In Numbers 13, 12 spies were sent out. Two came back saying the grapes are huge and the land is flowing with milk and honey. Ten came back saying the giants in the land were too big. The mentality of the ten was still that of a slave. We have seen so many disappointments and failures that many people have begun identifying with their struggles or their failures. We are breaking out of that old identity and into a new identity. 1 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
The term “breaking out” is interesting because that is one of the meanings of the word prosperity. Psalms 118:25 says “Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.” That word prosperity means to push forward, to break out, come mightily, go over, to be prosperous, to make or cause to be prosperous. We are breaking off the old mold and identity and breaking into a new identity. We are going over mightily. This will be a year marked with prosperity!
God Explodes
Oh the warfare of this past season has been rough. I have talked to so many people including ministers who wanted to throw in the towel because the warfare was so intense. I have experienced things in the past few years that I honestly did not know were possible. This is a year we see God’s victory!! My brother, Shawn Akers, once made the statement that has stuck with me: “David fought God’s battles and God fought David’s battles. As long as we are fighting God’s battles, He will fight ours”. 2 Samuel 5:20, in the Message, says “Go up,” God replied. “Count on me. I’ll help you beat them.” David then went straight to Baal Perazim, and smashed them to pieces. Afterward David said, “God exploded on my enemies like a gush of water.” That’s why David named the place Baal Perazim (The-Master-Who-Explodes).” For too long the church has been entangled in warfare. This year the warfare changes. This year, as we turn our eyes to the Lord, focus on His goodness, and walk in obedience to His instructions, we will see God EXPLODE on our enemies. We will no longer fear the warfare or repercussions because it’s in God’s hands!
Fresh Start, Clean Slate, New Beginnings
Isaiah 43:18 and 19 says “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” We are walking into this new season with a clean slate. The baggage and weights of our failures and struggles are being left in the old season. We are coming into this season with a fresh start as if God has hit the reset button.
I’m giving you the editing tools to rewrite your future
I must be honest, this one confused me a bit. I was praying and heard these words so clearly so I knew it was God but my problem was understanding how the enemy could be writing my future. It’s simple. Many of the failures, struggles, and constant warfare of the past season has caused many of us to respond in the negative. How many times have we said “it would be my luck, to get a ticket, have a flat tire, etc..” It is almost as if we began to expect the negative to happen. We get over one battle and instead of resting, we begin embracing for the next hit. The enemy has been trying to imprint a negative vision of our future. The Lord is giving us the editing tools to prophetically rewrite our future according to His promises, His plans!
2018 is the year many of us have been waiting for. It is the year we see the turnaround we have prayed for and declared!
Justin Akers is a senior pastor who believes in the simplicity of loving God and loving people. He pastors The Upper Room Church Ministries in Bastrop, Louisiana. His focus is on the training and equipping of believers through the power of the Holy Spirit to impact the world around them as we, the global Church, pursue the greatest move of God man has seen.
