A few weeks ago, I had a dream where I was sitting by a stagnant pool and heard a voice say, "It's time to move on from the bitter pools. It's time to leave stagnancy!" When I woke up, I began to get a download for the month of May. The Lord spoke about some key areas of transition and breakthrough that are coming.
Bitter Waters Will Be Made Sweet
I feel like the most potent part of this dream was the Lord saying that, in May, He wants to lead those who've been feeling bitter, or potentially bitter, back into sweet waters.
In Exodus 15:22-25, it reads: "Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means 'bitter').
"Then the people complained and turned against Moses. 'What are we going to drink?' they demanded. So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink."
I think so many in the Body of Christ are feeling bitter right now. They have been through a long road of feeling poisoned and bitter, because things haven't worked out the way that they thought. Right now, many pioneers and forerunners are wrestling in this tension between the fresh impending birth and the reality of the loose ends of the past season.
The enemy would love to poison them, to keep them in this place of bitterness. But just like in my dream, the Lord is saying, "Leave the stagnant waters. You must come out." Right now, I feel this call. We must leave this place. We must separate ourselves from all the things that are warring against us, trying to keep us chained to what didn't happen, the feeling of abandonment, and the discouragement from the past season. We must move on. We cannot camp here any longer.
Interestingly, this month in the Hebrew calendar is the month of Iyar, which happens to be the exact time when the Israelites came to the same spring – the same stagnant pool. What did God do? He made what was bitter drinkable. After that it says: "After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water" (Exodus 15:27).
I believe that in the month of May, the Lord is transitioning us away from many situations and circumstances that have kept us continually embedded in bitterness. He is bringing us into a place where we will discover and experience the sweetness of the call again.
Breaking Ties with the Stagnant
I believe the second element to this dream is that we must identify and break ties with stagnant places, stagnant alignments and stagnant assignments. This is something that the Lord has been speaking to my wife Christy and me about since January. The Lord is wanting us to discern the areas that are keeping us stagnant and leading us further into bitterness.
God is wanting us to make sure that the alignments we have are full of life – that they are leading us into a thriving condition full of growth and breakthrough. Any area or any voice that has access to you, and is leading you backward, must be broken and severed.
So many people have been wondering why they're advancing two steps forward and then four steps backward. I feel the Lord on this, and I must say: Look at the places in your life that are stagnant. What do you have your feet in right now that is stagnant? You cannot have your feet in both a dead pool and also a pool of life. You must fully step into the place of life. It's time to leave those places behind. It's time to sever the ties. It's time to confront the places that have been holding you back so that you can step into life again. (Photo via Unsplash)
The month of May is going to be a time where the Lord brings you your people – a month where the Lord continues to realign. There's been an assignment of division that has tried to stop alignments. There's been an assignment that's been trying to confuse and frustrate divine connections and covenant relationships. In May, God is clearing that out and is leading you to your people.
From Hope Deferred to Trees of Life
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)
I believe May is a significant month for the shifting of hope deferred. I know that for many years now, the Body of Christ has been in a place of extreme delay. The enemy has played the same card that he played on Daniel. When Daniel asked and inquired of the Lord, it took so many days for the angel to wrestle the Prince of Persia and for the breakthrough to come.
"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia." (Daniel 10:13)
I believe we've been in this phase in the Body of Christ for many years now. There have been extreme delays on all fronts. The enemy is just trying to hold back his inevitable defeat. Even though he's been trying to hold back the breakthrough, the open doors have been planned and assigned for the people of God.
The problem is that we've been ingesting this hope deferred until it's started to impact and influence the way we think and move as Believers. It has started causing us to hold back and put the red light on things that the Lord is wanting us to move forward in. It has been causing us to begin to act in fear instead of faith, and deep discouragement and disappointment instead of fiery passion and zeal. I believe the month of May is a month where the Lord is clearing away hope deferred out of the hearts and souls of God's people, and reinstating a fiery conviction and a hope that cannot be tarnished. I believe this is going to be a 'Tree of Life' month.
Leaving the Lion's Lair
Something else that the Lord began to show me was that for many months now, He has been in protection mode. He has been surrounding His people with His faithfulness and rescuing them from situations that they didn't even know they were stuck in. He has been rescuing them and pulling them out of these situations.
I heard the Lord tell me that in May we're going to see those rescue situations. We're going to see exactly where He's been rescuing us. So many of us have been in situations that have been like lions' lairs, surrounded by situations, problems, circumstances and people that have sought to rob and derail the call of God on our lives. But the Lord, jealously and protectively as a Father, has been leading us out of these situations. God has been breaking us free from many chains and bondages that we didn't even know we had around our feet.
I believe May is going to be a month of extreme emancipation. We will begin to feel freedom and life enter us in places where we have felt subtle or unknown bondage, or places that we haven't yet realized, where we have just felt restricted and constricted.
There's going to be a time where God begins to reveal to us the permission and the freedom that we have in order to step into this new season without constantly feeling surrounded by lions and needless warfare. (Photo via Pixabay)
The Overflow of Oil
I believe May is going to be a month of increased visitation and habitation. For so long, God's people have been seeking oil, but have only found small deposits. It's been a season of having to press in deeply just to experience the Lord, even in small measures. But watch as May begins to shift, because we're stepping out of the trickle and into a roar.
I feel like we're about to strike oil, because the Lord knows that the time is at hand. We're going to step into a place of overflow again, because hearts have been depleted and have been dry and thirsty. So get ready for the oil. It's about to overtake your life.
"You'll feel movement in areas you've not felt movement before," says the Lord, "and you will feel an unction where you've not felt an unction before," says the Lord, "and you will feel an anointing – a fresh anointing – begin to flow where you felt powerless and defeated for such a long period of time.
"Watch as My power – as My might – comes upon your life in a fresh way, and you begin to prophesy like in the days of old. This is a Joel 2 moment. This is a time where the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and blanket you, and you'll begin to move in dimensions and offices you've not known before."
Strategic Birthing
The Lord told me that the month of May was going to be a month of strategic kairos birthing. What is that? It's the birthing of things you've been carrying that have been preserved and reserved for this time. Maybe you've been carrying something for a long time, wondering why it hasn't come to pass, or when it will come to pass. The Lord has been reserving this for now, for a reason that you won't understand until you begin to see how God uses it.
You've not understood that it has been preserved for a time and a spiritual climate where it will be the most effective. So get ready to see the Lord begin to highlight and open doors for you to step into, places of favor and influence that you have not had in years past.
It's time to see those things birthed. It's time to see the Lord break open the way in areas of your calling that you had begun to feel would never come to pass.
Look and See!
May is the month of look and see. I just keep seeing a vision of this plot of land, this empty block of land – a blank canvas. It's a time where the Lord is wanting us to dream again. It's a time where the Lord is wanting us to cast vision with Him. Again, it's a "stretch forth your tent peg" season, but it's also a season of casting vision. The Lord is wanting us to physically, tangibly and actively pursue the vision that He's given us, and to not hold back. He's wanting us to begin to plan ahead for the days to come.
We've been held back in so many areas. There have been such delays in so many areas, but, by faith this month, begin to activate that which has felt impossible to reach, and begin to cast vision with the Lord again. I feel like this vision specifically speaks to those who've been looking for land, those who've been looking to expand their ministries and their dreams by dreaming for locations and regions. The Lord is giving them land.
The Lord said that this will be a time where there's a specific favor on property. There's a very strategic favor on the Lord securing plots of land for His people. Begin to dream with Him, begin to cast vision with Him and watch it come to pass. (Photo via Flickr)
Spiritual Territory and Legacy
While I'm on this topic, I must speak into something. I feel the Lord is arming His people for something in the days ahead, and that is territory. I see mission coordinates being handed out to the Body of Christ – people who will take spiritual dominion and control over locations that have been in the enemy's hands.
This is a time where the Lord is releasing His people to storm the gates, and begin to take back that which has been given over to the enemy for such a long period of time. Just as we're believing for the expansion of our ministry and vision, the Lord is wanting us to take responsibility and to occupy that which has not been occupied before in our cities and regions. This will be a time where even the Lord begins to highlight new regions and territories for people to occupy. My advice to you, my encouragement to you, is to occupy those regions – to take them for the Kingdom of God and to not hold back. Maybe there are specific mountains of influence and places in culture that you feel are yours to occupy. Occupy them; take them.
May is going to be a significant month of shaking and turnover in the media and entertainment mountains, where we will begin to see those who have been hidden behind the scenes come forth. It's a time where God will begin to reveal to us the movers, the shakers and the reformers, whom God has been planting in these places. We will begin to see that which has been holding these mountains in bondage being evicted from their lofty thrones. It's a time for God's people to storm the gates and take these regions and places for the Kingdom of God, and not hold back.
Financial Takeback and Replenishment
I believe May is going to be a month where we will begin to see the wealth of the wicked coming back to the righteous. I've been seeing this in the spirit for the last two years now. The enemy has been trying to rob God's people. There's been upset and turmoil in the financial market, with interest rates going higher, and it has been impossible to buy homes. However, the Lord is shifting this for His people.
Regardless of the market, regardless of what's taking place in the stock exchange and the markets, the Lord is releasing a wave of provision to the Body of Christ for a significant and strategic purpose. It's to fund the harvest that's at hand. Right now, we're in a time of building and a time of increase, but many have been saying, "Lord, how can I move forward when I don't have the provision? Lord, how can I move forward when I don't have the means to be able to build and do what You've told me to build and do? In fact, it feels like things have gone in reverse. I've been in a season of robbery. I've been in a season where it feels like the locust has been eating away at what You've given me."
Now, watch in May as your banks are replenished. Watch in May as things begin to turn around, as a wave of provision and financial increase comes. This is a time to not be stingy. It's a time to sow. It's the time to begin to use your seed powerfully again. The Lord is releasing a wave of prosperity to take you out of the place of limitation and into the place of His unlimited favor, so you can build and plant the things which He called you to build and plant years ago.
Walking the New Way
For months, I believe the Lord has been speaking to me about May and June being a period of time where the Lord will be leading and guiding His people in the right way – in the new path that He has for them. Since January, we've been in a time where the Lord has been dealing with a lot of the things that have been distracting and robbing us from walking in the right path. But I believe that in May and June, there's going to be a significant grace to begin to move out of 'Ishmael' decisions and circumstances and into places of fruitful, beneficial circumstances. The new paths will be revealed.
The Lord is encouraging us to leave certain methods and ways that we have been walking in, and to begin to walk in new patterns and blueprints that are on His heart for the hour ahead. It's going to be a time where the Lord transitions people quickly into strategic locations and vocations.
The Issachar Uprising
Don't be silent in the month of May. The Lord is unmuzzling those who carry the Issachar anointing in order to lead the Body of Christ forward, releasing them from a place of being silenced and squashed. This is a time where the Lord is highlighting those who carry the language and blueprints for what's on God's heart. They will lead the Body of Christ out of places of stagnancy and defeat and into an understanding of the mission at hand. They will have the strategic anointing to be able to practically know how to move forward in certain areas where the Church has been stuck. (Photo via Pixabay)
We're going to see the rise of people who are having dreams and insights about things that we've never heard of or seen before – areas that are going to break the Church free from places of religious bondage. Also, we're going to see the rise of the Issachar anointing, especially for the marketplace – areas where the Church has been behind the ball. We're going to see these Issachars rise up to lead the charge.
Bulls at the Gates
I believe May is going to be a time where the Lord is unleashing a wild ox anointing upon the Church. It's going to awaken true apostles to their posts. I believe we're going to see the emergence and reactivation of an apostolic anointing that will take charge and reveal signs and wonders to the Church again.
I believe it's going to be a time where the Lord raises up voices who have not compromised, and who will carry influence and an ability to quickly lead the Church out of places of mixture and compromise. These wild oxes – these bulls – are going to rise up quickly. They're going to carry such a favor of movement around them that it's going to begin to rearrange the Body of Christ, and cause the army of God to rise up and to fight where they've been laying low in the battlefield. It's going to unleash such a resurrection anointing that it is going to bring so many back from the brink of death and unbelief.
'Unmantled' and 'Remantled' with Fire
We've been in a period of time where the Lord has been very jealous after His people. He's been removing wrong mantles, wrong associations and everything that would limit His people. So many in the Body of Christ have been under the spirit of Jezebel's influence without even realizing it. They've been wearing Saul's armor without realizing it. There are whole networks and movements that have been silenced because they've been subtly under the suppression of Jezebel's silence and compromise.
Right now, the Lord is breaking the Church free. He's taking those wrong mantles off the Church and saying that the only mantle you need is Isaiah 61. I feel, as I release this charge of May over you, to release it as a prophetic decree and impartation: The Isaiah 61 anointing of Jesus will rest upon you, and that will be the only mantle that you will carry from this moment forward.
As I decree this, every wrong mantle and every wrong tie that's been over your life – every demonic influence, every tormenting demon, and every distraction – will break off of you. You will enter May clutter free and ready for the call.
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.
"They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
"Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
"'For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In My faithfulness I will reward My people and make an everlasting covenant with them.'" (Isaiah 61:1-8)
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Nate Johnston
Everyday Revivalists
Email:Â everydayrevivalists@gmail.com
Website:Â nateandchristy.co
Nate Johnston is a prophetic voice and worshiper who has a heart to see sons and daughters unleashed into passionate friendship with God and an effective supernatural lifestyle. Through his ministry school "Everyday Revivalists," he leads people from the basics of the Gospel through to being sent and released into their mission field, as well as championing and raising up emerging prophetic voices around the world. His burning cry and desire is to see the Body of Christ become a beacon for the lost by raising up a generation that walks in the love and power of God, representing Him well. Nate and his wife Christy have three daughters, Charlotte, Sophie, and Ava and live in Dallas, Texas.
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