December 10, 2019
I believe with all of my heart that 2020 marks the year where Jesus becomes the most famous person in church again. For I see that 2020 will be a year where Jesus and Jesus alone will be cherished and where we become utterly fascinated with Him and His message. Indeed, I believe that this year will be marked with insatiable hunger and desire for the Lord and that this year will be the beginning of a genuine Jesus movement.
I believe that there is going to be a return to simply preaching Jesus, for there is nothing that any one person will face in this life where Jesus isn’t the answer. Therefore, I see pastors and preachers and leaders taking the attitude of Paul who said that he determined to know nothing among the church at Corinth but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I believe the wisdom and cleverness of man will be replaced by the testimony of God. Cleverness in the church and in the pulpit is going to be replaced by the preaching of Christ, who is the wisdom of God. This will result in the faith of the people resting on the power of God and not the wisdom of man.
I believe that this will be a year of evangelism where those both in and outside of the church will besaved. I believe that the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God will accompany the preaching of Jesus. Indeed, I believe we will fall in love with Jesus and the Gospel all over again andthat our souls will exult in God because of His glorious grace. I believe that the proclamation of Christ will result in people getting healed and delivered and will cause cities to rejoice.
I believe that this will be a year where we become overwhelmed by the Lord. In fact, if there was one word that I believe God is using to describe the year 2020, it’d be just that: OVERWHELMED. I believe we will see God overwhelm us from the inside out. When we are overwhelmed internally with the person of Jesus, we can’t be overwhelmed externally by the cares and worries of the world. For far too long the people of God have been overwhelmed by life. It’s time to be completely consumed, completely overtaken, completely overrun, and completely captivated with Him.
I believe that we are going to fall so in love with Jesus that we won’t be able to take our eyes off of Him. I believe this is the year where Jesus becomes completely and totally real to us again — where we experience Him in new and amazing ways and where it will be reminiscent of when we first encountered Him, for I believe that God is wanting to answer the prayer of Paul found in Ephesians 1:17 when he prayed that, “…the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” It is indeed the knowledge of God that the Lord wants to increase within us.
I believe that we will see the church become full of life. I believe we will see authentic hearts rising up — hearts that burn for and love God. The return to simply preaching the Gospel will expose the counterfeits to the Gospel. Things like hypocrisy, compromise, pride, and the pursuit of things that don’t really matter will be exposed. As a result, I believe we can anticipate individual and corporate repentances. Indeed, I believe we are going to see the house of God be cleansed.
I also perceive that there is going to be a movement that takes place among the young ones and those humble of heart. I believe the true poor in spirit and young people will recognize this move of the Lord and catch fire. As a result, this will also stir up the religious spirit, which will seek to quench the move of the Spirit among students and children.
I see this being a year where we begin to desire His inner disposition more than His outward
manifestations. I see the church not just wanting to do the works of Jesus, but also desiring His attitude, His inner life. I see people crying out to have a heart like His. I see the humility of the Lord being treasured and taking its rightful place again within His people. I see the first becoming last and the last becoming first. I see a sincere desire to put His name in the lights and a deep repentance over the glorification of man and selfish ambitions.
As a result, I see perversions being corrected, attitudes being adjusted, and motivations changing. I see people being more concerned about the inside than they are with the outside. I see people getting their heart in order. I see people being honest with themselves. Because of this, I saw outward changes that were the result of an inward repentance. I saw people getting physically healthier. I saw people losing weight and gaining self-control. I saw their physical appearance change.
I also saw deep seated issues being healed and resolved. I saw deep emotional healings taking place and the uprooting of bad, toxic, and traumatic things.
This is a year where I believe we will consider Jesus more than ever before and where our vision gets corrected and we begin to see clearly once again the more we look upon Him. I believe the more we consider Him, the more fascinated we will become by what moved Him. We will long for His why more than His what. 20/20 vision is the byproduct of a life that gazes upon Him.
It’s time to fix our eyes on what matters most. The things that need to change are easily corrected and adjusted when we behold Him, not when we try to manage them. Indeed, I believe the Lord is releasing the spirit of Mary to a Martha church. What overwhelmed Mary must overwhelm us. And I believe that we are becoming an unmoved people when it comes to the cares and worries of this world because we’ll be moved by the One who is capturing our gaze.
Brian Connolly, Faith Like Birds Ministries
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