Strike the Water “And so it happened. They were walking along and talking. Suddenly a chariot and horses of fire came between them and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it all and shouted, “My father, my father! You—the chariot and cavalry of Israel!” When he could no longer see anything, he grabbed his robe and ripped it to pieces. Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him, returned to the shore of the Jordan, and stood there. He took Elijah’s cloak—all that was left of Elijah!—and hit the river with it, saying, “Now where is the GOD of Elijah? Where is he?” When he struck the water, the river divided and Elisha walked through.” – 2 Kings 2:11-14 The Lord spoke to me and He told me to exhort His body. He says, “Many are in transition just like Elisha, and they are about to cross over into their destiny. I just need them to strike the water.”As we look at the life of Elisha in 2 Kings 2, we see that Elisha was in a season of mentorship with Elijah. Elisha was Elijah’s armor bearer. An armor bearer is someone who serves a man of God. God will use this season of service to develop the armor bearer’s character and expose him to ministry experience. Elijah did a phenomenal job training Elisha. He tested Elisha constantly. In fact, he even tried firing him three times but Elisha kept following him despite his attempts to lose him. He followed him through Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan. Elisha was faithful and willing to pay the price for a double portion of the anointing that was on Elijah’s life. The price of the call of God should never be taken lightly. It is not a game. The call of God comes before everything in your life. Elisha proved this by burning the plows which represented his old life. Every time he arrived at a new town, the people of each town reminded him, that his master Elijah was going to be taken from him in a whirlwind. Elisha must have been really frustrated by the time he had heard this for the fourth time. Yet despite Elisha’s frustration, he remained faithful. Many in the body of Christ have been faithful until now. You have stuck with it through the difficult times. You have served your leaders tirelessly. You have given your all, despite your doubts and frustrations. You have covered those you love, protected their visions, and the dreams in their hearts. God wants you to know that your faithfulness has not gone unseen. That crazy dream and outrageous vision in your heart to reach those who are far from God is about to come to pass! But what I want to really focus on is when Elisha received the mantle of Elisha and the spirit of Elijah. The land Elisha had been in represented seasons of training, the familiar, and the place where he burned his plows. For many reading this, the season you have been in has been one where you have felt like you were just going through the motions of Christianity. It represents that place where you dreamed about doing great things for God, but now those dreams have consumed you to the point where you are ready to make them come true. God is calling you to step out into your dreams and make them a reality. Where you have been until now may represent a place of struggle, a place of pain and sacrifice. It could be the place where you felt guilt and shame because of your past. It is the place where the devil tried to disqualify you by telling you that God can’t use you. It is where God tested your ability to draw near to Him and to stand on His promises when everything was falling apart. God had me write this article to remind someone that your past is in the past and the blood of Jesus washes you whiter than snow. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Old things pass away and all things become new. If God is for you, then who can be against you? The struggle you were facing, the loss you experienced, the setbacks and delays are being used by God to purify your motives to be used by Him. Not everything that has happened to you was God’s will. Some of it was life. Some of it was the devil attacking you. Some of it may have been the consequences to some bad decisions you have made. But God still uses everything for good if you love God and are called according to His purpose. Then the moment finally came where Elijah was taken up in a chariot of horses and fire into a whirlwind to heaven. It states that Elisha grabbed and ripped the mantle of Elijah. The mantle fell to the ground and Elisha picked it up. Elisha had a choice. He could have gone to his former lifestyle. He could have bought new oxen and stuck to what was familiar. Or he could have moved forward into his destiny. When you commit to the call of God on your life, there is only one direction to move and that is forward. Many in the body are standing still and God is saying to you, what are you waiting for? You have everything you need inside of you. The Kingdom of Heaven is within your reach. Pull the greatness from within you and bring your future into the now. Change is inevitable. How will you respond? Don’t settle for the good when God has something greater for your life. Elisha demanded a supernatural sign. He picked up the mantle to strike the water and called out saying, “Where is the God of Elijah?” Suddenly, the river split in two and he crossed over. Crossing over into your destiny is quite the experience. Once you take the first step many wonder, what if the river closes in on me? Perhaps, that is how you feel. Perhaps you see the waves of fear and doubt and want to turn back. This is where your calling is made certain. This is where it counts. This is where everything you have experienced, all the training you have been through, matters the most. This is your moment of divine destiny. You are crossing over. One step at a time, the promises of God are closer than you think. Quit looking to the left and to the right and fix your eyes on the prize and run the race set before you. What God is saying is that the thing that will get you into your destiny, and that will split the river, will be His supernatural ability. He is teaching to you become fully dependent on Him alone. So many people rely on their own strength when God is looking for us to cry out to Him so that He can move supernaturally and we can embrace our calling. When you pick up that mantle God is giving you, when you receive that double portion anointing, you are to take your whole life and strike the water. Strike the water with all you have! Give it all you’ve got! Go after God. Step into the unknown. Do what you can and God will do the rest. His grace is sufficient for you to step out. You don’t need to have faith for the whole journey, just the next step. God is looking for someone with enough faith to strike the water. Once you step into your calling, once you begin to cross the river, there is no turning back! Don’t settle for the good and comfortable in your life when God has something greater for you! This is the hour! This is your season. Now is the appointed time for you to fulfill your destiny and discover your purpose. Put your whole life into God’s hands and strike the water! God wants to use you to bring revival to the world. He wants to use you to bring glory to His name! Cry out to God, “Where is the God of Elijah? I need you to show up now, God! I am waiting on you until you make a way where there seems to be no way.” Watch how He moves supernaturally. When He does, you begin walking. You begin to cross into your place of purpose and you begin do the impossible by becoming God’s voice, and becoming His hands and feet to this world. When He speaks you speak. When He heals you heal. Where He calls you that is where you go......Rene Picota
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 12:09:49 +0000