We are in the prep stages of the next move of God. The spirit of Elijah is preparing the way for Jesus to move in again, and we can expect it to prepare the way just as it did through John the Baptist. John didn’t preach about himself but the One coming who was greater. We’re not here to preach about how great we are or how great our church is; it’s all about Jesus. He’s the One we preach.
As John the Baptist proclaimed, when Jesus comes, He will come like a “refiner’s fire.” He will purify His people and burn up the chaff in their lives—the useless things that are consuming their time, resources, and affections. To prepare the people for what Jesus was going to do, John preached repentance. We will know the time is close when we hear this message again—not just in one place, or occasionally, but everywhere. Nothing prepares the way for the Lord but repentance.
We are coming to the greatest time there has ever been to walk with the Lord, but it will also be the hardest. The apostle Paul wrote in Acts 14:22 that, “through many tribulations we enter the kingdom of God.” This is true of each individual, each nation, and the whole world. So, a big part of our basic teaching and training should be learning how to face and overcome trials. Those who are prepared for the times will be those who thrive in tribulation.
We cannot only thrive in the midst of trials, but we can have joy in them. We’re exhorted in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” The way to be perfect and complete is not by accumulating and hoarding but by growing in faith. This is the joy of an athlete. An athlete may feel pain after a training run, but that cannot compare to the joy they feel at getting stronger and gaining endurance.
We are duly warned this in Hebrews 12:25-29:
“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
This shaking will come in just about every way it can, but one way that appears with every move of God is the turbulence between the spiritual generations. The Reformation is not something that happened 500 years ago. It started then, but it happens again with every new move of the Spirit, Who shakes the church to help it prepare to live in shaky times. Change is hard, especially if we have become set and comfortable in the way things are.
After over 500 years of reformation in the church, we are still a long way from what the church is called to be, and it is going to take a lot of shaking and remaking to get us to where we need to be. A lot has been accomplished in these 500+ years of reformation, but there is more to be accomplished than has been done. So, we either have more than 500 years left, or things are going to speed up drastically. This means there will be much more shaking to more quickly accomplish all there is to do.
If this is the greatest move of God yet, then we can expect the greatest time of troubles and shaking, and we can expect the greatest reformation, or restructuring, of the church. This will cause those who have put their hope more in their church than in the Lord to become disoriented, and many, disgruntled and bitter. We can expect this to spread bitterness in the Awakening. This should not surprise us; it happens every time God moves anew. But how do we prepare for it and overcome it?
If we are prepared for these things, it is going to be much easier for us, but it is still going to be hard. As we’re told in 2 Timothy 2:3, “Endure hardship with us as a good soldier.” Soldiers are trained to expect hardship and endure it when it comes. This is the mentality we must have for the times we’re entering. They will be the best of times, as we see the harvest, but they will also be the hardest of times in many different ways. If we’re prepared, we will go through it all with joy.
© 2026 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.
