By Ryan Shaw
In October 1998 I had a profound experience with the Lord. He spoke of the multitude of message bearers He planned to raise up from all nations and the vital impact they would have among ethnic peoples.
That year had seen unprecedented global flooding particularly in areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Reports of flooding filled the news. The Lord used the natural flooding to provoke my heart toward a corresponding spiritual “flood.”
He put it in my heart to diligently pray for 100,000 message bearers of the highest spiritual quality who cross cultural and societal barriers, to unreached and unreached peoples in cities and rural areas alike.
These would “flood” unreached peoples with His message, gathering new believers into simple, reproducible, New Testament churches. I knew instinctively by the term “flooding” that He wanted to unleash a saturation move of the Spirit through message bearers. They would bear the Gospel of the Kingdom with power, reaping a great global harvest.
A week later I was with a friend visiting some friends of his. I personally did not know these other friends. We spent a time of fellowship together.
As we were leaving one of the lady’s told me of a picture the Lord had given her in her mind’s eye during our fellowship. She saw the whole world opened with messengers of God’s heart from all nations sent to unreached peoples anointed with power.
She had no idea of the encounter with God I had just a few days before. From that day on it has been my passion to spiritually contend for, mobilize and equip these 100,000 message bearers to reap a great harvest the Holy Spirit is preparing among all ethnic peoples.
Who are these message bearers? They are everyday, normal disciples of Jesus Christ. They are materially poor and wealthy alike. Access to financial connections does not hinder the Holy Spirit’s compelling as a message bearer.
The Lord is releasing insight empowering the poor to effectively operate in crossing cultural and societal barriers as message bearers. It is not the will of God that believers from poor economic situations be hindered from obedience.
Message bearers are educated and uneducated alike as intellectual education is nowhere found in the Bible as a qualification of bearing His message. They are from high and low classes and castes alike, not allowing religious and societal measuring sticks to define and keep them from obeying Christ.
No measuring stick of the world can define them. They are known by the King because they are choosing to align with His heart in this hour of history.
The Spirit is orchestrating a divine search all over the earth: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
God’s search is unlike any the world has known; it’s based on a completely different set of criteria. He searches for those who will abandon every competing allegiance to their loyalty to Jesus in a surrendered response of love, as bond slaves to God, who has bought and owns them (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
God is finding and empowering thousands whom others might overlook and write off. They will never be known by the global church, their stories will never be published, yet they are the unsung heroes Jesus Himself will reward openly upon His second coming.
First Samuel 16:7 reminds us, “The Lord does not see as man sees…but the Lord looks at the heart.” God’s search for message bearers overlooks a person’s family, class or caste, education, personality type, natural abilities, sociability, inadequacy, past failings, former sin, age, gender, financial status, physical appearance and ethnicity.
His search considers the responses of a person’s heart toward the King. The heart is the wellspring of life. Those bent on genuine love for Jesus allowing the Spirit to refine them, equipping them as His message bearers.
God is searching for those who value growing intimacy with Jesus, trustworthy with the secrets of His heart. He seeks those embracing a life of faith and dependence on Him. He pursues those ignoring what others say while living according to Jesus’ standards.
He beckons those disillusioned with the status quo, dreaming with God about what could be. He looks for those using time, money, gifts, abilities and influence to advance His kingdom.
Reflection Questions:
- How can you help encourage and raise up message bearers from your part of the world?
- What needs to change in your local ministry to see a greater number of message bearers released into the harvest?
