Recently in prayer, I have been discussing this thought with the Lord, “God, what I do, I want to be doing it strong, five years from now and 10 years, 20 years and even 40 years from now.” I don’t ever want to be someone who is doing something great for the Lord and then kind of fade away. I want to leave a legacy for my children, my grandchildren and my spiritual children.
What the Lord has been speaking to me is, “always be a movement and never create a monument.” A monument is something the men build in order to honor a dead work. It may have started as a movement in a church, a ministry or even a movement in a nation but did not sustain and eventually became just a monument. A monument commemorates something that was once alive but is now dead and gone.
But the Lord is saying this, “If you always love your life as a movement, then you will never become a monument.” Whenever your time is over, your life and your movement will continue. There are so many great men of God who now have universities in their name, and the movements they started are still going on and impacting many generations.
There are so many denominations that sadly have based their theology and doctrines on great charismatic and Pentecostal movements from the past, but their services today are dry and dead. Why? Because they camped out on something the Lord did in the past instead of staying current with what the Lord was doing.
At our ministry, we love to sing songs about the river of God. Have you ever seen a natural river that is straight for hundreds of miles? No! Because they have many twists and turns because of the moment of the water. The water in a river is constantly moving and changing as fresh water comes in and moves down the river. You can never step in the same river twice, because the water is always moving. That is the same way our relationship with the Lord should be. This is how our services and ministries should be, always staying fresh and moving with the Lord.
What we must understand is certain ministries and churches or ministers and denominations often camp out somewhere, perhaps on a certain set of meetings, particular songs or theology. But the problem is they have camped out and said, “It has to look this way” or “It has to sound that way,” but the river of God has gone in the opposite direction. But if we do not want to become monuments, we have to live our lives always staying fresh, following the river of God. We must always be seeking to move with the Holy Spirit.
My friends, whether you know it or not, so many people are depending on you. Your life, your business, your marriage, your ministry must remain a movement, not a monument.
In my marriage, my wife and I have been married for almost 18 years, and we intentionally keep our marriage fresh. We also stay creative with our children as we parent them. We don’t just do the same thing all the time. We never camp out on one specific thing that we do together. We are always taking different types of vacations. We always try to do different things together that are exciting.
If you cultivate a fresh move of the Spirit in your personal life, it will spill out into your business, your ministry and all that God has you put our hands to. Stay current with God and never just keep doing what you did in one season. Always stay fresh with God by keeping yourself consistent in the place of prayer. Always make your life, your business and your ministry a movement with God and never allow yourself to create a monument. {eoa}
Joe Joe Dawson is the founder and apostle of ROAR Apostolic Network and ROAR Church Texarkana. Joe Joe is married to the love of his life, Autumn Dawson, and they have three children, Malachi, Judah and Ezra. The Dawsons live and teach a lifestyle of revival and awakening. Their desire is to see every believer fulfill their God-given destiny and live life to the fullest in God. Joe Joe is also the author of Living Your God-Sized Dream and Recipe for Revival. To connect with Joe Joe or for more information, visit joejoedawson.net.
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