Brasil, let us now measure our passion for purpose.
Has success in kingdom expansion distracted you from the priorities of God? Have you become focused upon your part of the purpose of God? Have you have failed to expand your passion for purpose?
When Jesus confronts Ephesus Ecclesia in the Revelation, He says, “You have left your primary passion, your first love.” He says, “Do the first works again.”
The Ecclesia at Ephesus forgot the purpose of what they were doing. They become distracted by the success of what they did at the first. The tail started wagging the dog.
Listen carefully, a revival that remains a revival becomes something other than what God started a revival to accomplish. A ministry expanded by evangelism that remains a ministry expanded by evangelism becomes something other than what God started a ministry expanded by evangelism to accomplish. A ministry expanded by prophetic leadership that remains a ministry expanded by prophetic leadership becomes something other than what God started a ministry expanded by prophetic leadership to accomplish.
What God starts a ministry to accomplish is always an expansion of the kingdom of God, not a mini-movement or narrowly-focused aspect of the kingdom. If you say, “We are an evangelistic ministry,” then you are not a kingdom ministry. You are part of another ministry, or you have forsaken your primary passion. Your beginning leads to expansion of the kingdom, not a display of one aspect of the kingdom.
At one point, I called our ministry an “apostolic resource center.” I changed that to “Kingdom Center.” I didn’t want to become another “apostle on display” hub with a downline. We don’t need to waste any more time proving we have a restoration of the fivefold. We need to move on to expanding the kingdom culture through the restored kingdom leadership dynamics.
We have a restoration. We do not have a reformation.
Most apostolic centers waste time, emotional energy, and words trying to prove they are apostolic. That means they have left their first love. That means they stopped doing the first works.
It is the transformation that proves God ultimate will, not the rehearsal. Talking about it won’t sell it. Do it! When you do it, you won’t need to waste time proving it. Stop trying to prove you are the one and only when you should be surrounded by kingdom leaders transforming individuals and regions by now! If it ain’t working, you need more leaders, more kingdom, more passion for purpose.
When ministries that become movements mature, they should grow up to be a kingdom movement, not a revival, worship, prayer, apostolic, or evangelistic mini-movement. When we carry any one aspect of the entire kingdom without expanding the fullness of the kingdom, we fail to do our first works and lose our primary passion.
The point is that Elisha is taking his last breathes with a passion for purpose burning in his belly! He is reaching ultimate in his purpose at the time he finished his purpose.
The king, on the other hand, has lost purpose altogether because he lacks passion for purpose. He no longer wishes to expand kingdom by overcoming. He is content to sustain and manage the kingdom as he received it and will turn it over to his successor.
