Are you a Forerunner?

I got this from the poweful book "Forerunners: The Emerging Messengers in the Last Days" by Haavard and Carina Sand (only PhP250 at Philippine Christian Bookstore). God bless you more!

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As you read this, you may ask, what about me? How would I know if I am called to this? As I studied the life of John the Baptist, one thing that stood out for me was the statement that the angel said to Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist). The angel said, "...for he will be great in the sight of the Lord..." (Luke 1:15a). One thing is sure: forerunners are not individuals who will receive recognition from men and are given the credit for what they do. Most of the time, they will not be remembered for the contributions they worked for. They will be hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The constant wilderness of forerunners is their hidden life because their greatness is not intended for man to see, but only for God. Many times, their flesh will cry out for appreciation but they will find comfort in the fact that Jesus is increasing while they are decreasing.

You may also have a passion for justice and strong compassion for the poor and the oppressed. Within you resides a burden for them that leads you to make intercession on their behalf and to minister to them. It is so, because this is one of the main agendas of God in the last days: to make wrong things right. Thus, pure religion is based on taking care of the orphans and the widows. However, this is not merely humanitarian work, but a burden born out of intimacy with God to bear His burdens and passions for the less fortunate majority.

You may also have within you a strong sense of the urgency of the hour with the perspective of the Lord's Coming; a heart of intercession for the Church and the nations of the world. God specifically would place in us a desire to see His Church mature and be a catalyst for change to prepare Her for the Lord's return as His spotless and blameless Bride. God may have given you a prophetic gift to become the voice for the voiceless and to call people to repentance.

Perhaps, a strong passion for change resides in you. You are able to discern not in a judgmental way the things that are not right, and you earnestly desire to usher that change to correct people's understanding and mindset. Furthermore, your spirit despises passivity because there is a knowing in you that something must happen in the Church to impact and influence the world. To pioneer or to start new things has mostly been the pattern in your ministry. Either you yourself initiated it, or you are involved with it.

You could also be someone whose life's journey has been fashioned by God with surrender in a very special way. You have this feeling that God often takes away from you everything that is precious to you --- your loved ones, your ambitions, your comforts, and that He deals more "strictly" with you than with others. Consequently, you feel like you are alone in your battle like Elijah (1 Kings 19:10).

Certainly, there are other passions in your heart that God uniquely put in your heart to partner with Him as He unfolds all the events relating to His return. Needless to say, the forerunner calling is not limited to some elite group of people. It is a call available for everyone who is willing to announce His return and embrace the lifestyle uniquely attached to it, like insatiable hunger for God's presence, death to self, prayer and fasting, humility, love for God, and the radical pursuit of the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle.

The call is going forth to anyone who is called as an evangelist, pastor, prophet, intercessor, singer, writer, musician, artist, missionary, and even to those called to the marketplace. It is a call to announce the Second Coming of Christ. Will you heed the call?