Here is a prophecy I gave to someone today. While it was meant specifically for them, I believe it's truths also apply to so many of us.
" Would you like visions of things you know not? Dreams of things you never have beheld? They lie in the eyes of God, and they are waiting for you. He leaves an open door for you to come and pursue them if you desire to. Just as Isaiah saw heavenly things and God cleaned his lips after he entered in (Isaiah 6:1-6), so also God isn't requiring you to be perfect to be able to experience these things. You are his child, and children are given new experiences even as they are growing- indeed, many times it is the new experiences that cause a child to grow; and experiencing a greater amount of his love is always a positive experience that draws people into growth.
God loves you with an everlasting love. From the first page of the Bible, to the last, God wrote his love story within the lines. He had you in mind when he was writing the Bible; he knew that you would be reading it one day. He took joy in the fact that you would be able to know him better because it existed, and part of the reason it has become has numerous in quantity and magnified through technology as it has become is because God wanted to be able to bless you all the more, in a way that would touch you personally. And you might think "My God doesn't care about me that much;" but he does. He who formed you in the womb, who has a count of all the hairs on your head, who guards you as you surf the internet- he didn't think it was too much to make the bible more available/impactful for one of his children. He formed the entire universe, the vast majority of which is still unexplored; he sees how the cells in each strand of your hair are organized and can command any of them individually- He is big enough that this is a small thing for him. And can you only imagine the things we consider "big things" that he could do for us that he doesn't consider big at all. He's already stopped the world once before, and that simply at the request of one man (Joshua, Joshua 10:12-14)- and it only takes one other man to make a request that God may honor it. I feel that God wants you to get to a point where you dare to ask unbelievable things of God- look what happened when Moses did (Exodus 33:18-23). And doesn't the Bible say that God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11)? Aren't you his child just like Moses and Joshua? Don't children sometimes ask incredibly unbelievable requests from their parents? And while many earthly parents may want to make their child's request come true, often they don't have the resources to make it happen. But God has no such limit- and he wants to make incredibly awesome things happen for his children.
"11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11
Big Daddy God- I bet he could give some incredible birthday presents.
And this situation is like how though many never see God- they know he is still there. And how they may not always "feel" God, and yet sometimes they feel him quite strongly. Just because people haven't seen big gifts given out to everyone, it doesn't mean that God doesn't want to. A lot of parents try to get that "one big gift" to their kids for their special occasions- and God loves us even more. Do we have the boldness enough to pursue God in an area like this and ask him to make real how strongly he really does love us? Are we satisfied with the gentle breeze, instead of pursuing the fun of the windstorm? Are we satisfied with hearing one instrument, when God has a symphony waiting? And are we satisfied with a bar of chocolate, when God has the entire variety of a vast candy store that we could try out? God wants his children to dream like he does- and he wants to see dreams fulfilled on the earth that are God-sized dreams- children of God sized dreams. Dare to dream."
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Why Do the Modern Prophets Never Seem to Prophesy Discipline These Days?
Below is a reposting of a message I sent to someone who had a question like this. I think it helps to answer it, and so I decided to upload it onto here:
"Hi Reader,
You asked about why you don't see negative prophecies in my thread. Well first, you have to understand that almost all the prophecies that exist in the Bible come from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, people were under the covenant of the law. The Bible says "14For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15because law brings wrath." (Romans 4:14-15). In a relationship based on laws and rules only, there will automatically have to be discipline, because that's how balance is kept. But the great thing is, is that we are under the new covenant now, and the new covenant is about grace. Grace is unearned love and favor. The word "gospel" means good news. This large shift in dealings from Old Testament to New Testament can be noticed significantly in the story of Jesus and the woman who was brought to him who was caught in adultery. Normally, under the law and old testament- this woman would have been killed. This is an example of how so many people view prophecy should be- discipline the crap of out of people and they will repent and return to a loving relationship with God. But Jesus did not respond to that woman that way- he merely said to her "Go and sin no more." Now compared to even getting beaten, that's a huge difference.
Another sign speaking of the shifting that Jesus was implementing would be when he said: " 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:43-44). God's ultimate focus is love- and when Jesus came and died on the cross, he was setting up and making fully known and established the system in which he wanted us to walk by.
Now, outside of all that, we have more Scripture that gives insight in how things are best operated. And one of them is: "4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" (Romans 2:4). The other Scripture is "3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort." (1 Corinthians 14:3). In these two Scriptures, we see that we can simply love on people and it help them to grow incredibly. And that is what I do a lot in prophetic ministry. Honestly- the world and life beats people down enough, they don't need kicked while they're down there.
Now, on the subject of discipline- this is my policy. I do know that sometimes a child needs to be disciplined in order to be brought into a more healthy lifestyle, and I'm not ignoring that. But if you research psychology, you will see that it is much more effective, and usually better, instead of trying to beat a negative trait out of a person, to simply replace that bad trait with a good one. A person might over-eat a whole lot because they get depressed because they think they can never live up to the ideal model of "hotness" that society says they should. But yelling at them every time they start overeating, while it may keep them from overeating, isn't going to solve the problem that caused them to overeat in the first place. The solution to the problem would be to show them acceptance because so many people probably look at them as disgusting- it would be to encourage a positive body image so that they realize that not everybody has to be super-skinny with a big chest- and one could also invite them to outings that will automatically be more physically active (like going camping or swimming). The increase in the positive side will start to destroy, and ultimately eliminate, the negative side. It is this way with probably 99% of issues.
Now with the other 1%, I would have to say that if God has to give a stern warning, it usually is because this person has been doing a sin for a long time and has chosen to refuse all positive encouragements. A stern warning would also probably have to come if the person's own life was at risk, and so that person needed to hear loud and clear NOW that the issue is serious business. But these events are very few and far inbetween, and often times God will often being dealing with discipline issues on his own, which he can do by either talking directly to their heart, or by changing what is happening in their life so that it pushes them in a good direction. The need for a prophet to do it is very rare, imo.
And I have dealt with sin issues before. Even fear itself is a sin (Jesus said 'Do not fear'). But these things, like i said, are 99% of the time best dealt with by injecting the positive, not by attacking the negative. Fear is often because of the fact that people don't realize just how much God loves them, or don't realize His promises for them. I haven't had to give a stern warning yet, but then I'm still young for my gifting, and I have people in the prophetic ministry at my church and in my region that God will probably give that responsibility to over me because they are more advanced than me and are more "the head of the household" as far as leadership in our chuch and area. Though there may come a day where I might have to, and I'll deal with that when it comes.
I hope I helped to answer your question. I leave you with this Scripture:
"17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:17-21)"
"Hi Reader,
You asked about why you don't see negative prophecies in my thread. Well first, you have to understand that almost all the prophecies that exist in the Bible come from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, people were under the covenant of the law. The Bible says "14For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15because law brings wrath." (Romans 4:14-15). In a relationship based on laws and rules only, there will automatically have to be discipline, because that's how balance is kept. But the great thing is, is that we are under the new covenant now, and the new covenant is about grace. Grace is unearned love and favor. The word "gospel" means good news. This large shift in dealings from Old Testament to New Testament can be noticed significantly in the story of Jesus and the woman who was brought to him who was caught in adultery. Normally, under the law and old testament- this woman would have been killed. This is an example of how so many people view prophecy should be- discipline the crap of out of people and they will repent and return to a loving relationship with God. But Jesus did not respond to that woman that way- he merely said to her "Go and sin no more." Now compared to even getting beaten, that's a huge difference.
Another sign speaking of the shifting that Jesus was implementing would be when he said: " 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:43-44). God's ultimate focus is love- and when Jesus came and died on the cross, he was setting up and making fully known and established the system in which he wanted us to walk by.
Now, outside of all that, we have more Scripture that gives insight in how things are best operated. And one of them is: "4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" (Romans 2:4). The other Scripture is "3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort." (1 Corinthians 14:3). In these two Scriptures, we see that we can simply love on people and it help them to grow incredibly. And that is what I do a lot in prophetic ministry. Honestly- the world and life beats people down enough, they don't need kicked while they're down there.
Now, on the subject of discipline- this is my policy. I do know that sometimes a child needs to be disciplined in order to be brought into a more healthy lifestyle, and I'm not ignoring that. But if you research psychology, you will see that it is much more effective, and usually better, instead of trying to beat a negative trait out of a person, to simply replace that bad trait with a good one. A person might over-eat a whole lot because they get depressed because they think they can never live up to the ideal model of "hotness" that society says they should. But yelling at them every time they start overeating, while it may keep them from overeating, isn't going to solve the problem that caused them to overeat in the first place. The solution to the problem would be to show them acceptance because so many people probably look at them as disgusting- it would be to encourage a positive body image so that they realize that not everybody has to be super-skinny with a big chest- and one could also invite them to outings that will automatically be more physically active (like going camping or swimming). The increase in the positive side will start to destroy, and ultimately eliminate, the negative side. It is this way with probably 99% of issues.
Now with the other 1%, I would have to say that if God has to give a stern warning, it usually is because this person has been doing a sin for a long time and has chosen to refuse all positive encouragements. A stern warning would also probably have to come if the person's own life was at risk, and so that person needed to hear loud and clear NOW that the issue is serious business. But these events are very few and far inbetween, and often times God will often being dealing with discipline issues on his own, which he can do by either talking directly to their heart, or by changing what is happening in their life so that it pushes them in a good direction. The need for a prophet to do it is very rare, imo.
And I have dealt with sin issues before. Even fear itself is a sin (Jesus said 'Do not fear'). But these things, like i said, are 99% of the time best dealt with by injecting the positive, not by attacking the negative. Fear is often because of the fact that people don't realize just how much God loves them, or don't realize His promises for them. I haven't had to give a stern warning yet, but then I'm still young for my gifting, and I have people in the prophetic ministry at my church and in my region that God will probably give that responsibility to over me because they are more advanced than me and are more "the head of the household" as far as leadership in our chuch and area. Though there may come a day where I might have to, and I'll deal with that when it comes.
I hope I helped to answer your question. I leave you with this Scripture:
"17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:17-21)"
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