Tue, Feb 7th - 5:48PM

How do You know a Prophet and what is a Prophet?

Now I think most of you will think that this is a rhetorical question, after all, we know all of the Prophets, don’t we?

Or do we?

I have run into many Christians who say that there are no prophets anymore.  I mean, the argument that is made is that Revelations says near the end of that book:

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

Revelation 22:18-19 (NIV)

Some people think that to mean that this is the end of all Prophecy.  They argue that a Prophet saying anything would add or subtract from this Revelation, and even other parts of God’s Word.  Now, I would be among those to caution anyone against claiming that they are a Prophet.  If merely a teacher is held to a higher standard, (and you know how much fear I have of that if you know me at all!) think of the standard to which a Prophet is held!

So let me say this in observation:  No Prophet can, (in the capacity of a Prophet) say or do anything contrary to what God has already revealed to us.  Still, every Prophet was just like you or I, full of human frailties, and under the burden of their own sin, that was lifted by Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Think about it only a little, and you will understand.

²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

Guess what?  Even the Prophets themselves are part of those who have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Every single last one of them!  The only person to walk upon this world without any fault of his own was Christ Jesus.  Were it not so, he would not have needed to come and redeem us to himself!

I want you to carefully consider Christ’s own words here:

    ¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-19 (NIV)

Even Christ himself, (who if anyone had the authority to change God’s Plans, it would be He) did not add or subtract anything to what had already been established and revealed to us at that point!  Think about it!  Christ was greater than any Apostle or Prophet, and yet He did nothing to contradict God’s Plan for us, neither by omission or addition.  No, He came to came to Fulfill the Law and the Prophets!  How many times were strange things done, if only in our understanding, to fulfill what the Prophets had spoken about Him?  Yes, there could very well have been other more deeply hidden meanings to these things, but first and foremost, they were to validate what the Prophets had already said!

Now consider the following passages:

    ¹Now about the spiritual gifts (the special endowments of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to be misinformed.

    ²You know that when you were heathen, you were led off after idols that could not speak [habitually] as impulse directed and whenever the occasion might arise.

    ³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.

    ⁴Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same.

    ⁵And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served].

    ⁶And there are distinctive varieties of operation [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all.

    ⁷But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit.

    ⁸To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same [Holy] Spirit;

    ⁹To another [wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit;

    ¹⁰To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.

    ¹¹All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (AMP)

²⁸ Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
   first are apostles,
   second are prophets,
   third are teachers,
   then those who do miracles,
   those who have the gift of healing,
   those who can help others,
   those who have the gift of leadership,
   those who speak in unknown languages.

 ²⁹ Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? ³⁰ Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! ³¹ So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

   But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

1 Corinthians 12:28-13:2 (NLT)

¹ Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. ² For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. ³ But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. ⁴ He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (NKJV)

I gain the understanding here that there is still the opportunity for Prophets to exist, even after Christ, even to today.  The amplified Version gives some insight into what a Prophet truly is.  You may not see this, but my understanding is so:

A Prophet may see what was.  A Prophet may see what is.  A Prophet may see what will be.  It is by the third that we know a Prophet, and quite possibly is most powerful of the three I mention here.  Why?  Because what a Prophet actually does is speak what will be into being as if they understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge!  God only gives a Prophet (or a Prophetess) what she or he can bear, however.  They will not understand all, indeed they may not even understand what they have just said, but what they will say will be as if they did have this level of understanding because the source by which this comes does have this level of understanding!  This is driven only by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, but revealed to them in what ever way God feels is appropriate to get the message out through them.

⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)

Fragile clay jars is what we truly are.  Even the Apostles and Prophets!

Even more than this, I want you to understand the context of the following:

 ¹⁸ “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

 ¹⁹ “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ²⁰ For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

Matthew 18:18-20 (NLT)

¹² “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. ¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

John 14:12-14 (NLT)

 ²³ At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. ²⁴ You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

 ²⁵ “I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. ²⁶ Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.

John 16:23-27 (NLT)

¹⁷ Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact.

John 8:17 (NLT)

¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

James 4:15 (NLT)

The context I want you to get out of all of this is that we have a lot of power, when we agree, but if that agreement is not in line with the Lord’s Word, we truly cannot ask of it in His name.  Can you truly go and ask of something in this world in someone else’s name, knowing that they would be opposed to it?  In the worldly setting, we would not do this, and yet we think we have the freedom to do this with God!  Even a Prophet could not do this, for in doing this, they cannot at that moment be acting as a Prophet!  But though a Prophet may see more than you or I, and an Apostle even more than a Prophet, what we can see and understand of God’s Will gives us great latitude to shape our future and speak it into being, at least from the perspective that we live in now.

In Truth and Love,

Mel

Comment (2)

Wed, Feb 1st - 7:29PM

The Promise I am claiming

The Promise I am claiming is not for myself, it is for all of mankind.  Claiming the promises of God has been the theme in the group of believers that I meet with.  Yes, I could call it my church.  I think we narrow our thinking when we start thinking that only the body of believers that we meet with is the only ones we should think of as the church.  It is a trap that I fall into from time to time, too, so don’t take this observation too harshly.  But that is a subject for another time.

The Promise, is made not once, but thrice, in a couple of different ways that I know off the top of my head.  Do you think a promise is not a promise if only said once?  No!  How important this promise truly is, then!  And it is reiterated throughout God’s Word.  I think it boggles the mind to think of it in the context of people claiming that NOW is the end times.  It could be the end times, but one thing I know about prophecy is this:  When those in power puff themselves up, they often get the true meaning of Prophetic Words wrong.

⁹ “When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me. ¹⁰ For the Good News must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Mark 13:9-11 (NLT)

²¹ “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²² For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. ²³ Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time!

Mark 13:21-23 (NLT)

³² “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. ³³ And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!

Mark 13:32-33 (NLT)

Pay particular attention to Mark 13:32.  You say you know the day and the hour?  I say Jesus says you do not, and even He does not!

I say this, because the promises I am claiming seem to fly in the face of those who say that these are the end times!  That could be, and I don’t know the time, either to say that it is not the day or the time.  But I know that in the time that Jesus was on this earth, very few understood the Prophecies about him, even in part.  Even Jesus’ own disciples did not understand how they would be fulfilled!  So that alone shows the folly of relying upon our on our own understandings.  They had no idea that they were killing the Messiah!  And they were the ones most qualified to understand the Prophecies.  But they were very much puffed up with their own pride in their understanding.  God made wise men foolish!  Apparently, He does that a lot, is very good at it, and that was His Plan and Purpose all along!  He did it with great ease!  Are the wise men of this age so much better?  I would dare say that the wisest person now might be a mental midget compared to those who murdered Jesus in their lack of understanding!

It could be that my lack of understanding means that the way I see God’s Promise to me that I am wanting to claim is imperfect and flawed!  The Promise stands; only my understanding of the Promises fails!  If I am speaking in alignment with God’s Word, however, it will stand simply because I am only speaking God’s Will Into Being as an instrument He would see fit to use!  Do not for one minute think that I understand not that He could choose to do this through an unbeliever!  God can talk to us with a donkey, if we will accept it!  He is not Limited!  We are!

I know just how frail and common a vessel I am.  I know exactly what Moses meant when he said: “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” in Exodus 4:13.  I feel totally inadequate, but despite that, I will press on with whatever faith I have and whatever faith God feels proper to increase in me!  I do believe!  Increase my faith!

The Promise is this:

⁵ Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Genesis 15:5 (NLT)

It is said again here:

¹⁷ “I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. ¹⁸ And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

Genesis 22:17-18 (NLT)

The promise is said differently to Jacob here:

¹⁴ Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

Genesis 28:14 (NLT)

And Jacob recalls the Promise as Phrased to Abraham, when meeting his brother Esau and in great fear here:

¹² But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’”

Genesis 32:12 (NLT)

Jacob was fearful, but he called upon and claimed God’s Promise.  I am doing the same.

In Terror of the Mighty Lord,

Mel

Wed, Feb 1st - 6:09PM

God still has no limitations -- The limitations are ours alone

Funny how we don't see the miracles that were chronicled in the old and new testament much now days, isn’t it?  Why do you suppose that is?  I think it is because of how small we have made our minds.  We puff ourselves up with worldly knowledge, attempting to become Gods to ourselves, trying to convince ourselves that we can know it all.  Even Socrates saw the folly of that!

Let me tell you what Truth is:  Truth is the complete and exact description of all that is, along with the whats, hows, and whys, and any other explanations we can fathom!  Most things take more to explain than is contained within their very essence, and yet, with our frail and finite minds, we somehow convince ourselves that we can concretely know all that we need to know.  You can argue that all creation (as I see it) or existence (as most non-believers do) is finite.  But you can’t get around the fact that even what we know of it is very large, indeed.  You can argue that it is limited to what we have the ability to perceive directly, limiting it to the 3 dimensions of space we can grasp and the dimension of time that we can feel passing, but not actually touch, if you are inclined to do so.  Mathematicians and Philosophers have often pushed past these boundaries, however, and absent them being able to do that, scientific understanding as we know it could have never come into being.

To put it simply, God does not bash us over the head with what we cannot accept.  He works within our limitations, occasionally getting us to push past those boundaries and restraints that we frame our thinking within.

Some people (many, in fact) do not see God as Truth.  They limit their vision to what they have been told and what their peers and friends and family accept. They are trying to live in a protective womb of ignorance, safe from ideas like God and Creation, but they find themselves living in fear instead.  Miracles still do happen, but most of us cannot grasp them, and have to fathom some explanation for the unexplainable.

We are prejudiced, each and every one of us.  And for that reason, God constrains Himself within the limitations of what we can understand and accept.  The limits are not His.  They are ours!

In Christ,

Mel

Wed, Feb 1st - 5:12PM

So what did Nathan see?

In 2 Samuel 12, we see the story of Nathan Rebuking David, the man known as "A man after God's own Heart" which is a fearful thing to do, first of all.  He saw sin, and he knew it needed to be stood against.  I do not think he relished this job, but he did what needed to be done.

The scripture does not tell us how Nathan came to know what he knew.  I suppose for most of us, it is simple enough to just chalk it up to the fact that he was a Prophet, and leave it at that.  Others will have less faith than that, and suppose that Joab had been disgruntled with what he knew of this, (or for some other reason) and had told Nathan, (either directly or indirectly) about these events.  But even Joab did not know the full story.  Nathan did!

I tell you, Nathan saw all this by the Spirit of God, not because he was a Prophet, but because this is part of the way by which God made him a Prophet.  It may be that Nathan heard a whisper here and a murmur there.  The vehicle that God chose to use is between Him and Nathan, and because it is God’s choice, it is not something for us to question too pointedly.  God could have told him in a vision, or in a loud voice.  He could have simply made it known to Nathan, by putting the knowledge directly in his mind.  I have experienced that.  It is a matter of what Nathan could accept.  There was no limitation upon God!

A Prophet sees what no-one else seems to see and sees it as clear as day!

In Truth,

Mel

Wed, Feb 1st - 11:26AM

One thing done...

I finally got around to this one thing, which I should have done long ago.

I made the plaques for my children for this Christmas just passed.  Well, I only made a picture to print out, but that was part of my problem, (and still is) I had a conception of what it should be, and did not complete it because it did not meet with my expectations.

http://members.christiansunite.com/blog.cgi?monthyear=Dec_2006&userid=9970205132559

That is the one I did for My oldest daughter, Lylli Mae.

And the one I did for my younger daughter is the one whose message I needed to take to my heart, not just my head.

If someone wants to use these, feel free to do so.

In the Love that is Christ,

Mel

Edit:  I made these display 600px wide.  They are actually 8" by 10" full sized with no borders.  ;'{)