The Gift of Prophecy: 12

1 Cor. 14:24-25 – if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying… the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Prophecy is an evangelistic tool. The fact that this unbeliever is now excited about God, shows that prophesy restores the lost and draws them closer to God. God is love and accord to 1 Cor. 13, love protects; so God isn’t going to shame someone in public. The secrets revealed here involve God pulling out the questions and concerns of a person and applying His love to them.

~ Developing Your Prophetic Gifting, by Graham Cooke ~

I mentioned previously that I had taken an opportunity to do some prophetic evangelism at a non-religious public event this weekend. A friend & I prophesied to nearly 100 people this past Saturday as people lined up waiting on us. We saw a lot of unchurched people, and people with unfortunately circumstances. Many of the people said we were ‘scary accurate’ in our words to them. As my friend spoke to one guy about his friendships, the Lord gave me a Word of Knowledge, dropping the names Jodie, Sadie, and Jon into my Spirit. The boy was shocked when I spoke the names and confirmed two of the three names as people he was good friends with. We spoke to one girl and told her that she burns a lot of incense and that she’s had some big prayers recently that didn’t come true, that had caused her to quit praying, leaving an emptiness in her. She immediately looked to her friends in the room who were wide eyed. She confirmed that all these things were true. We then gave her a Word of Wisdom directing her to pray some smaller daily prayers to help her build up her trust with God again. One girl came in asking about a relationship, and we spoke Bible verses over her about the worth and purpose God built into her; her entire countenance changed as she lit up and received the words. She was willing to accept a challenge to purity and was excited to find out the difference between ‘fortune tellers/dark arts’ versus God’s gifts. This girl who came in confused, left with confidence in God’s power and love. One lady was in an abusive relationship and began to cry once God asked us to bless her with some money that someone had given us earlier. We received a Word of Knowledge about back pain in one lady who confirmed that she had pain everyday. We loved praying with all these people about their situations in the name of Jesus and watching them come into agreement with Jesus! What a powerful outreach prophecy can be! These people left knowing they had encountered God in a real way and left encouraged and with direction for their lives. They left healed and empowered to change, with a drive to know more about who this God was who was concerned about the details in their lives!

The Gift of Prophecy: 8

Acts 2:38-39 – receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The Holy Spirit is for every generation and EVERY person the Lord calls.

I believe in prophetic evangelism, words of knowledge for the unsaved, gifts of healing across the whole community, expressing God’s heart prophetically in the earth to all peoples. I have been privileged to see non-Christians respond to a prophetic word and beginning their journey into the Kingdom.

Paul said that his preaching was not by word only, but by demonstration of the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor. 2:4 – My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

1 Cor. 4:20 – For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

Not many churches these days couple their message and their preaching with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, but this is the Biblical example laid out for us!

God wants us to work in the gifts of the Spirit because He wants our faith to rest in His power. We are ambassadors for His Kingdom and He has given us His power to carry out His will in the Earth. He gives us this power through the Holy Spirit:

Acts 1:8 – but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth

We can’t be a witness to the earth without the power of the Holy Spirit. Operating in the gifts of the Spirit is essential.

Ps. 139:17-18 – How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand

God is constantly thinking about us, and the Holy Spirit was given to us so that we can hear His thoughts about us anytime we want to:

1 Cor. 2:10-13 – The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

~Developing Your Prophetic Gifting, by Graham Cooke ~

I’m really excited that this section of the book falls on this day! God is moving during this 21 days of posting about the prophetic. Earlier this week an opportunity came up, and today I’m doing prophetic evangelism at a public, not christian, event. I can’t wait to share God’s thoughts with people who may have never heard His voice or known His love for them! This is an opportunity I’ve dreamed about, and just so happened to find at the last minute. God pulled together all the people and supplies I needed to be able to accept this offer and the coordinator had even been praying to find someone to fill this position. I can’t wait to share today’s responses with you!

Spiritual gifts get people’s attention, thus making an entrance of the Word more vibrant and irresistible. As soon as a person realizes that God knows them intimately and cares about them, it drives them to want to know Him for themselves.

One time someone prophesied over me that God was going to heal my ear pain, and give me new friends. The person prophesying over me didn’t know I had left my normal friends, and they didn’t know that I had ear pains. In fact, no one knew that I had ear pains, because I had never bothered to tell anyone. God knew. God knew and was concerned enough to talk to me about it. Time and time again I find out how much God knows about me, and people who I’ve never met before prophecy/speak to me about very detailed and unspoken things in my life. God knows every detail of your life. Man doesn’t and can’t, unless they are listening to God’s Holy Spirit.

Inked

Yup, Jesus is inked up.
He’s got ink, engravings, & piercing. You think that’s wrong? Would you really recognize him today?

– Rev. 19:16 – on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

• He has an ink, name, tattoo on His body.

– Is. 49:16 – See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands

• He has a name engraving for each person He loves. Your name is permanently before Him.

– John 19:2 – The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.

– Matt. 27:26 – But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

• He has engravings that symbolize His love for you. He doesn’t have them to recall the pain, but to mark His love in every situation. To remind us that He will never give up on us.

– John 20:25,27 – So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”… Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

• He has major piercings. Yup, all these are still there today.

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Most people look over these instances and go straight to:

– Lev. 19:28 – ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.

All of Jesus marks were for the living, and clearly He is okay with that. He is not okay with the culture where you put the name of the person you murdered on you.

There is a true, and a false, purpose for tattoos, just like there is a true & false purpose for everything. The truth is good. Tattoos can remind us of our covenant, and give us courage to walk through those difficult times. They can be life giving, God promoting, and a sign to all. We are called to be examples of Christ.

– Sos. 8:6-7 – Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

– Rev. 22:4 – They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

– Rev. 14:1 – Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Advertising has gone crazy these days. It’s everywhere. Why not pick up the pace? We are called to share the gospel, so why not take it to the next level? We are His walking, breathing billboards. People love to ask about tattoos; what a great way to start a conversation with someone that could lead to salvation! Plus, companies are already paying people to get tattoos of their logos. Why not turn this marketing scheme toward the true purpose, since thigh, hand, back, chest, arm, and even face tattoos are in the Bible. God says He tattoo’s His name on our foreheads. If we’re going to have it for all eternity, might as well start now.

God loves to make culture from survived hardships. The Israelites yearly Passover meal has multiple things that are done to remind them of the sorrow of Egyptian slavery, and more importantly how God brought them out. These traditions celebrate God’s faithfulness through hardships. The pain of getting a tattoo can remind you of the hard times, and the tattoo itself can remind you of His goodness.

It’s not what’s written on your skin that makes you holy, or unholy, but what is written on your heart (Matt. 15:11 & 1 Peter 3:21). Write his laws upon your heart and keep them on your mind (Jer. 31:33). After the inner happening of salvation, some people take it public with the sign of water baptism. Likewise, a tattoo can be an outward sign of the inward work of Christ.

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If you want to read more about ‘cutting for the dead’ there is a reference in the ‘false prophets of Baal’ story in 1 Kings 18:28. The false prophets cut themselves to get their gods attention. Our God says He is always listening and always with us; He cares about our body, and health, and asks us not to cut ourselves to get His attention, but instead to rend our hearts in repentance.  (Other references are in Jer. 41:5, Deut. 14:1, Jer. 16:6, Jer. 47:5)

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Prayer: Lord, help us see you as you truly are. You have so much culture; that’s why you found it good to make so many nations. Help us embrace every good thing. Help us see your truth, even when we aren’t used to it. Your ways are higher than our ways. Renew our minds to conform to the mind of God, and not the mind of man; not to tradition, but to ever being changed into your likeness. I ask in your name, and for your glory; Amen.

Go into all the Bars (World)

Give a drunk person 10 minutes and you’ll know more about his life than anyone else.

Jesus wasn’t scared to go anywhere. He said go into all the world to proclaim the gospel.

I met one of my best friends at a bar. Through our interactions he gave his life to Christ. Be intentional with your actions and words. You don’t have to go to the bar with the intention to drink. You can go with the intention to minister.

Those of you who prophesy, should be there prophesying. Call those people up. Encourage them, and call out their destiny. Its a great practice ground. If you are too scared to talk directly with them, then write the prophecy as a poem and hand it to them. Everyone loves entertainment and compliments. It doesn’t have to say ‘thus says the Lord’ and be spoken in king James.

Take another Christian with you for accountability, and find a different missionfield if alcohol is an addiction you struggle with. But to those who are not tempted, or out of control, go into all the bars (world) to proclaim the gospel. The Bible said Jesus drank and celebrated, but He never sinned. He would’ve been there winning souls too.

Matt. 11:18-19 – For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

– Mark 16:15 – And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

– Eph. 5:15-18 – Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit

– 1 Cor. 12:7 – Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good

– 1 Cor. 14:1,3 – Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy… the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort 

There are enough people called to the mission field of the church body. We need people going out to the world and taking the Kingdom of God. He will rule the whole earth. Let’s make Him king.