Follow Desire or Prophecy?

Abraham tried to figure out a way to make God’s promise/prophecy work. Every time we try to help God out, we are in danger of producing our own Ishmael. It wasn’t what God had in mind! Abraham was deceived.

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Abraham believed God’s promise, however the prophecy was taking a long time. Abraham wondered if there was something he was doing wrong. He asked questions like: ‘Is there something that I need to do to make the prophecy come to pass? Is God waiting on me to do something? Shouldn’t I be co-laboring with God? What am I missing?’

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Deception means: to look for something where it’s not. Webster’s dictionary defines it as: fraud, double dealing, or trickery.

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I personally went through an experience where I gathered all the prophecies I had received through the years, looked over them, and tried to imagine what the fulfillment of those would look like. Suddenly, I found myself putting 30k toward a business I knew nothing about, plus going into debt for the first time in my life, all while unemployed, because I thought that was how the prophecies would all align. I found myself at the Red Sea waiting for God to part the waters, but I was too afraid to co-labor with the plan/prophecies anymore because I didn’t have money to survive. I later forfeited; I called the company, called it fraud and got a full refund (thank God). In my favor, they let me keep the books, allowed me to keep a few business start up mentoring sessions, and I found a local real estate mentor (for life instead of 6 months) for 1/30th of the price. Through all this, I learned that perhaps following our desires is the better option, than looking to our prophecies as a roadmap for our life. After all God isn’t controlling, so when He prophesied that I would have a business, knowing right well that I did not desire a business, I should have held the horses. Hmm, He did prophesy to ‘throttle back’; guess I missed that one! God tells us in Phillipians 2:14 that, ‘God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.’ So if you’ve ever received a prophecy that didn’t line up with your current desires, then sleep on it for a while; it may be for the future.

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As I started to look into the topic of ‘desire’, I found these gems too:

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Phil. 2:13 – it is I who gave you those desires

Prov. 16:26 – a worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on

If I didn’t have a desire for a business, that’s what I should have listened to–not try to force a prophecy to its fulfillment. God chooses to use our desires to lead us into the fulfillment of His plan for our lives. That’s what freedom looks like. God will shape and form your desires, and it’s at that point that you can co-labor with Him. And of course we aren’t talking about the desires of the flesh (Rom.13:13-14) here… we are talking about the desires to do His good, pleasing, and perfect will, which unfold as we continue to follow the path of righteousness.

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Any normal person would follow their desires… *self jab. Any normal person is following their flesh desires… right into the flames of hell. Put me down for trying something different! Antonyms for normal: abnormal, different, irregular, rare, uncommon, untraditional, unusual, exceptional, extreme (amen!), eccentric, insane (to the flesh)…  extraordinary! I’ll keep that last one tucked away for later. *self protect

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Back to Abraham, we should take note that his desire was for his wife. It was his wife who directed his efforts from his desire, onto seeing the prophecy fulfilled and onto sleeping with the servant girl. We should also note that God was still gracious to his confused efforts by blessing Ishmael. However, God didn’t allow Ishmael, or Abraham’s efforts, to replace His original purpose and perfect will.

Rom. 11:29 – for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable

When God decides to give us something, He doesn’t change His mind, no matter what we do. In light of this scripture, I could’ve stood firm and rested in knowing that even if I hadn’t gotten back all the money I’d worked so hard to save, I could still believe God’s promise to me that: You won’t have to worry about finances; everything will be paid for; you’ll travel in state, out of state, and internationally, and live over seas for a time while being reimbursed like a job’. O, throttle back my heart, and wait for God to turn desire into fulfillment!

Prophecy: Forgery or Fulfillment?

God made a promise (prophesy), and you better believe that Satan was going to take advantage of it. Long before Jesus was born of a virgin, God told us that Jesus would inherit the nations of the earth.

Satan can quote scripture too you know? He spent a lot of time at God’s right hand before the fall. His whole outfit is based on taking the Word of God and twisting it into something different. He creates a cheap, deadly counterfeit for every rich and life giving original from God.

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Jesus was getting baptized, and the second Satan heard the words ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’, it struck a cord. He remembered David writing something about that. He remembered what came next. Oh, this is when God promises to give the earth as an inheritance to His son… so he snuck on ahead. Since he knew what God had to offer, and what Jesus desired, why not try to beat them to the punch? ‘Surely, if I offer Jesus the gift first, He will take it from me?’, Satan snared.

Ps. 2:7-8 –  I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

Matt. 3:16-17; 4:1,8-10 – When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”… Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil….  Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

The enemy will try to create confusion about your future. If you’ve received a prophecy and ever wondered what to do with it, then know that it can find it’s fulfillment through two outlets: 1) Gods way or 2) the enemies way.

A lot of times when we receive a prophecy, Satan himself will show up and say ‘All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.’ It just won’t be as blunt as that. It’ll come by tempting you to do even the tiniest thing that you know is wrong. He’ll cause you to question some scripture, and coax you away from God. It’ll be so deceptive that you might even think that it is God leading you into the promise.

When God is pleased with us, He likes to give us gifts. He is pleased with you! We don’t have to earn His love; it is freely given too! But what better tactic could the enemy have, but to eavesdrop into a conversation between us and God? ‘What if I can glean what it is they truly desire from Him?’, he plots.

God is a good Father and knows our desires inside out; anything He desires to give us will be freely given. Satan, on the other hand, will use what you desire most as a temptation and a trap for you; it’ll always come with a price: your relationship to the Father. Satan will offer you anything to keep you from the Father; he’ll even give you the desires of your heart, but at a moment and a way that it will cause the most destruction.

Jesus knew what was prophesied over Him; He knew that it was God’s will to have him inherit the world. However, when His Father’s promise seemed to be finding it’s fulfillment through Satan instead of through God, Jesus wasn’t deceived.

Unfortunately, we aren’t going to see the image of the devil, a snake crawling on the ground, or a voice saying ‘worship me and I’ll give you’,  when we come to this place of temptation in our lives. We aren’t going to know for sure whether it is Satan or God, because satan can come as an angel of light, and God’s route could take us through a desert. How then can we know which is God’s way? How can we look at the prophecies that we’ve received and know the right path? After all, Jesus would’ve been set over the world if he had followed Satan too. Satan’s route didn’t require death on the cross. It was easier, but it came with strings attached: ‘Let me fulfill your desire,’ Satan tempted him.

Prov. 16:25 – There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death

More so than the fulfillment of any desire, we want you God.

Maybe it always looks like a desert route?  We have to desert every counterfeit fulfillment of the desire, then wait for God to give the real mccoy.

We need to make sure that we are always receiving our gifts through a relationship with God. Outside of a relationship with God, there is no good gift or good desire. God repeatedly tells us to ask Him for what we desire:

Ps. 2:7-8 – He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will

Matt. 7:7 – Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

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There are 2 ways to skin a cat, 2 ways to go at the fork in the road, and 2 ways to fulfill a promise. The first story of the Bible is there to remind us, we are all faced with a choice. Will we honor God’s ways? God isn’t keeping anything from us, He simply wants us to ask Him for the things we desire instead of going to a tree, a snake, an idol, a person, or alternate route that would lead us away from Him:

Gen. 3:1-6 – Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Stay in God’s will and His ways, always looking to Him and asking Him to fill your desires and bring about the prophecies:

Ps. 138:8 – The Lord will fulfill his purpose for you

Focused on Purpose

Luke 4:42-43 – And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

You need alone time to decide what your priorities are; go to that desolate place for a moment. If someone is demanding too much of you, even hunting you down in your quiet moment, not respecting your time or decision making skills, but instead pressuring you – then even Jesus told them too bad; He just said it all nice and gentle like, ‘I am going to do this thing that I have determined to do.’ He did not tell the people what they should do, and he did not turn down the people; He simply stated what He was going to do.

If people in those days were anything like people today (which they were), then the majority of them got in a tissy about his response. It’s your job to set your goals, boundaries, and have self-control of your decisions. If you don’t want to have control of your decisions, there are plenty of people who would love to take control of you and make the decision for you; they will abuse your time and take you off track of your purpose. If your decisions make someone upset, then it’s up to them to deal with that, and to learn to make the most of the time that they do have with you. This is great advice for work, home, or life in general.

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Luke 5:1-5 – On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Simon had already put up for the day and closed shop. If Jesus was wrong he’d have to redo everything he had just done. It took an act of faith to throw those clean nets back in the water to pick up weeds, and grime, that would rot the old-fashioned (non nylon/non polyester) ropes if he didn’t clean them again. Do you have the kind of faith it takes to do the job twice if it doesn’t come through, and hasn’t come through all day?

When you feel like you’ve failed. When you feel like you’ve already given it your all. When you’re ready to call it quits. Jesus says put out the nets.

Keep your boundaries and purpose, yes, but never avoid something hard. There are those clients who will be nightmares and eat up your time. Set boundaries, but don’t quit on them. 50 designs later, are you still working with all your heart?

– Matt. 18:22 – Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

– Col. 3:23 – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters

– Eph. 6:7 – Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people

God is Passion

– Heb. 12:29 – Our God is a consuming fire

– 1 John 4:8 – God is love

One definition for the word fire is: ‘to inspire’

If you are looking for God, look for love.
Where there is fire, passion, inspiration, and love for something in your life, that is God leading you.
(As long as that passion stays on the path of righteousness)

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“By following passion and love, we can find our purpose.”

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God’s people are led by a pillar of fire into their promised land. The same goes for you.

– Ex. 13:21 – the Lord went ahead of them… by night in a pillar of fire to give them light

– Eze. 1:26-28 – on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist … down he looked like fire

That pillar of fire was the leg of God. He was literally walking in front of Israel and guiding them into the promised land. Let that same God lead you; follow the flame of passion that’s in you.

– Ps. 104:4 – The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants

We were created to be burning and passionate. To serve what we love and let that fire drive our work. If passion has left, then its time to follow Him somewhere new. The Israelites stayed when God stayed and followed God when He up and led the way.

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How do we follow passion?
Passion often produces dreams and desires for more, but we can’t get to the fulfillment of a dream without a process.

– Col. 3:23-24 – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart… since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

You don’t have to do something all day, you just have to do a little each day. Focusing on the end product is productive for long term goals, but focusing on the end product with an instant gratification mentality is a set up for failure, frustration, & burn out. And In order to keep passion alive we have to protect against those things by:

– Being intentional (with our time, actions, steps, goals, etc.)
– Being practical
– Being consistent
– Expecting Results

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Process is God inspired:

1. When we accept Christ we do not instantly become perfect.

– 2 Cor. 3:18 – And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

We are transformed into His image. We cannot be perfect. Perfection is unattainable to us. We are perfect only through Jesus, not ever from our own ability. God does not expect us to be perfect, He expects us to transform. Transformation is not instantaneous. His grace covers us in our imperfect state. He loves us despite our flaws.

We cannot will ourselves into the last phase. We can only get there by taking the small yet necessary steps. The caterpillar isn’t stressed out about getting into its final form. Everything happens in its own time. We can trust God in the same way. His timing is perfect and it’s not something that we have to perform on our own. We can take it one day at a time and trust Him that the daily process is getting us to that final form of what He has planned.

– Matt. 6:34 – seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

2. We can’t teleport. If we want to get somewhere we have to take one step at a time.
The journey is meant to be fun. It’s like site seeing. Bad things can happen along the journey, but staying on the path of righteousness makes those things dust in the midst of a whole heep of glory.

3. Thankfully, when we want to eat, we don’t just insert the whole meal into our stomach. We, instead, take one bite at a time and get to enjoy the flavors.

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“We cannot take on the whole of our calling at one moment. We need steps.
And if we are following the passion and the love, then we are following God into our destiny.”

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Passion can teach us about God:

– John 14:26 – the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

God Himself will teach us who He is. I was torn today about what I should study: bible or art? Though I had planned on learning an art program for work, passion led me to play violin, and during the violin session the Spirit of God talked to me about patience and revealed Himself to me. Today is a smorgasbord of all the things I wanted to do. I followed passion, and then I realized that God is passion, and that as I follow passion, He will reveal Himself to me.

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Our purpose is engrained in us and fire lights the way to destiny. I have both desired, and dreaded, learning an instrument for 19 years now. I thought it would take to much time to learn and would catapult me into a realm of competition. If I had just learned a little every day for the past 19 years, I would’ve been a master by now. But true God given passions do not leave. If you deny them, they will haunt you for 19 years! Just go ahead and follow it. Ten minutes of attention a day for 19 years is plenty to get you to that final phase you dream about.

Each person has a place and a realm of influence, given to them from God. Every persons talents have a purpose. If God is guiding you with a passion, don’t let the enemy shut you down with lies like you can’t do it, you won’t be as good as others, or it would take too much time to learn.

– 2 Cor. 10:12 – We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves

– 1 Peter 4:10 – Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

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“We can’t find our purpose if we keep killing the seeds
of desire that God has put in us to nurture.” 

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In this parable God shows us that every person has a talent, and every person gets to choose whether they invest in it or not. God promises that if you invest in the talent that you will receive a 100 fold increase plus.

– Matt. 25:14-30 – “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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Make us an uncontrollable fire that consumes everything. (except that your fire brings abundant life instead of destruction)

Prayer: Thank you Lord for lighting my path. Thank you the prophesy that was spoken over me that I would be a worshipper, write great things, and even make songs. I do not see it, and I have neglected it, but God, you are a consuming fire. As I continue to seek you, set me ablaze. Guide me with your righteous passion; lead me into the promise, and set me on the land that you have prepared for me. Reveal now, where you are in the lives of those who read. Help them see you as that passionate flame that burns inside of them. Give us more of you. Be the seal on our hearts that keeps us as burning ones. Consume every part of us (Ps.69:9). Let us be your living sacrifice (Rom.12:1). Let us burn with a fire that waters cannot quench (Sos.8:6). Make us Elijah’s in the midst of the prophets of Baal (1Kings18); no matter how much water, or how many trials come against us, keep our hearts alive with blazing passion for your name. May passion light the way for purpose.

Worship: Jesus Culture – All Consuming Fire

Light has no Darkness

– 1 John 1:5 – God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

– Light is not darkness

– Light overcomes darkness

– Light does not create darkness

– Light, by nature, exposes what is not light

– Light can create more light

– Eph. 5:8-14 – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord… everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

God wants you to be a light so you can see your path and not hurt yourself by walking around, stumbling, in the darkness.

– Heb. 12:29 – our God is a consuming fire.

– John 1:1-5 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

– Ps. 119:105 – Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

– John 12:35-36 – Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

– Prov. 4:19 – But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

– John 8:12 – When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

– Ps. 91:12 – He will lift you up in His hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

– Prov. 3:23 – Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.

– Ps. 25:4-21 – Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me! Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.

– 1 John 4:16 – God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.