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!
Did you realize you are currently here on earth AND in heaven? The Spirit that God put in us is both 1)in us, and 2)seated with Christ in heaven.
God’s kingdom is eternal and there is no sickness, pain, disease, or suffering in that realm. You are in that realm with God, Jehovah Rapha. Jehovah Rapha means ‘the Lord who heals you.’ The Old Testament says:
– Ex. 15:26 – He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
– Jer. 30:17 – But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord
– Ps. 103:3 – He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
– Is. 53:5 – But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
When we accept Jesus as our savior. We ARE healed. We ARE seated in heavenly places with Him. We must contend for that truth to come into our physical bodies.
– Phil. 3:12 – I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
The New Testament says:
– Rev. 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
– Heb. 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
– Matt. 9:1-7 – Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home.
God and Jesus healed throughout the Bible and they do not change. They still heal today:
– John 4:24 – God is spirit
– 1 Cor. 12:7-10 – Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit… faith, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers…
– 1 Cor. 14:1 – Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit
Jehovah is the Great Physician who heals the physical and emotional needs of His people. He is still doing that today.
Praise God, who has given such authority to man! He puts the gifts of healing inside His people! He says we are seated with Him in the heavenly realms where there is no sickness:
– Eph. 2:4-6 – But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
– Matt. 6:10 – your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The Word of God is your sword. Take the kingdom! The Word is the Truth of God. Pain is a temporary feeling; it does not exist in the eternal realm. Use the Truths of Gods eternal word as your sword and cut down the lies of pain in your body. Say, ‘No! By His stripes I am healed! My hope is in Jehovah Rapha, my healer! I believe the eternal truth that I am whole and healed in the name of Jesus. This pain is a lie of the enemy and I stand on the solid rock who says I am healed. I will cut down these lies of pain! I will live by faith! And I will fight the enemy until I see the kingdom of God come on earth as it is in heaven!’
– Ex. 15:3 – “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name.
– Ps. 30:2 – Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.
– Mark 5:34 – He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
– Matt. 8:2-3 – And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
– 2 Cor. 1:20 – For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Testimony: I have personally witnessed a person, deaf from birth, begin to respond to sound and try to repeat words for the first time. One day someone called me out of a group for having pain in my right kidney; they were right! They prayed for my healing and gave me a specific instruction. A month later, after I had followed that word of wisdom, the pain left. The pain had plagued me for a year, but it went away as the person said it would.
Yesterday, I agreed to pray for a friend who has a kidney stone. Today, I am feeling the pains of her kidney stone; mildly, and briefly. The pain is not my own. It is not normal for my body, since I don’t have a kidney stone myself. I have the brief sensation of her pain, and it reminds me to pray for her. I have never had problems with breathing, but the last two days I have felt like I was getting asthma. My best friend has asthma, so now I’ve realized that God is asking me to pray for him. Now that I’m praying for him, I can breathe fine. The person who called me out for having kidney problems, knew it because he felt it in his own body just. It was not his own pain, it was just a word of knowledge that he needed to pray from someone who was having that pain. In the same way, the Spirit can give us a word of knowledge about pain in someone elses body so that we can pray for their healing. There are many ways to hear God’s voice, but this is one way that many people with the gift of healing do hear.
I have 100% victory over menstrual cramps. Every time I experience pain, I pray, and it leaves. At times I have prayed for others with menstrual cramps and seen them freed from pain too. I’m starting small, but He says if we are faithful with a little He will give us more. The gifts operate by faith. A little faith means a little operation in the gifts, but when you see God move in that little bit, it builds up your faith. The next time, you have more faith to believe for something greater! The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me, and He can raise the dead just as easily as He can heal a cramp. Start to do the things He says you can do! Ask Him to activate the gifts of healing in you through His Spirit; then go pray for those who are sick and watch Him work!
Prayer: Thank you God for building our faith and helping our unbelief (Mark 9:24). Faith comes through hearing the Word of God. Thank you Jesus for everything you are, and for everything that your name means. Savior, healer, deliverer, provider! You are our all in all! Though we will see trials, and go through valleys, you are faithful to bring us out with a shout of victory! I pray for those in the hospitals, in car accidents, with terminal illnesses, with rare diseases, with sicknesses that bring shame, for people in pain, that you raise them from the valley and put them on the mountain. That you put the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, in their hands and help them contend for the truths you have spoken over them. They are healed by your stripes. I pray that you go to them, and even send Spirit filled believers to them, to rebuke the devourer from their lives as I do now. For all those in Christ, the enemy has no place in you! Be healed in the name of Jesus.
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.
lovedisciple 