It has encouraged me deeply and causes wonder and amazement; connection with the Father's heart. He knows us completely. When that realization happens in real time a doorway opens. Doorway to the depths and riches of the knowledge of God. Real time wonder gets mixed with divine destiny and we find ourselves deeply in him with awe.
There is so little wonder in the gathering of the Saints these days. So little awe. We are missing the revelation of His wonder. Maybe its because we divorce ourselves from the depths of the mind of Christ and the beating heart of the Holy Spirit; encourage my Bride.We NEED SOME WONDER. OUR GOD IS WONDER-FILLED.
It is an amazing thing to see a person who does not know another, share secrets of the heart of another person through the Spirit. Have you seen it? Have you experienced it? Very few things come close or drive us more deeply into the Lord's heart. A prophetic word of love and destiny can break up deep fountains and roll back mountains of despair.
Deep, loving and penetrating prophecy is the base line of the Kingdom.
It is NORMAL.
Good prophetic ministry is full of life and health and truth. The Spirit clearly empowers the voice of those who seek to move with him in this love. The key word is "good". Sadly, counterfeits have shaped so much of our thinking and experiences. We've had too many off brands and don't know what an excellent offering of prophecy is like. It seems that we dabble in prophecy and love the presence of the Lord in it. It is calling for more stewarding and for deeper wisdom from the Spirit.
We've also been duped. Somehow the enemy has us equating powerful prophetic ministry with fear and missteps, bad stories and poor character. Pastors, as healthy sheep protectors, have found themselves too many times hearing from a person with no relationship, no visible or tangible expression of love and clearly lacking the patience and demonstrated love of the Spirit in bringing a word. We've turned this poor example of ministry into the normal. IT should die a quick death. The true prophetic is lovely and reaps a reward of rich worship and wonder.
Yes. There are a number of clear stumbling stones on the way to healthy prophetic ministry. Building a Body with a Culture of Love along with the presupposition that prophetic ministry and atmosphere is ground zero for encouragement is key. It is also a road that must be contended for regularly and sown into with perseverance.
In my opinion, the prophetic normal should shine with the character of Christ, the mind of Christ and the culture of the Kingdom. The Kingdom culture is bathed in Spirit and Truth. Love is the beginning and end of everything in the Heart of the Father.
The problem is we elevate people who seem to have divine encounters or "see" and do not possess an aligned culture. Its like we turn off our discernment and forget the most basic reality. The nature and character of Jesus shapes heaven's worship. Spirit and Truth are woven into every movement of God in all realms. The Kingdom Culture is a culture of love. LOVE is first and last. It echos in and through everything the Lord is doing. Second the character of those who influence in the Kingdom is critical. An environment can be created where believers find more strokes and elevation from spiritual encounter disconnected from the character of Christ Jesus. True righteousness encompasses both powerful spiritual encounter and the prophetic spirit and deep and abiding nature of Jesus. Our inheritance is in Him. He is Holy. We receive in faith the works of Christ in our spirits. We combine the power and the beauty of redeemed character and prophetic beauty. I believe a new understanding is knocking on our doors. The old is passing away and new freedom is coming forth in the Spirit's glory.
I am so glad to see the old things passing. I see into the new things and the grace and flow of love and prophetic joy and I can hardly contain myself.
"Our God is a consuming fire"
So, many revelatory spiritual types feel their "seeing" or "dreams" or "prophetic word" has elevated them to a place of judgement of the Body. They don't seem to know the Lord in his deep mission of redemption. He sought his Bride in the Father's will. He stands in the breach. He intercedes for us. Nothing can defeat the love of Christ in the fulness of the Father's love. We also baptize our culture, style and ways into some new kind of wacky Jewish western nuvo spiritual mysticism. This is a fundamental mis-alignment with the Spirit's heart and the truth in the Body of Christ. It sticks in our craw wrong and it should. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me". Nothing else and no one else can be lifted up as high and as gloriously as Jesus. The true spirit of prophecy is in complete alignment with his mission and love. It is a fire of love that breaks every stone of doubt and brokenness.
I love this passage from Jeremiah,
If they are prophets and have the word of the LORD, let them plead with the LORD Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon.
The normal function of the environment of the Lord Jesus is full of encouragement and joy and prophecy and the prophetic ministry fit into this environment like hand in glove. Normal ms-alignments like judgement and Old Testament paradigms bring the wrong atmosphere for prophecy. Choked, stiffled, and broken prophetic ministry without the culture of love and righteousness as the foundation stumbles along without glory and beauty.
Oh, all that we have given up
and given over because of broken and weak models and teachings.
Teachings that have not been adequate to bring the life of the Kingdom in the prophetic.
The prophetic ministry and the prophetic environment.....
It is at the very core of God's heart, roaming around with every thought, mixed with love and power. The Mind of Christ is prophetic. It is the heart beat of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of heaven poured into the depths of the heart. LOVE and fire are the sounds of prophetic ministry poured out with patient endurance.
I Corinthians 14:24 says,
"But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgement by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you".
Trusting God in the encouragement of prophecy is a joy.
Of course there is so much more to say on this. My hope is the heart will live again in the church and burn with a mighty fire of love. That the prophetic ministry will elevate to an even more powerful alignment with the apostolic and that grace, truth and love will roam freely as the Holy Spirit speaks deeply to the heart of those in love with Jesus.
May the Lord grant to his Bride deep revelation of his heart and our inheritance. Jesus is being lifted up higher and higher and higher. Let heaven come!
With love and joy,
Brother Jeff!
Jeff Reynolds. Sr. Leader
Capstone Christian Fellowship
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com
jreynolds@mycapstone.org
www.mycapstone.org
No comments:
Post a Comment