12/11/2015

One cog on the wheel

1 Corinth. 13:9 for we know in part and we prophecy in part

In chapter thirteen, Paul speaks of the value, reality and importance of ‘love’. He tells us that without love nothing else carries much value. Yes, we might do good works but without love it really means very little – maybe only a temporary fix. Bu after verse nine, Paul encourages us to grow (mature) in love. Verse nine, however, says that whatever we do in this world we do in part. That is we may not see the complete picture or know the whole story. But we know what God reveals to us at a given time. We see in part because we’re not yet mature in love.

Sometimes, the prophetic might get a bad rap because the speaker may not reveal all that pertains to the situation. God may not have shown him the whole picture. Example: The evening sky is streaked with blue, red, orange and yellow and maybe a few shades of mixed colors. Father says to the prophet “Look how blue the sky is. Go tell my children.” The prophet dutifully carries this word to the children but the children look up and see many colors in the sky. Even though the blue may be the most brilliant and beautiful blue God has ever put in the sky, the prophet may be accused of being a ‘false prophet’ simply because he/she didn’t mention the other colors. Was the prophet wrong? No. he/she spoke to the children what God said to speak and nothing more. At the same time, or even at different times, different sunsets, God may send the same or other prophets to point out the other colors in the spectrum.

Think of a wheel or more specifically a gear. The gear has many teeth or cogs, four, a dozen, whatever. All cogs are part of the same wheel and each cog has a job to do as it interfaces with parts of the respective machine. That cog does what it is supposed to do, it meshes with designed other parts and nothing more when it is supposed to. Even though it may be rotating because it is circular and each cog advances the gear with each connection, it still does its job when its turn comes up. It does its job and only its job. It isn’t designed to do anything else.

If we look at the Old Testament and read about God’s prophets, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all the rest, God gave each of these men a specific task to perform with respects to the children of Israel. They performed their task and only that task. Of course then, afterwards, God may have given them another task to perform, related or unrelated to the previous task, and they would do that.

If we look at a ‘timeline’ of when the prophets existed, we see many overlapped each other, that is that many served, at least a portion of their time, during the same time period as another prophet. More than one might be serving at a specific time but each had their ‘own’ message from God.

Not all words come to pass immediately. Daniel interpreted Nebuchadenzzar’s dream of the giant statue (Dan. Chptr2). He told the king that the gold head represented the king’s current kingdom, but the parts of silver, brass, iron and clay were all future kingdoms, even the stone which broke the stature into pieces was another kingdom.

Point is that when someone operates in the ‘prophetic’ today, their words will come to pass but we need God’s wisdom to determine is the word for today? Or tomorrow? I know for myself as Father has taught me through the ‘revelations of a word pertaining to birds. On several occasions He gave me a word prompted by the actions of birds which I saw out my front window. Between Jan. 2015 and Feb. 2015 four times He shared a word focused around the activity of birds. The word can be progressive, a part now, a part tomorrow and so on as it was with the birds. The lesson with the birds is that God was sharing with me what He wanted to share at a given time. Then after He shared all four installments He tied it all up into a neat little package showing me a more complete picture of how one prophecy led to the next revealing a complete picture of progression. Get the drift?

Don’t get upset or discouraged just because someone doesn’t have the whole picture up front but rather weigh what is said against God’s written word for consistency. We know God is love. Is what was said consistent with the operation of God’s love? If so, receive it and expect it, even when it doesn’t happen right away. The prophecy may be what God intends for you down the road. An example from my life: I might have been a teenager or I might have been in my twenties, I don’t recall anymore but I asked God if I would ever amount to anything. I ‘felt’ a response in that what God had for me would come late in life. I turned twenty in 1965. More than forty years later, over the past two to three years Father has been unraveling what He has set aside for me. I don’t feel too bad though. Abraham was 100 years old when he became the father of Isaac, the promised son. Moses sneaked out of Egypt, eluding what would have been Pharaoh’s wrath (Exod. Chptr 2) when he was forty years old and came back to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt forty years later when he was eighty. Now I’m not comparing myself to Abraham or Moses but what i am saying is that a day with the Lord is ‘like’ a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8). The word ‘like’ doesn’t limit a day with God to be a thousand years, it means that a day is as infinite as God desires. What I am saying is God is timeless. He knows the beginning and the end. They are the same to Him so what seems like an eternity to us is just a blink of the eye for Him. So, now, I’m anticipating what He has in store for me as I continue to mature as His child.

Any child of God can bring a prophetic word (but remember Satan can imitate) but God’s love is the yardstick. Anytime someone speaks into our lives weigh it against ‘God’s nature’. Of course, we’ll have to know something about God’s nature to do that and to do that we'll need to know some bible. Also God is in the ‘edification business’ (Romans 14:9) so all word should be delivered in love and even though it may seem harsh sometimes, it is always done for our edification. To help us to become a better and more productive person (Christian).

I speak for myself, most of the prophetic words spoken into my life over the past several years have confirmed what Father has already told me. If the word is ‘new’ to me and if it is truly from the Lord, it will edify, be consistent with God’s nature and it will come to pass. It may come to pass quickly or as with me, we just may have to be patient sometimes. It will come to pass and God will tell you. That is He will confirm it in your heart as well as through others. If He hasn’t told you first, as long as you listen, He will tell you.

Originally I was going to share the ‘words’ prompted by the birds but Father said to share this first so I said OK, next time. Father said “No, I have something else planned for the next time, the birds can come in January.” I said OK (what else would I say?

Again, somebody out there needs these words and I pray Father blesses them through them.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.