Receiving

God wants to reveal His righteous acts (Rev 15:4).  Those who overcome are His Bride, clothed with fine linen, which are the righteous acts of the saints (Rev 19:8).  What the Husband is doing, so the wife is doing also.  God is doing righteous acts, and so are the people who make up His Bride.

We were created to do works which glorify God.  We also were created to become part of a Body, the Bride of Christ.  This body serves itself, each member benefiting the other members by serving with their gifts.  The Bride is a group of people who receive from one another.  This is how the Bride makes herself ready for the Groom (Rev 19:7).

The Groom, Jesus, asked us to receive one another (Mt 10:40-42). This will clothe us with good works; listening to and following the Holy Spirit through the gifts of one another.  The fine linen of the saints is like a thread which Jesus’s gifts weave into the beautiful and protective clothing that covers us. 

The Bride is ever about listening and preparing to be with her Lord.  She will not become ready by rejecting men, children, or prophets.  Her garments cannot be woven by just one man in the churches.  Today, as you listen, hear the Lord in His people. Receive one another, weak or strong, poor or rich, foolish or wise.  For there are gifts amongst us that we need.  They will make us ready, if we receive them. Amen.

Intuition

Man’s thought process is often based on his perception of past events.  When enough patterns emerge, he uses them as templates for like circumstances.  Men that develop expertise in learning patterns seem logical, but they are not; they are intuitive.  Intuition informs oneself through the patterns found in past experiences.

Every man’s experiences are not viewed entirely in truth.  A child will see things from a self-centered view point. As the child grows, so do his opinions change about how he sees things.  For example, a child’s perception of the love of others will be based on having his desires met.  An adult, however, will judge love on new criteria, for he has learned the blessing of giving and providing as well as receiving.

A man who is born again, by God’s Spirit, has the opportunity of being informed by the Spirit of Truth.  Truth knows no time and therefore can reach into past memories, giving God’s perspective on events and intentions.  Truth can mentor a man with lessons that will mold him into the image of God.  Truth can correct a man’s mistakes in honesty, without an agenda.  Truth is the gift that causes a man to base his perceptions on God’s viewpoint and live his life a new way.  Truth will cause a man to truly know himself, and to come into God’s opinion of himself, his life, and the life he shares with others.

As children of God, we should seek Truth.  For those who do not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, seek Him for this, for it will change your life.  Amen.

Lessons

Yesterday a friend and I were talking about a man who is 95, and wants to go home to be with his Lord, Jesus.  But he is in good health and has lived a few years more than he expected to.  My friend said “I guess he has to live until he has learned all his lessons.  There must be a few more for him to learn.” After this conversation the Holy Spirit quickened me, and I could hear “Life isn’t just about learning lessons.” God wants a relationship with us other than our Teacher.

If we think God is all about teaching us stuff, and that this is the most important reason for us to live on this earth, then we will either become blunted by the pain of life, or we will become bitter.  The first set of people, believing they need to learn from the bad things that happen, need intellectual compensation.  The lessons they learn anesthetizes them, and numbs them to subsequent bad happenings.  It is almost as if they have to prove how much they can take, all in the name of being a good Christian.

The second group of people are bitter because they want victory and change, and yet more trials come into their lives.  Because they believe they should learn lessons from these trials, they feel like a manipulated pawn piece in the chess game of life, always facing awful circumstances that are supposed to be good for them. They don’t know whether to pray for improvement, or for God’s grace to submit to the pain.

But there is a third option, and that is called “victory.” God wants to inspire you and I with a plan for overcoming. There is no set answer for any given trial.  God has personal answers for us.  Some sufferings actually accomplish something, and some do not.  I once read about a man who became stuck in his vehicle after a blizzard blocked the road.  It was a windy road in the country and no one came by.  As the days passed he became filled with thoughts about his life being over and wrote a farewell note to his family.  When a search party finally found him, he had passed away.  If he would have gotten out of his truck he would have seen that just around the bend the sun hit the road, melting all the snow and making passage, at least by foot, possible.  Because the man had gotten stuck in the shadowed part of the road, the snow remained high and he never knew he could walk away.

At times the cold darkness of our trials cause us to get stuck.  We may think there is no apparent lesson to learn, and yet we do not pray to overcome.  I believe now more than ever that God has a plan for our lives which includes more than lessons.  Let us seek Him today for His ultimate best in our lives so that we might taste the glory of victory.  Amen.

Honesty

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” Ps 51:6

God asks me questions often, not so that I can inform Him, but so that I will come face to face with my opinions, formed in my inner parts, or inner man.  He keeps me honest this way, and in many other ways.  God will bring circumstances into all our lives that cause our innermost parts to unify in one emotion or another.  They will bring out anger, defiance, love, empathy . . . we are capable of positive and negative emotions.  We will also form opinions, thoughts that rule the climate of our hearts. 

For the prophet, he or she is set apart to the Lord.  It is of great importance that the prophet’s opinions and emotions are honest, and that they line up with the character of God.  To do this, a prophet must get to know God.  In getting to know God, one also learns how to know themselves. Even if our honesty is ugly, full of hate and self-promotion, God can work with that.  There is nothing in us that will surprise Him.  God will bring us to repentance if that’s where we need to go, and our greatest aspirations will be laid aside for His.  Then He can call us back again to the works He has set us aside to do.

Last night the Lord shared His thoughts about our current religious atmosphere.  He said, “The prophets of this day do not know Me.  They are acquainted with marketing.  I was acquainted with the sorrows and griefs of men. They love praise.  I love people.  They are self-determined.  I did the will of My Father.  They measure themselves by wealth, position and good favor.  I am the rain that falls on the just and the unjust alike, giving all men everywhere the opportunity to measure up to the full stature of God.”

If we find ourselves to not be in God’s character, in part shared in the previous paragraph, we can turn around.  As prophets, we can not only be honest about the error of our ways, but we can turn around and help turn others as well.  This day let us truly listen as the Lord speaks from His nature, and be honest about our own nature.  This is what He desires from us.  Amen.