Category Archives: Faith

“Larry, let’s pray, okay?” says Honey almost every morning over the last thirteen years.  “Who knows, maybe the Lord has a prophetic word for us today?”

Then, Honey and I seek the Lord specifically asking Him to speak to us through the prophetic gifts.

Does the Lord always speak to us? No, not always; but the percentage of times that He does speak is rather astounding.

Do we make mistakes? Yes, we do. Some of the mistakes are funny, and some are not. But then again, the accuracy has often been amazing, especially with knowing about family problems ahead of time, financial instructions, intercession, even deaths of relatives and so forth.

We write the prophetic words down which gives us an accountability system.

Now, most churches which allow prophetic words in their services do so as a part of the praise and worship time. The music dies down and then a prophecy or two may be spoken. But then, it’s back to the normal service schedule.

So, would churches be better off doing what Honey and I do? Specifically seeking the Lord for His now-input rather than having the same old-same old service. Or is a little prophecy more than enough? After all, there will be mistakes, some of them may even be major ones.

What do you think?

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Does Jesus ever go on vacation? Silly question, right? 

Indeed, He who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps. (Psalm 121:4 NLT)

So, rest easy, Jesus is always available and never takes time off to go on vacation. But this is not true for Honey and me as we are heading off to Disneyland with the Grandkids today.

See you tomorrow.

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

A few years ago, another believer and I had an extended discussion over whether Jesus has a sense of humor or not.

“How can you possibly believe Jesus could laugh about anything with all the problems in the world? Like AIDS, Israel, terrorism,  abortion, poverty, starvation, war,” he proclaimed. “I just don’t think you know Jesus as you should.”

“Well, maybe I don’t know Him as I should,”  I said, conceding the point. “But if He’s not laughing at both of us right now, He’s missing a golden opportunity. We’re certainly silly.”

The conversation went down hill from this point onward.

So, what do you think? Does Jesus have a sense of humor? If so, give some examples.

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Click on following links for: Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,  Part 7 and Part 8.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

5. Humility

“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who doesn’t care who gets the credit.” (Dwight L. Moody)

If I had to pick just one character trait which Jesus is longing to see in us prophetic people, it would be humility. And yet, this seems to be the hardest one for us to attain.

Let’s say, you are on a platform with a microphone in your hand. You look into the audience and see a woman.  There’s nothing remarkable about her, but you instantly know something.

You point at her. “Your prayers are about to be answered,” you say, “that man you have been praying about for years and years is coming back into your life. Buy a wedding dress.”

The woman breaks down and cries. She raises her hands and shouts, “Thank you Jesus!”

Afterward, you find out the woman has been praying for her ex-husband. She believes they will be remarried, but everyone, including her pastor,  has told her she’s nuts. They say that her ex-husband will never, ever change his ways.

Six months later, you are invited to the wedding of the woman and her ex-husband. The man had an experience with the Lord and was instantly changed.

This actually happened to me, and countless other ones like it.

Pretty heady stuff, right?

Today, as I look back at the guy who held that microphone and spoke those words, I cringe and shudder. I hate him. I hate his pride, his arrogance, his thinking that he was the man who prayed, fasted and heard God for other people. I don’t even like to remember the time period because I am so ashamed of that man.

But let’s be honest, okay? I still give prophetic words. So, what’s changed in me?

“I remember the day and the place where I died.” (Katherine Kuhlman)

Maybe, Kuhlman was fortunate enough to completely die to all of her pride on just one day, but I wasn’t.  I can take you to street corners where parts of me died. Or to dumpsters where I crawled into searching for cans. Or to jobs I failed at. Or to countless other experiences where my heart was crushed.

Am I a perfect example of humility now? No. No. No.

But I am no longer the same guy who held the microphone and spoke the words to that lady…and I pray that I never will be like him again.

Humility takes time, lots of it. It is an ongoing work in my life, one which I continually struggle with; and yet, I embrace it.

(This series will be continued in the future.)

*I have used the word prophesy in a general sense to denote prophecy, words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to heaven, we were all going the other way. (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.)

Charles Dickens’ opening words to his classic novel perfectly describes the alternatives we Americans and other Western nations are going through right now.

So, which is it? Are we believers living in the best of times or the worst of times? And why?

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Click on following links for: Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

4. Love

Fourteen or so years ago, I was invited to fellowship with some men at a breakfast meeting.  I sat next to a youth leader and across from another one.

The two talked about the struggles they had with motivating young people to live for Jesus. Each inquired how the other’s youth meeting was handled. Both replied about having structured meetings, but still, they wondered aloud, what else could they do.

“Why don’t you teach them to love the presence of the Holy Spirit?” I said, barging into the conversation.

“Oh, I’ve tried that, but it’s a lot of work,” said the youth leader, sitting across from me.

“Did the kids enjoy the experience?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” the man replied. “They loved it.” He paused, then added, “But it’s so iffy, you know? So, I’d rather have a more structured meeting.”

As soon as possible, I offered my apologies and left the breakfast table.

His answer caused me to become so distraught that tears flooded down my face. Passersby stared at me, wondering what my problem was. I didn’t care.  Every part of me ached.

“Jesus, the church doesn’t care about Your presence or You. They only care about their programs,” I cried. “And to be honest, Lord, I don’t like Your church and would rather have nothing ever to do with it.”

Now, to be honest, my agony came out of wounds and hurts from bad experiences and rejections by other Christians and churches. It certainly wasn’t the fault of that youth leader; he was innocent. It’s just that his words lit the fuse on my inner powder keg.

From that day onward, the Lord worked on me. He used hammers and chisels welded by people and the Holy Spirit to break up the hardness in my heart. To Him, it was personal, not just another religious exercise. The process was lengthy and not pretty.

You see, Jesus absolutely loves His church. His church is His all-consuming passion. He loves the least and the greatest member of it. He sees the church as His Bride, and guess what? He is head over heels in love with her.

Today, I love the church, the Bride of Jesus. His work was painful, but effective in me.

Now, here’s some advice to you: if you have any problems with other Christians, such as Pentecostals or Charismatics or Fundamentalists or Evangelicals or Snake-handling sects or whatever, I suggest you ask the Lord to give you a deep, dying on the cross type of love for them.

This suggestion will save you time and pain.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

(Continued in Part 9.)

*I have used the word prophesy in a general sense to denote prophecy, words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).

Click on following links for: Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

3. Faith

One of our Father’s frustrations with Israel in the Old Testament was the nation’s lack of faith in Him.

“Yes,” they would proclaim, “God showed up at the Red Sea. And yes, He fed us with manna in the wilderness. But this time is different, how can we trust Him to help us now?”

Over and over again, Israel turned its back on God and sought comfort and help from idols they could see and touch. Finally, God allowed Israel to be removed from His sight; and its people were scattered to the winds.

Why?

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (Hebrews 4:2)

Sadly, faith has taken an unfair hit in the last few years. So much so, that any person who mentions that Christians might need to increase their faith levels risks being labeled a “faith nut”. Someone to be ignored and castigated by other believers.

Part of this may be due to the Word of Faith Movement’s overemphasis of prosperity and healing. And part may be due to the overemphasis of love in our modern worship songs.

But mostly, I believe that, like Israel, we believers are not really sure God will show up and help us in our times of need. After all, we prayed, and yet, our car was repossessed or our home was foreclosed on or marriage ended in divorce or a loved one died.

So how can we trust God now?

I have been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and sang the song. But yet, when the divorce happened, when the vehicles were repossessed, when the loved ones died, when the apartment tossed us out, when the dumpsters became a source of food and when the friends all left, who could I trust?  Who?

A man in the midst of a horrendous trial said it best:

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him… (Job 13:15)

Yes, when you stand up to prophesy, the Holy Spirit may not show up. You may look and feel foolish; others may point at you and snicker. Maybe, even the whole city will ridicule you aloud.

Scripture terms this as presumption on your part. It is not a sin and God will not hold it against you. He will correct and work with you on your mistakes.

Yet, having a prophetic word in your mouth and being prompted by the Holy Spirit to speak it, but then not doing it because of fear (lack of faith) is a sin. One which will hinder your walk with the Lord.

…let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. (Romans 12:6)

(Continued in Part 8)

*I have used the word prophesy in a general sense to denote prophecy, words of knowledge and words of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).