Category Archives: Prophecy

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).

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

What is the price for rising above entry level prophesying?

2. Grace

Jeffrey Dahmer, the convicted serial killer of seventeen men and boys, was bludgeoned to death on November 28, 1994. Afterward, a local pastor stated that Dahmer was a born-again Christian.

An enraged newspaper columnist wrote the following about Dahmer’s born-again status. “If God saves wretched monsters like Jeffrey Dahmer, then I want nothing to do with God. Nothing at all…ever.”

Of all of God’s attributes, grace has to be the “ugliest duckling” of the bunch. After all, how could a just and holy God save a guilty, wretched monster like Dahmer? Or for that matter, how could God save a guilty man like me?

For the first eight years of my Christian journey, I did not link grace to the prophetic gifts. I just figured God chose me because He knew I would be His workhorse willing to pray, study and fast so that I could be the best prophetic voice possible.

Though I knew grace was defined as unmerited favor, I assigned grace to the Baptists. They were the “grace guys”, not me. I was a prophetic machine-gun with a hair trigger and the safety off.

But sadly, my prophetic words often had some legalism attached to them. Are you wondering, how that was possible?

A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

The teachings I studied and the church I attended, all put grace on the back burner. It was there, but not in a significant life-changing way. Thus, my beliefs contained a legalistic tilt to them rather than a grace-filled one. More than a few, “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots” flowed out of my mouth.

Then, I started hanging out with an older couple, Marion and Morris. They were solid grace-filled believers; and soon I wanted their revelation of grace for myself.

Yet, it was not easy for me to change. I had a mountain, seven years high, filled with legalistic teachings which needed to be overturned within me. So, what did I do?

I sought the Lord. I memorized and meditated on scriptures over and over again. Until one day, a divine revelation flooded my inner being, erasing my past teachings on grace. I knew that I knew that I knew that my life, my calling, my prophetic words depended on the Lord’s grace, and not my own works.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them… (Romans 12:6)

Many of  you probably know accurate prophetic voices who do not agree with me on my grace teachings. And yes, I would agree this has been true up to the present.

But there is a New Wind Blowing in America, and it is my belief that now a believer has to have a positive revelation of grace to rise above their present prophetic level.

(Continued in Part 7)

*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).

In my lifetime, I have watched tattoos shift from just appearing on the arms of a few sailors into being accepted by many who are in the mainstream of America.

Whereas, the old-time sailors, often, wished their tattoos would disappear after their tours of duty ended, not so with today’s aficionados.They love tattoos and want more.

And guess what? Many Christians are going along with the trend. John 3:16, crosses and Jesus are some of the popular tattoos appearing on exposed skin.

As for me, I have struggled with tattoos.

You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:28)

So, what’s your thoughts on tattoos? Like? Don’t like? Could care less? Or what?

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.

Starting on Monday, Swimming Upstream which appears on this blog, three times each week, will try something different. There are numerous issues which I personally have struggled with in the past, am struggling with now and probably will be struggling with in the future. These same issues may be thorns to you, too. I don’t know, but let’s find out, okay?

I will start out by giving a short statement outlining my thoughts on a subject, and then ask you for your ideas. You can write a quick comment or a volume; that’s up to you.

Hint for Monday’s discussion: Leviticus 19:28

*picture of baby is my youngest grandson, Eric, born in 2004.