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I was reading an excerpt from John Eldredge’s book, The Sacred Romance, and he said something that really got me thinking. He says, “God’s intention, on the other hand, is to use spiritual warfare to draw us into deeper communion with himself.“ Hmm, that’s when I saw it Papa’s way. When I think of spiritual warfare, don’t think of it as a difficult thing to do which I am not capable of doing on my own, think of it like spending time with Papa. I know it may still be hard but it totally changed the way I look at prayer. As I break through the enemy’s strongholds, not only am I putting satan under my feet, but I am putting God first. I am telling God that I want Him in my life more than anyone else. By breaking down satan’s strongholds in my life, I’m praising Papa. I’m letting Him know I’ll do whatever it takes to have Him. James 5:16 came to mind, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.“
Papa, I look forward to spending time with You in battle. I love you and must have You. Inhabit my life as I battle satan and his minions and throw them to the ground. I love You, thank You for showing me Your truth.
I read Isaiah 61 today… this is the charge of the LORD to me. This is what I am called/commanded to do:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified
The reason that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me is not because I’ve got it figured out, or I am just that good, but only because HE has anointed me. However HE didn’t anoint me to get glory or fame for myself but to preach good tidings, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty……the HE may be GLORIFIED. These giftings and such that I have and walk in are not for my benefit but for the glory of the KING. I forget sometimes the it’s not me doing this but HIM doing it through me for HIM.
Papa, I confess that I have robbed YOU of YOUR glory, I have believed the lie that I had to do it on my own, and I confess that I can do nothing without YOU. Daddy I love YOU.
30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 10 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.
I don’t know what exactly to say with this post. There are two obvious questions from Romans 10:2.
First, is my own zeal in any way misdirected when it comes to my relationship with the Lord? Am I in any way trying to maintain my relationship with Papa myself? Am I legalistic? Of course not… I hope. However, a deeper question arose as I wrote this. I have to ask myself this question: Am I in any way trying to maintain my relationship with Papa under my own strength at all? Ahhh! That’s not such an easy question to tackle.
IF I am attempting to keep my relationship with Him under my own strength, my own tactics, my own plan, my own (fill in the blank), then as Romans 10:3 says, I “...don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself…” and I am attempting to live under my own set of rules, a.k.a. Law. That’s a good first question from that passage.
The second obvious question to me is this: Who has God put in my life that are enthusiastically running with misdirected zeal? I could list a few. This may be my first workout with my new spiritual weapon (see “Off to the prayer gym…” that I posted several days ago). I believe Father wants me to intercede for them and come away with His perspective on the situation and how I should or shouldn’t respond.
How does all this relate to the divisions of the church we call “denominations”? Are there denominations, and even faiths, that were spawned out of misdirected zeal?
I am reminded of a story a friend of mine told me. When he was at the Naval Academy, while training in the Marine Corp, they were shooting cannons. He told me how just being a half an inch off in the aim of the cannon could result in the projectile being hundreds of yards and even miles off course. This could be deadly to your own in the midst of a war.
How different is misdirected zeal? One slightly askew thought – not too far different than mainstream initially – leads to another slightly off step. Before you know it you are somewhere miles off of the original trajectory. It too could be deadly to those around you. Look at Jim Jones. He was – at one time – a ferverent preacher and passionate follower of the Lord. Somewhere his zeal misled him and his followers. What about David Koresh? From the reports I remember, his zeal, let him and his followers die a brutal death.
Dad, may my zeal always be guided by your word. Never let my passion for you get ahead of you.
Eph 4:11-12 “11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
The role of a Prophet is placed in the five fold ministry, and a Prophet’s job is not anymore important than the other four roles. The role of: Apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers are as equally vital to the five fold ministry as Prophets are, and we will get into those roles later. A Prophet’s role and purpose in the five fold ministry is to bring revelation and prophetic perspective, sometimes what a Prophet brings into the ministry may conflict with an Apostle or Pastors perspective. It is the job of the five fold ministry to look at all perspectives and test them, a Prophet’s perspective may not always be favored in the five fold ministry, and sometimes a Prophet needs to humble himself and accept that he’s not always going to have the answer.
A Prophets job in ministry is for the “perfecting of the saints” as it says in Eph 4:12. A Prophets job is to perfect the saints by equipping them with prophetic knowledge, giving them revelations, and edifying them with prophetic words. Contrary to popular belief that a Prophet walks around on a pedestal like he’s better than everyone else, this is simply a false assumption and a false ideology being practiced in today’s churches. Very often a Prophet is worshipped as some kind of golden calf that has all the answers, but this is wrong because a Prophet is no more important than anyone else in a five fold ministry, although sometimes people think they are.
A Prophet is a designated and ordained position in the church, and it’s important a church congregation and especially the Pastor and Apostle in the church are made aware of your calling. When a Pastor and Apostle are made aware of your calling they can advise you, and place you in a position in the church where you can be of benefit to others. If someone in the church needs a prophetic word of encouragement, it’s important that they be aware that you’re a Prophet, so that they can come to you for a word of prophetic encouragement if the Lord directs them to you; it’s no different than a congregation member approaching their Pastor for advice on their marriage. Pastor’s are there to Shepard and direct the congregation on practical and important issues in life in accordance with scripture, and a Prophet is there to give prophetic revelations and prophetic words of encouragement to the congregation.
People have this idea that a Prophet is a rare person who walks around calling fire down upon people, and who strides around town in a white robe,like me. But the fact is, simple men from all works of life are called to take up the position of a Prophet in the church. We don’t often see Prophets in churches because in today’s church the Ministers oppress spiritual gifts, because if someones spiritual gift begins to flourish, the Ministers are afraid of losing total control over the congregation. But realistically, Prophets should be in the church working with the Pastors and other Ministers. Realistically from God’s perspective, there should be a Prophet in every church working in concert with the other four ministry callings. A Prophet is a normal position and a normal part of church ministry life, and hearing the idea that a Prophet is in your church, should just be as normal as hearing there is an evangelist in your church.
We should look at the role of a Prophet in the church as the role of a plumber. When you are maintaining a building, you need a builder who can renovate the building and keep it well structured, and this is the job of an Apostle, an Apostles job is to build the framework of the church. A Pastors job is like the job of a foreman, and he is there to direct and Shepard people, a teachers job is to instruct others on how to perform certain exploits in accordance with scripture, an evangelists job is to enlist new contractors to help in the construction of the building. A Prophets job is like the job of a plumber, because it’s a Prophet’s Job to keep the water of life pumping and flowing through the pipes of the building.
A Prophet is there to perfect the saints and inspire them with a vision that keeps them laboring as they look to that vision for hope.
1 Cor 12-14, Eph 4, 2 Pet 1:20-21, 1 Jn 4,
OK, this is a great one. I read 2 chronicles 26, 27, 28, and 29. I got nothing!
One verse, 2 Chronicles 29:11, stood out, but I really did not receive any deep wisdom regarding this verse, it simply stood out to me. It says “My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him”. Now, the reason it stands out is because I believe that is what God is saying to me, and probably to each of you. He has called us to serve Him and to minister to Him. That is an amazing thing that He has done. He has chosen us to minister to Him.
Lord, let me be worthy of the call.
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