Category Archives: The Prophetic

Look to see what Father God is doing and listen to what He is saying

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This is the lifestyle that Jesus modeled for us, namely to do nothing, except what we see our Father in heaven is doing and to say nothing, except we hear what He is saying.

 “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.” John 5:19-20

“Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.”  John 8:28

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matt.28:20

The Lord is always with us and when we bring a situation before Him, asking Him to show us what He is doing and saying in that situation, He will surely do so.  The secret is to ask in trust!

Many times when I have prayed for people to get freedom from harassing situations and traumatic memories, I have simply led them to look at what Jesus was doing and to listen to what He was saying in that situation.

A young woman was gloriously set free from paranoia when she looked with her spiritual eyes, seeing Jesus walk into the traumatic memory when a burglar stepped through an open window into her room.  She saw Jesus standing between her and the burglar and He comforted her with the Word, “Do not fear, I am with you always”.   All fear was gone and she was filled with joy and peace with a new picture in her memory.

Whatever our situations might be, when the Lord is invited into it while we watch and listen to see and t hear what He is doing and saying, we receive a paradigm shift and our perception changes.

As we receive His Word on the situation, we start declaring it until it fills our mind and emotions with peace.

Hallelujah!

 

He crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies – Ps.103:4

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I woke up with this verse this morning and then was led to the commentary from the Treasury of David that says it all:

“Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Our Lord does nothing by halves, he will not stay his hand till he has gone to the uttermost with his people. Cleansing, healing, redemption, are not enough, he must needs make them kings and crown them, and the crown must be far more precious than if it were made of corruptible things, such as silver and gold; it is studded with gems of grace and lined with the velvet of lovingkindness; it is decked with the jewels of mercy, but made soft for the head to wear by a lining of tenderness. Who is like unto thee, O Lord! God himself crowns the princes of his family, for their best things come from him directly and distinctly; they do not earn the crown, for it is of mercy not of merit; they feel their own unworthiness of it, therefore he deals with tenderness; but lie is resolved to bless them, and, therefore, he is ever crowning them, always surrounding their brows with coronets of mercy and compassion. He always crowns the edifice which he commences, and where he gives pardon he gives acceptance too. “Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee.” Our sin deprived us of all our honours, a bill of attainder was issued against us as traitors; but he who removed the sentence of death by redeeming us from destruction, restores to us more than all our former honours by crowning us anew. Shall God crown us and shall not we crown him? Up, my soul, and cast thy crown at his feet, and in lowliest reverence worship him, who has so greatly exalted thee, as to lift thee from the dunghill and set thee among princes.” – Treasury of David – Commentary.

9 Characteristics of a Real New Testament Prophet

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9 Characteristics of a Real New Testament Prophet – Dr. Steve Crosby

 

Stereotypes regarding prophetic ministry have existed for centuries. For some, prophets have been dispensationally deleted from church existence, allegedly “passing away” with the death of the last apostle or the closing of the canon.

 

Others may not be dispensationally inclined in their thinking and beliefs, but they have had either no experience, or some very bad experiences, with those who claim to be modern era prophets. Yet others have had full-on, cultic experiences with those who have claimed to be prophets. Can any path out of this mess be found?  I’d like offer a suggested road map.

Like virtually everything . . . it’s all in the definition of terms.

Prophets, “prophetic people,” or people labelled by others as “being prophetic”  are often erroneously characterized as being severe, ungovernable, frenetic, specially gifted, loners, emotional, mystic, unpredictable, weird, flaky, spooky, confrontational, impractical, intuitive not rational, “spirit” over “mind” people, and more generalizations along this line, all of which are very unfortunate and inaccurate stereotypes.

The tendency to determine what is or is not prophetic, or who is or is not a prophet by the mere presence or absence of a charismatic endowment, rather than inner alignment to kingdom truth, is unfortunate. It often carries tragic results.

The simplest definition of being prophetic is: hearing God and doing what He says!

Here are some qualities of bona fide new testament prophetic ministry from a new covenant and  Christ-centered perspective.

1. BEYOND GIFTEDNESS

Being able to accurately predict the future, deliver an accurate word of knowledge, or personal prophecy does not make someone a prophet. It might make him/her a gifted crook, new age psychic, or occultist. Delivering an accurate personal word (the normal expectation in prophetic-apostolic circles) is a legitimate, but minor facet of what it means to be a prophet.  It’s a wholly inadequate definition. Genuineness and spiritual authenticity from a Christian ministry perspective is determined by: character, message content, and gift operation. All three must be present to validate a ministry. Balaam gave an accurate prophecy, but he was not God’s prophet. John the Baptist did no miracles, predicted nothing, and he was the greatest prophet born of woman of that era. There is more to being God’s prophet than exercise of a gift.

2. SIGHTEDNESS

A prophet has a unique, God-given ability to bring forth a clear unveiling of the Person of Christ, and His current purposes in the cosmos, through the opening of the Word of God, by the Spirit of God. John the Baptist, the greatest prophet of the old order, did not predict future events, nor did he do any miracles. He made Christ known. His message was not “this or that is going to happen,” but “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

3. ICONOCLASTIC

Prophets have the divine ability to tear down inner obstacles and outer systems that prevent the apprehension of Christ. Because of this ability, prophets are often unwelcome in the prevailing Christian culture. They do not preach a feel good, personal enrichment, life enhancement, false gospel. They are a threat to all systems that are not wholly Christ-centered and of kingdom ethos.

4. CONFORMING EMPOWERMENT

A prophet calls God’s people to conformity to those functions of sight through transformation and empowerment. It’s not enough to point out deficiency in individuals, systems, and structures. To do so is not a spiritual function. Critics point out deficiency. Prophets point out what is wrong and provide a path and means for remediation through grace empowerment.

5. MOTIVATION

Grace and a broken heart, not legalities and judgments of surface issues motivate a prophet. God has no dry-eyed prophets. Prophets live in, and minister from, the realities of the New Covenant, not the blessings and curses; fear and dread of the Old Covenant. Prophets build from a platform of internal ethics and accuracy of their lives, not from the exercise of their gift.

6. RELATIONSHIPS

Contrary to stereotypes, a prophet is relational. One of the signs of a dysfunctional prophet is an inability to functionally relate interpersonally and socially.

7. CONSCIOUSNESS

To be prophetic is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception that is alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us (Robert Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel). NT prophets primarily evoke, or awaken, a Christ-consciousness in believers (Heb. 10:1-10), not awareness of future events.

8. BUILDERS NOT BLESSERS

Prophets are by nature primarily builders, not blessers. They’re concerned with strategic and long-term change–lasting internal configuration to Truth–not short-term emotional charge. Prophets are sent to a church to elicit obedience and conformity to divine Truth, not to bless people by telling them how wonderful they are, how rich they’re going to be, and how they’re going change the world. The notion that as a believer I can hear God, not obey Him, and still be “blessed,” is crazy. Godly understanding, plus conformity to the understanding, is the essence of being prophetic.

9. EQUALIZATION

Part of John the Baptist’s ministry was the filling of valleys and the bringing down of mountains. Prophets are concerned about equalization in all relationships, systems, and structures. In the new covenant era, being prophetic is for everyone (Joel 2, Acts 3, Num. 11), not just a few gifted specialists. True prophets have the ability to bring prophetic equalization to people, not just merely display their gift before people.

 

EDITOR’s Note: How do you feel we have strayed from the above description.

 

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Copyright 2012 Dr. Stephen R. Crosby http://www.swordofthekingdom.com. Permission is granted to copy, forward, or distribute this article for non-commercial use only, as long as this copyright byline, in totality, is maintained in all duplications, copies, and link references.  For reprint permission for any commercial use, in any form of media, please contact stephcros9@aol.com.

Blockages in Hearing God’s Voice

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1623675_653131284732697_1242633986_nBlockages in hearing God’s voice:

 

The spirit of the World

The more we lean towards materialism, covetousness and self-gratification, the more our minds become preoccupied with the desires of the flesh and the lust of the eye and before long pride sets in. The gravitational pull of the spirit of the world will prevent us from ascending in the spirit and we will not be able to hear God.  We need to guard against being influenced, guided and motivated by the things of the world in order to live from every Word that comes from our Father’s mouth.

          The Lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the greatness of life.

The enemy uses very subtle lures through the spirit of the world to draw us into the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the greatness of life.

It is so easy to give up our special time with the Lord to partake of the “delicacies” of the world and before you know it, you start cooling off and your love for the Lord and the things of the Lord grows cold.

We have to live a separated life style.  That doesn’t mean that we withdraw as a recluse, living a monastic life, because we are still in this world to be witnessed of His glory.  We are in the world but not of the world.  Hallelujah!

In order to hear God’s voice our focus has to be on the Lord and not on self and the desires of self.

God is a Spirit, and if we want to hear His voice, we need to be in the spirit, just as the Apostle John was on the Lord’s day in Revelation 1.

It is necessary to separate ourselves daily for a time of solitude where we can quiet the “noise” of the world and the static around us in order to become still to hear clearly from the Lord.  If we “skimp” on our time with Him, our hearing grows dim and our mind gets more and more occupied with the things of daily life, so that we start leaning on our own understanding, instead of on the wisdom of God.  A quick little prayer here and there will soothe our conscience for a while, but the longer we postpone to have true intimate fellowship with the Lord, simply to adore him and worship Him, the more dull our spiritual senses become until we are totally dry.

 

Self-centeredness

Self-love is the opposite of divine love.  If we are focused on the desires of the self, we will not be able to hear God, for His love is self-sacrificial.  The self has to be fully surrendered on the cross in order for the Spirit to rule and have the reign in our lives.

The widow of Zarephath is an example of someone who was so totally focused on herself and her needs, that she didn’t hear God, although He said He has commanded her to provide for Elijah.

She was also consumed by her pre-occupation with her negative circumstances and could only see death.

The Word tells us in Matt.6:33 to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be added unto you”.

This scripture follows directly; upon “Give no  thought for what you shall eat and what you shall drink (as the Gentiles).”  God looks after the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.

When your focus is on your self and your negative circumstances,  you will not be able to see what God is saying and you will lose hope, expecting the worse.

Worry and the Cares of the World

Worry will keep your mind so occupied with fear that you will totally be unable to hear God, being prone to take matters into your own hands in order to solve your problems, which of course will just grow worse, because God is not acknowledged when you lean on your own understanding and He doesn’t support our self power.

Our perception determines where our mind goes.  If our eyes are not turned to the Lord, we cannot hear His voice.

In Habakkuk 2 the prophet states that he will set himself on the watch tower to see what the Spirit is “saying”.  He knew the secret!  Isn’t that interesting?  The Holy Spirit wants our senses to be tuned to Him in full attention and then He will speak.

Likewise, when Moses “turned” to look at the burning bush, he heard God’s voice speaking from the bush to him.

John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, meaning that he was not even aware of his flesh and his surroundings and his emotional or physical needs.

Heb.12 tells us to look away unto Jesus (after throwing off the burdens and the sin which so easily encompass us), because He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.  Faith will cause us to access the realm of God and rise up in the spirit to experience the heavenly dimensions.  From there, where we are seated together with Christ Jesus at the right hand of the Father, we will rule and reign together with Him over every assignment of the enemy.  Hallelujah!

From these insights we can clearly see that the attack of the enemy is very subtle to seduce our mind in pre-occupation with the things of the world, self, worry and the cares of the world.  Therefore our prayer should be that the Holy Spirit will hover us to make us very watchful and alert to keep our minds free from the infiltration of the influences of the world.

Hindering spirits in the form of Familiar Spirits 

These spirits can attach themselves to your life and destiny through emotional, familiar ties and need to be discerned and expelled by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Fear, Jealousy, Pride and the Lying spirit

The above-mentioned evil spirits are all on assignment to get a hold of our flesh as a landing strip to operate from.  These also have to be exposed in the light of the Holy Spirit and expelled by His power.

Unforgiveness and refusal to repent of sin 

These two will cause you to be totally stuck, so that you will go nowhere, because God’s blessing cannot come on your life if these two things are present.

The Ascended Life-style

It is vital to ascend into the heavenliness to experience the realm of God’s glory and this can never happen while we allow the gravitational pull of the spirit of the world to infiltrate our senses.

A Life-style of attentive tuning to the Lord

As we develop a lifestyle of living in His Presence, practicing a living fellowship, communion-union with the Lord, having our minds set on things above, our spiritual senses will be sharpened and fine-tuned so that we will always know His perfect will and His living Word for the moment.  This is victorious living  – to see what our Father is doing and hear what He is saying, then simply obey our of love.

Our motivation in any decision should be the Spirit of the Lord.  If He is not breathing on our decisions, our actions are in vain and we will make costly mistakes.

Times of Separation

At times when we need replenishment and at crucial times in our lives when seasons shift and God intends to shift us into new dimensions, the Holy Spirit will woo us to “come away” with Him and then it is wise to separate yourself in unfamiliar surroundings for a period of time – far away from the things that can distract you, so that your entire focus can be on the Lord.

Jesus set the example for us, as recorded in Mark 1:35………..He often set Himself apart in a solitary place to pray and to “hear what the Father is saying” and that set the course for His day.

Let us examine ourselves in the light of His Word to bring ourselves in total alignment and fresh consecration to the Lord in order to live from His living Word and as we pursue Him, we will surely hear Him clearly.

In the light of HIs glory and grace we are transformed from one degree of glory to the next until we come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.  Hallelujah!

Blessings of transformation and growing intimacy with the Lord

Elsabe