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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Pt. 1 What is grief?

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Prophet, Prophetess, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on February 4, 2015 at 4:31 pm

If there was ever anyone, who understood the pain of loss and what it meant to struggle with grief it was Job, from the Book of Job in the Bible. Job was a man who lost everything but his faith in the One True God.

As we explore what the word “grief” actually means and how it is defined by various sources, we will reference some verses from the Book of Job. In another part of the series, we will glean what we can learn about grief and how to handle grief from these same verses.

Job 2:13 (NKJV)

So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

Job 6:2 (NKJV)

“Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,

And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

Job 16:5 (NKJV)

But I would strengthen you with my mouth,

And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.

Job 16:6 (NKJV)

“Though I speak, my grief is not relieved;

And if I remain silent, how am I eased?

Please take note of the various underlined terms or words within the definitions provided below. You will find my notes in italic font.

Grief per the Hebrew language as found in the above verses from the Book of Job.

3511. כְּאֵב ke˒êb, keh-abe’; from 3510; suffering (phys. or ment.), adversity:— grief, pain, sorrow.

3510. כָּאַב kâ˒ab, kaw-ab’; a prim. root; prop. to feel pain; by impl. to grieve; fig. to spoil:— grieving, mar, have pain, make sad (sore), (be) sorrowful.

3707. כָּעַס kâ˓aç, kaw-as’; a prim. root; to trouble; by impl. to grieve, rage, be indignant:— be angry, be grieved, take indignation, provoke (to anger, unto wrath), have sorrow, vex, be wroth.

3708. כַּעַס ka˓aç, kah’-as; or (in Job)

כַּעַשׂ ka˓as, kah’-as; from 3707; vexation:— anger, angry, grief, indignation, provocation, provoking, × sore, sorrow, spite, wrath.

As you pour over the words and terms used in the Hebrew language to define grief it becomes clear that grief can cause a great deal and wide variety of feelings in a person. These feelings may manifest one at a time or several feelings may manifest simultaneously. Because grief involves so many emotions, it can be terribly destructive if the person does not handle their grief correctly or if a person attempts to deny their grief and stifle the grieving process.

Grief per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1 obsolete : GRIEVANCE
2 a : deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement b : a cause of such suffering
3 a : an unfortunate outcome : DISASTER — used chiefly in the phrase come to grief

Grief at its core means something has happened to us that we did not want to have happen, something we often have had little or no control over but not always, there are times when we are a part of producing our own grief.

Grief per the Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary

deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement; also : a cause of such suffering

Grief per Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Grief is a multifaceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, and grief is the reaction to loss, along with saudade.

Grief is a natural response to loss. It is the emotional suffering one feels when something or someone the individual loves is taken away. Grief is also a reaction to any loss. The grief associated with death is familiar to most people, but individuals grieve in connection with a variety of losses throughout their lives, such as unemployment, ill health or the end of a relationship. Loss can be categorized as either physical or abstract, the physical loss being related to something that the individual can touch or measure, such as losing a spouse through death, while other types of loss are abstract, and relate to aspects of a person’s social interactions.”

Grief affects not only our emotions it can affect how we act, our physical health, how we treat others, our desire to be with people, our spiritual beliefs, and even our life view or course of life. Although grief is a natural response to loss, mismanaged it can lead to various forms of destruction in our lives. People’s destructive behavior can often be traced back to unresolved grief in some area of their life.

In the next part of this series, part two, we will begin to examine the ten stages of grief.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Introduction

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on January 31, 2015 at 12:03 pm

People often have a singular view of what grief is and why it manifests. Grief more often than not is associated with the death of a person. Grief however, can manifest over the loss or death of anything or anyone significant in a person’s life.

We suffer grief when someone we have cared for or loved dies. We suffer grief when a relationship that has meant a great deal to us ends. We suffer grief when we realize that long held hope, dream, or goals are not going to come to pass. We suffer grief when we have something meaningful to us, taken away from us through theft, fire, flood, loss, or destruction of any sort. We suffer grief when we lose out on an aspect of childhood we should have had. We suffer grief when through injustice, we are cheated out of an opportunity, a promotion, or the ability to be all God meant for us to be.

There are so many forms of grief that most assuredly should we live very long we shall all endure grief in some form. Sadly, too many people do not recognize that they are going through grief, especially if it is a situation where the grief is caused by something other than someone death. People who are dealing with a death often fall into the trap of believing, they should be getting better long before they actually will get better. However, the deepest waves of grief often come long after the loss.

Through this series we explore what grief actually is, how it manifest, some myths about grief, tips for managing grief while it works its way through its natural process, the stages of grief (some believe there are five stages other ascribe to the idea there are ten stages), and how to recover from grief and press on with life in a healthy way.

How we respond to grief and how willing we are to deal with our grief appropriately will determine to some degree how long it will last. I have seen people linger in grief over things that have happened to them for years and years without dealing with the grief. I have also seen people who have lost someone dearly to them embrace their grief wholeheartedly and plow through it in little time at all, comparatively speaking.

I will leave this introduction brief and in part one we will explore the actually meaning of grief according to the Bible, psychology, and other sources.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Life Choices

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on January 1, 2015 at 4:12 pm

Proverb 5:15 –

"Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well."

Thoughts shared by another…

This seems to be about drawing from one’s own prosperity and not letting one’s resources be drained by sin – whether that is spiritual, physical or other kinds of resources.

Good thought.

The earlier parts of the chapter are about listening to instruction and correction so as to not be dragged away by immorality, the immoral woman, and to avoid having one’s life and prosperity eaten away.

Yes, the wisdom of those who have gone before us can help us learn so we do not have to make as many mistakes in life.

So it seems to me the message is about keeping one’s livelihood intact.

Yes, it is in a way….but one must ask what is a person’s definition of livelihood – we would find many different answers.

…vitality and prosperity follow obedience.

My thoughts…

Proverbs 5:15-20 to some degree must be taken together and most definitely in context to those verses and the chapter. We will focus in on verse 15 and 16 together. Those two verses fall in the category of Scripture with the Law of Double Reference, which means it has a spiritual and literal meaning and/or can apply to more than one person or group of people in more than one way.

Proverbs 5:15–16 (NKJV)

15 Drink water from your own cistern,

And running water from your own well.

16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

Verses 15 and 16 are about:

a) covetousness [When taken with the verses that follow.]

b) reaping what one sows [When taken with the preceding verses.]

c) consequence of sin or ungodly actions – tarnished fruit [When taken with both the previous and later verses as well as the overall context of the chapter.]

Looking deeper into the meaning of the Hebrew words involved in these two verses, you can see the tone and intent of their meaning.

You will find my notes in [brackets] woven within the definitions.

Vs. 15 – (KJV/AV) “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.”

“waters” = water [meaning the outpouring or flow]; by euphemism urine, semen: — + piss, wasting [with implications for two different application 1 – martial adultery and 2 – the disgusting results of sin and ungodly actions.] course [course of life], flood [problems of life], spring [results of actions, the outpouring of our actions.]

“out of thine own cistern” = bore [Many of the holes we find ourselves in throughout life we dug for ourselves.] a pit hole – espec. one used as a cistern or a prison: — cistern, dungeon, [Our own choices build our personal prisons in life.] fountain [The foundation of our life is based primarily upon the choices we have made.] pit, well.

“and running waters” and “thine own well” [Both share the same meaning in the Hebrew.] = to drip, or shed by trickling: — distil, drop, flood, cause to flow or a flowing, gush out, melt, pour down, running water, stream. [That flow of life choices day in and day out that make up our lives – choices that are either godly or ungodly, God’s Will or not God’s Will.]

Vs.16 – (KJV/AV) “Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.”

“Let thy fountains” = as a denominative in the sense of a spring; a fountain also collect, figuratively a source of satisfaction [The truth is people derive personal satisfaction from good and evil, godliness and sin, positive and negative actions, doing God’s Will and doing their own will.] :— fountain, spring, well.

“be dispersed” = a prim. root; to dash in pieces, lit. or fig. espec. to disperse: — break, dash, shake into pieces, cast abroad, disperse selves, drive, retire, scatter abroad, spread abroad. [We can often choose to destroy the ungodliness in our lives or have our lives destroyed by the ungodliness as we are dashed to pieces upon the destructive rocks of our own life choices.]

Therefore in these verses we are told to desire what we have and be content with what we have, either relationally, materially, position-ally, etc. and not covet what another person has because that will only lead us to sin and that sin will bring havoc into our lives.

It also tells us that we will reap what we sow, that sin leads to consequences, personal imprisonment, and a flood of problems in life, that our choices make up our lives, and that it is primarily our own choices that dig the holes we find ourselves struggling to get out of in life.

We lose what really satisfies us when we begin to go after what another has, our own will, the things of the world, and sin.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 8

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on November 7, 2014 at 3:12 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

I carefully considered whether or not to include this question in the series. I personally know the individual who posed the question. Having personal insight into their heart and their spirit I know their motives come from a pure place therefore, I have chosen to include their question for it is a valid one.

The essence of the question was, ‘What is a prophet to do when their church leadership is less spiritually mature than they are? This does cause problems for the prophet.’

Response:

Actually this is more common than people tend to realize because most people view the Pastors, Deacons, and other various members of leadership as more spiritual than the people within the congregation. However, this is often not the case at all. I do not even believe most Pastors try to present the situation as such. Godly Pastors know there are people within their congregation who are more mature than they are. That the leadership is more mature than everyone else in the congregation is simply one of those assumptions people make based solely on the fact that the individuals have positions of leadership within the local congregation.

Yes, it can cause problems for the prophet. However, how the prophet handles themselves can go a long way toward making those problems worse or better.

Leadership is always to be respected as long as they are not sinning against the people. The prophet, or the person upon whom a prophetic spirit rest, who is more mature than their local leadership should go out of their way to respect that leadership even more. When sin is not involved you never usurp the authority of, or undermine, spiritual leadership.

If your leadership is less spiritually mature than you are then come along side of them and help them, reach out to them and be a blessing to them. If they are quality leadership, they will welcome the input, insight, and help. If they are not quality leadership, you will receive either a negative reaction or no reaction, which at that point you have to realize that they are not secure in their leadership and you may need to go back to God about what to do. Secure people seek people who can help them further the agenda of the Kingdom of God.

Before the comments come in about the five-fold ministry and the priority of those ministries, let me address those Scriptures. Yes, the prophet is listed as the second position of ministry on that list. Yes, it comes before pastor and secondary leadership such as deacons are not even on the list. However, the list is not meant to qualify ranks for the sake of qualifying ranks. The list is meant to exemplify the functionality of the Body of Christ. Let me explain by breaking the list down.

Ephesians 4:11–13 (NKJV)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Spiritual leader’s primary purpose.

· Apostles – build churches and ministries.

· Prophets – minister to the needs of the Body of Christ as a corporate whole first, the local congregation second, and the personal individual third for the purpose of communicating God’s Will and Divine Direction, explaining what is to come for God’s people, et cetera.

· Evangelists – preach the Gospel in order to build the Body of Christ in numbers.

· Pastors – care for the practical everyday needs and spiritual wellbeing of the members of the Body of Christ.

· Teachers – disciple (educate) people in the Word of God.

One must keep in mind that some pastors are teaching pastors, which means they are called as teachers as well as pastors. Some prophets are also teachers and apostles. Some apostles are also prophets. Some evangelists are also prophets. A combination of callings and certainly multiple spiritual gifts is quite common among those called to the five-fold ministry.

The Scripture below in Ephesians makes it clear we are to submit ourselves one to another for the over good of the Body of Christ and out of reverence to (fear of) God.

Ephesians 5:15–21 (NKJV)

Walk in Wisdom

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

One must always keep in mind that it is the more mature person’s obligation to defer to the less mature person because they are weaker in their faith. Romans 14 teaches that we are to do all we can to ensure we are not the cause of another person stumbling in their walk with God. Therefore, if we must defer to them or curtail our actions, a mature Believer will do that and a prophet should certainly be mature. A mature prophet, or a person upon whom the spirit of prophesy rest; will always attempt to be a blessing to their local godly leadership not a hindrance.

This will be the last question I will answer publically during this series. If your question was not, or is not, answered via a posting or via private emails then I have elected not to address your specific question. Thank you for understanding and respecting my choice.

I would like to conclude the two series on prophets and their relationship with their fellow man with the following thought. In the end what people must remember is, Prophets primarily apply God’s Word to the corporate people of God, meaning the Body of Christ, more often than to specific individuals.

There may be a larger break than normal between the ending of this series and the beginning of the next or the restarting of the Q&A series. I have a number of pieces for publication that need my attention and I am a bit behind schedule at this time. I appreciate your dedication to reading the blog and your patience. As always, I welcome your input regarding the topic of the next series.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 7

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Exhortation, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 31, 2014 at 4:46 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

In this piece, I will address two questions, as the answers for each should be brief.

Question Summary:

Are those who prophesy all prophets?

Response:

No, just because someone speaks prophesy on occasion does not make them a prophet. Speaking prophecy and having the gift of prophecy is not the only requirement for being considered a prophet.

There are various characteristics, spiritual gifts, and a consistent spiritual presence of the manifest evidence of the Holy Spirit that must be present for a person to be considered a prophet or prophetess. The individual must also exhibit certain passions for the Word of God, Truth, and the progression of the Body of Christ into God’s Will for the time period in which the prophet lives.

Question Summary:

Would you elaborate on what you meant when you wrote, ‘Prophets are use to acceptance without explanation…’?

Response:

The comment the reader is asking about is the following statement. "Prophets are use to acceptance without explanation, aka faith, their relationship with God is based on that Truth."

Prophets and people upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are faith people. They know God, they hear God, and they are use to interacting with God just as though He were a person standing beside them.

This type of relationship builds great trust in God, which in turn produces faith by the grace of God. Therefore, when God tells one of these individuals to do something, to say something, or to go somewhere they do what God instructs without asking God to explain to them why they need to do so or why they should say something, et cetera.

Prophets accept God’s Word and God’s Directions without explanation for two primary reasons. One, because they reverence God and understanding that He has every right to request anything of them He would like. Two, they have learned over the course of time that God is faithful and that when He leads them to act it is never without a reason even if they do not know the reason before they act, at the moment that they act, or even for some time after they act. These individuals know God will eventually show them why He had them do as He instructed.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 5

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 21, 2014 at 6:20 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

‘As a prophet I find myself surprised that people fear me. A prophet wants the will of God, which should never be feared. I have friends who have had similar experiences. So, why do the people fear the prophets?’

Response:

I touched on this lightly in the first series but I will elaborate a bit more. I want to make it clear that the fact that people fear prophets or those individual upon whom a prophetic spirit rest is not because the prophet has done anything wrong in God’s eyes or done anything of which people should be fearful.

First let me state what should be obvious to a prophet; not all people want God’s Will. People seem to fear God’s Will but they do so because they lack understanding regarding how much God loves them and how His Will for them is their “ideal” life, even if they do not recognize it as such at first glance. Prophets always point people toward Jesus and God’s Will therefore to be in the presence of a prophet is to be confronted with God’s Will, which we have established that people often fear, thus they associate the two, the Will of God and the prophet, this equals fear of the prophet.

Prophets and those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are very humble but they are also very passionate about the things of God, they are headstrong (in a good way) when it comes to God’s Will, and they are vocal about sin, God’s Will, life, et cetera as God leads; put all of that together and you have a dynamic in your face passionate fireball for God and that kind of passion scares some people. Hence, this can also cause people to fear prophets.

Generally speaking, it is almost impossible to hide things from a prophet. They often do not talk about or confront a person with the things they know about them, their life, or their circumstances – they tend to pick their battles, so to speak. This knowledge, given by the revelation of God, becomes evident if a person is around a prophet enough and that scares people.

Taking that a step further, people fear prophets because of their own wrong motives for engaging them. As I wrote in another piece in the previous series, ‘A prophet can see into the spirits of people most of the time and therefore, he or she is often aware of the wrong motives of people.’

This leads me to my next point. People fear prophets because people know that prophets can see into their spirits. Honestly, who wants his or her spirit laid bare for someone to see? Not many. Therefore, the fear produced by this aspects of the prophet’s revelatory gifts is, for lack of a better way to put it, a natural consequence of the calling and the gifts associated with the prophets or those upon whom the spirit of prophecy rest.

Lastly, if people have engaged prophets or those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest in the past and not responded to them appropriately there might have been some less than pleasant consequences to their behavior, I wrote about this in part four, and therefore this can produce fear for the person when they interact with prophets or those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest. This is not the fault of the prophet it is the fault of the person who chose to respond, or not respond, as they should have responded.

This should have given you more insight into why prophets, prophetess, and those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are unjustly feared.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 4

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 18, 2014 at 6:18 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

I will be using very similar language as was used when the question was submitted. Please do not be offended.

Why don’t you be honest, explain how the prophets are regularly “used” by people, “mistreated” by people, and how they are “blamed” by people with ungodly motives who have suffering negative consequences from their own actions and treatment toward the prophet? Try explaining what that does to the prophet. Why are you avoiding this topic?

Response:

It is my belief that I already address this question in the previous series but I am more than willing to do so again.

These were my words in an earlier piece. – ‘People do regularly seek prophets out so that the prophet will seek God for them instead of seeking God for themselves, thus the people attempt to misuse or inappropriately use the gifts and callings of God; not to mention they “think” they can blame the prophet if things do not work out. What they forget is that God will deliberately confuse their steps if they attempt to seek a prophet’s counsel with ill motives. Yes, there are people who in general attempt to use the prophets.’

What is presented in the content of the question above is true. Prophets are used and blamed very often without cause and unjustly by people who associate their contact with a prophet to negative events in their lives without examining their response to the prophet or how they treated the prophet. You, me, or anyone else cannot engage or be confronted by a prophet or a person upon whom a prophetic spirit rest, then not respond or respond inappropriately and expect that things will just go well for us.

Here are a couple real life examples:

I once confronted a woman who was tired and seemed to have a cold. God revealed to me that it was much worse, thus I told her she needed to go home and get some rest, that day. She literally jeered at me and indicated she was too needed in the ministry she was doing to leave and take the time to rest. She thought my Words a foolish distraction from what God wanted her to do, when in fact the Word was meant to bring life. Within twenty-four hours, this woman was in the hospital at deaths door with heart issues.

Another time I had a mild disagreement with a woman over information and once I left the room this disagreement was discussed between another woman and her. Within the next few days, the one of the women had stroke like symptoms and the other took a bad fall and injured herself significantly.

I had nothing to do with any of these women’s injuries but one chose not to listen to the counsel of God and the other two touched God’s Property with their mouths. Is that my fault? No, not at all. Have they associated these negative events with me? Very possible, if not probable, based on the knowledge I have and their future behavior.

You simply cannot use a prophet, mistreat a prophet, unjustly accuse, or unjustly blame a prophet or a person upon whom a prophetic spirit rest and get away with it because God will not allow it to happen. What God did for His anointed ones and prophets in days past He does for them today.

Psalm 105:13–15 (NKJV)

13 When they went from one nation to another,

From one kingdom to another people,

14 He permitted no one to do them wrong;

Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,

And do My prophets no harm.”

Most godly people readily acknowledge it is unwise to talk negatively about or in any way attempt to harm a prophet or God’s anointed ones. However, what I think people fail to realize is that they harm prophets and those upon whom the spirit of prophecy rest through their attempts to avoid them – avoidance is harm or when the prophet is not received that is a form of harm, harm that God will judge and for which He will bring retribution.

As far as explaining what these types of treatment do to, or how they affect, the prophet, it depends on the prophet. They are human beings with feelings and of course, they get hurt at times, frustrated, angry, sad, lonely, ill-tempered, etc. often a result of all they have to face day in a day out. However, I see no real benefit to the readers to go into all that – the prophets know their struggles and their inner circle of people with which they can share those struggles is small.

I am not trying to be mean with my next few statements, only honest. My daddy was a wise man and looking back, he obviously knew, or God had shown him, a great deal about what my life would entail. He had a few of simple statements, he would repeat many times over the years, but the truths that they held are real and lasting. He would to say, ‘You have to toughen up or the world will destroy you.’ He meant you had to be a strong person internally, not aggressive externally. He also would say, ‘Don’t be so thin skinned.’ He meant being overly sensitive would only hamper your abilities in life. Lastly, he always walked around with a notepad in his pocket and every month or so he would pull it out and write something down on the pad. Once he had written his statement, he would approach you and ask, ‘Do you know the key to life?’ To which one of us might reply correctly if we remembered. Then he would lower the pad to our eye level, he was a tall imposing man, and on the pad would be one word, “humble” – he would then tap the pad and say, ‘Be humble, in every situation no matter what your stature be humble and you can handle anything life brings your way.’

Now I realize that for godly people most over sensitivity is a distortion of godly sensitivity, which is born out of compassion for people. Nevertheless, I would say to all the prophets, those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest and/or those with the gift of prophesy out there who wish to function as God desires them to, just what daddy use to say; you have to toughen up and you can’t be so thin skinned or the world and/or the Body of Christ will destroy you. Also, remember to be humble, in every situation no matter what your stature be humble and you can handle anything life brings your way.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 2

In Advice, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 10, 2014 at 1:08 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

I was asked for confirmation that prophets are often treated by the world and some religious systems as having some form of disorder or mental illness because they hear God and see vision with regularity.

The feeling is that the prophets are not treated fairly or viewed accurately.

Response:

This is by far people’s greatest concern and therefore I am addressing it first.

Let me start by acknowledging that the prophets are not treated fairly or viewed accurately by the world system and some religious systems. However, if you are a prophet I would say to you, ‘Toughen up and trust God!’ you are going to have to do both in order to survive and thrive as a prophet. For that matter, this includes any of you who are a prophetic person or have a prophetic spirit upon you.

Should the prophet be chary about how they present their gifts to the world and even the church? I say they absolutely should. They must clearly distinguish between a worldly view that would label the hearing of voices as schizophrenia and seeing things as delusions thus always giving context to what they hear and see. When properly presented, intelligently, as spiritual gifts, not mental abnormalities, most prophets have been able to keep clear of the grip of psychiatry, which has greatly damaged America. One must be willing however to be clear and address the matter openly or else they will be misunderstood. Hiding will not work; you must confront situations at times.

Now on a personal note, let me assure each of you of one Truth. If you are on God’s side of the situation God will protect you, not matter what and I mean I that; I have lived it and I know for a fact that it is true. Now understand me, He may not keep you out of the scrape or keep you from encountering persecution but I promise you if you stay within His Will He will protect and deliver you from the situation and when He is done, He will have given you an experience He intends to use to build up other people and glorify Him. You must trust Him however, you must!

I wrote in a previous piece in the last series, “All too often what some view as a mental abnormality or disorder is actually a higher spiritual order.” There is a life beyond this one. There is a Creator communicating with this world and His creation. God is at work each day within the world and within the lives of people who know Him and those who do not know Him. Spiritual forces both godly and evil are at work everywhere you go. This is why a prophetic person and/or prophets will walk into a public place or even someone’s home and immediately become disturbed, angry, agitated, sad, etc. These are all part of the “higher spiritual order” and connecting the dots, interceding, and interacting within that spiritual order is not something most people embrace or are capable of doing. Therefore, for those prophetic people out there, those upon whom the prophetic spirit rest, and the prophets out there – don’t expect the people to understand this higher spiritual order just spread the Light of God and present Truth where you can.

Whether you are a prophetic person, someone upon whom the prophetic spirit rest or a prophet you must remember with all humility that when you get to a certain place with the Lord there will be fewer people who will be able to relate to you. Prophets are so humble inside that as a result when they are immature in their calling they do not realize this is what is happening to them, that this is why people are pulling back, steering clear, et cetera or why they are often misunderstood.

Because the prophet is attempting in all circumstances to present God’s Will for the present situation and in so doing he or she is seeking to obtain an answer from mankind for God’s questions of them this leaves them continually presenting challenges to people. All too often, these challenges go unmet by the individual, yet, it is still the prophet’s responsibility to present them and in so doing the people begin to associate the prophet with a continually reminder that they are not living up to all God desires for them.

I mentioned in a previous piece in the last series that people have this dynamic backward, when I wrote, ‘The prophet is attempting in all circumstances to present God’s Will for the a situation and in so doing he or she is seeking to obtain an answer from mankind for God’s questions of them.’ Then I challenged the reader with the statement. “Some people have that second point backwards – – think on that for a moment.”

People often seek God for answers or even demand answers from God otherwise they will…, they will not…, and so forth; but in Truth it is God who has a holy right to demand answers from us!

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 1 – Introduction

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 6, 2014 at 3:38 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

The series that was just completed “The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet” was intended to explain the characteristics of the prophets and the interactions of the prophets with man primarily from the prophet’s side of things. However, it has been brought to my attention that perhaps further explanation is needed on a few points when it comes to “why” people react toward prophets as they do and why people treat prophets as they do. Some people felt I did not explain this as I should have and they were concerned that I might have left people with the impression that all the interactions prophets have that are negative are their own doing or because of their own characteristics, discounting the part man plays by how they treat the prophet or act toward the prophet.

I gathered the input of several people most of whom were prophets or were married to prophets but not all, some were lay people; as a result, I have decided that it is best to proceed with this series and that the best way to proceed is to combine some further input with addressing direct questions, which have been posed. Thank you to each of you; you know who you are, for your input and feedback.

I ended the last series with an addendum, Part 17, which touched on the areas where prophets viewed my one-sided approach as lacking. I fully acknowledge the difficulty it takes to honor the calling of a prophet, for the prophet and for their spouse. The people the prophets must deal with, the carnality within the people, the religious spirits, the demonic spirits, the self-seeking self-serving attitudes, the demands, etc. are more than half of the reason prophets and the people are at odds with one another.

Prophets are use to acceptance without explanation, aka faith, their relationship with God is based on that Truth. This played a key role in why my approach was only from the perspective of the prophet’s behavior, demeanor, and/or actions. What I am being called upon to address, will bring balance, showing the other side of the situation, the people’s behavior, demeanor, and/or actions toward the prophet that creates and affects the prophet’s behavior, demeanor, and/or actions leading to them being misunderstood.

The “why” factor has so many answers when it comes to the following two statements. 1] The prophets and prophetess suffer from being misunderstood, disliked, and ill-treated by people. 2] They endure great hostility directed toward them from both the world and the church. I will address some of those whys, from the other side of the coin – man’s actions toward or reactions to the prophets, for my brothers and sisters through this short series in a way that honors them and their calling. However, I would like to end this introduction with a simple, yet, wise statement from a prophet friend.

quote – “In all my many years of trying to protect myself from getting hurt or trying not to hurt others, not once did God tell me anything more than that many do not understand. He didn’t explain details as to why.”

“The Truth is that God loves us, Jesus was persecuted so shall we be, and people fear what they don’t understand.” – end quote

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet / Part 17 – Addendum

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, End Times, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on September 10, 2014 at 1:14 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

It was brought to my attention more than once that perhaps in the conclusion of this series I only represented one side of why prophets and prophetess suffer from being misunderstood, disliked, and ill-treated by people, which leads to a form of loneliness for them.

What I commented on was from the perspective of the prophet’s behavior, demeanor, and/or actions. What I am being called upon to address, in order to bring balance, it the other side of the situation, the people’s behavior, demeanor, and/or actions toward the prophet that creates and affects the prophet’s behavior, demeanor, and/or actions leading to them being misunderstood. I am more than willing to acknowledge those aspects of the situation as well.

Yes, there are people who attach themselves to or seek out the prophets for their own gain and wrong motives. Yes, there are people who seek to advance themselves on the backs of the prophets or the skirt tails of the prophetess. Yes, there are people who seek to hang out with, be around, or befriend prophets in order to elevate their perceived spiritual status in the eyes of other people. Yes, people continually seek prophets out so that the prophet will seek God for them instead of seeking God for themselves, thus the people attempt to misuse or inappropriately use the gifts and callings of God; not to mention they “think” they can blame the prophet if things do not work out. What they forget is that God will deliberately confuse their steps if they attempt to seek a prophet’s counsel with ill motives. Yes, there are people who in general attempt to use the prophets.

A prophet can see into the spirits of people most of the time and therefore, he or she is often aware of the wrong motives of these types of people. The prophet may choose not address this matter in order to advance the spiritual maturity of the person partaking in such despicable behavior and do not fool yourself; to the prophet it is despicable behavior. However, on another note the prophet may actually choose to address this ungodly behavior if he or she believes confronting it at any point and time would better serve the person’s long-term spiritual development. When and how to address these types of people has to be an individual call of discernment for each prophet.

The prophets’ awareness of these types of people and the actions they take to avoid these types of situations does in fact make the prophets unpopular, disliked, talked about or ill-treated, etc. which leads at times to a form of melancholy and loneliness. A side note here – It is very dangerous to talk about, try to discredit, or ill-treat a prophet. God has made it clear in His Word He wants no harm done to His prophets. People who attack or talk about prophets often have something “bad” happen to them shortly afterwards. The prophets confronting these individuals of course adds to their “issues” with people, for lack of a better away to put the matter. Prophets in general have continual problems when certain people given to this type of ungodly behavior and often seek to avoid such people whenever possible without denying what God wishes them to do for the group or individual.

So no, it is not always the prophet – my apologizes if I put too much of the responsibility on the prophet or prophetess – the people the prophets must deal with, the carnality within the people, the religious spirits, the demonic spirits, the self-seeking self-serving attitudes, the demands, etc. are more than half of the reason prophets and the people are at odds with one another.

Again, my apologizes if I seemed unsympathetic to what the prophets go through, that was never my intent. I fully understand and can completely identify with with how difficult the calling can be for all prophets.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet / Part 16 – Conclusion

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on September 8, 2014 at 7:00 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Something I have heard a great deal about is the passion, the attitude, the boldness, the dogmatic nature, the frustration, the intensity, etc. of the prophets. There are those who seem extreme even to me and some call me extreme. Then there are those who barely speak. Then there are those who seem like they are about to become unhinged. People have experienced many different types of prophets and prophetess.

The first point I want to make is that they are not all alike. If you are use to a mild-mannered, for lack of a better term, prophet, which is rare but there are a few, you must keep in mind they are not all that way and you might encounter one that gets a bit excited. If you are use to what I would deem a brutal prophet, thank God those are not the norm either, then you may have been wounded or you might not recognize a prophet who is quite balanced in their approach.

Some people have said that the moods and attitudes of the prophets go from one extreme to another. In my view, this might be true to a small degree. However, those extremes dissipate as the prophet grows and matures thus God brings balance to the living out of their calling. One must know and never forget that God works through the person and that there are parts of the person, the person’s temperament, and the person’s personality that will show through even during prophetic moments.

The prophets do seem to have similar temperaments and thus we find similarities in their demeanor. A reminder here…The temperament is instill by God before birth and is not the same as the personality. God implants a specific temperament in a prophet before birth because God knows that one day He will call that man or woman to the calling of a prophet or prophetess.

There is a theory by Schopenhauer, again as I said previously this is not someone I would typically read but these particular sayings of his are applicable. He believed a life of powerful passion results in abnormal irritability. I would have to agree that this can be true of prophets based on the prophets and prophetess I have known, studied or researched. He also believed that for those who detach from “normal” intelligence to the service of and/or to rely upon something, or for the prophet someone greater, the One True God, for insight, deeper understanding, and greater intelligence beyond what the mind can reason, what I call a God-intelligence; these are people who find themselves often suffering from loneliness and deep melancholy. I also find this to be true of most of the prophets and prophetess I have known.

Why do the prophets have the irritability, the loneliness, and the deep melancholy? Because unless you are a prophet it is extremely hard to understand a prophet and this leaves them vulnerable to being misunderstood, disliked, and often attacked unjustly. The way their mind works, the things in their spirit, the passion that they feel for God, His Will, His Ways, His concerns, etc. is so different from most people’s, even other Believers, it is hard for them to communicate with others. There is more than one reason God said, ‘let the prophets be subject to the prophets’ actually there are several.

1 Corinthians 14:32 (NKJV) And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

My point here and the application here is that only other prophets are meant to adequately discern the spirit of another prophet, the key being “adequately” or accurately. The second point is that only another prophet can truly understand and relate to a prophet, how they think, what they feel, what life is like for them. Therefore, since you cannot find a prophet on every street corner, or even in every congregation for that matter, the prophets can get a bit melancholy or even lonely at times because they know that people for the most part just don’t get them. Not to mention they endure great hostility directed toward them from both the world and the church.

All too often what some view as a mental abnormality or disorder is actually a higher spiritual order. I threw that one in for the actually prophets who read this, they are about the only ones who will really understand that statement. The prophets have aspects to their demeanor, temperament, and/or personality that are not the average but one cannot draw any conclusions about the individuals overall makeup due to those “aspects” that deviate from what is considered average or typical.

I have heard it said that prophets are professional agitators and are viewed as foreign agents to the world. The prophet is merely attempting in all circumstances to present God’s Will for that situation and in so doing he or she is seeking to obtain an answer from mankind for God’s questions of them. Some people have that second point backwards – – think on that for a moment.

The true prophet or prophetess never seeks the title, it was given to him or her, and once again, the true prophet seeks to make God’s Will known to all that will listen for there is no self-understanding without God-understanding.

I mentioned the following in earlier parts to this series but I wish to mention it again now. The modern-day prophets and the ancient prophets are not exactly the same and whereas they serve similar purposes their purposes overall are not the same. Many years ago God gave me a name that depicts the modern-day prophets with greater understanding and that name is Truth-bearer.

This concludes this series on the prophets and I pray you have been blessed in some way through its words. Thank you for your questions, I have tried to address them all within the context of the series or privately. If I have failed to address something about the prophets and prophetess you would like to know please send me your questions or input and I will attempt to bring greater clarity. Additionally, if you have input regarding a topic for the next series please do let me know.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet / Part 15

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on September 1, 2014 at 8:15 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

The most exceptional mark of the prophet’s manner is their awareness of being one with God in a very deep intimate fellowship, not a fusion – as God is God and man is man. God in all His Godhead approaches the prophet in a manner they can relate to, God as God and the prophet as the person the prophet is. In this way, the Divine can communicate with the created, with His called, with His mouthpiece in a way the prophet can understand. The prophet’s personal identity does not vanish instead the prophet gains power under the overwhelming impact of the communication from God, even when the message is disturbing to the prophet. The prophet is often even responsive to God during these times. The prophet will react to the Word he or she receives.

When God does approach the prophet, there is an awareness of a personal mission to a particular person or group of people.

Whereas prophecy is in a manner a vocation, one that exhibits charisma and comes through election, it presupposes neither training nor the gradual development of a talent. It comes entirely by an act of God’s grace. Prophecy and the job of the prophets is to communicate the insight of God inspired within them. The purpose of God’s communion with the prophet is to bring about righteousness, justice, and piety within people, the Body of Christ, and society. The prophet receives the Word and proclaims the Word.

You can spot a mystical act as not being true prophesy. A mystical act is when “something” happens and a prophetic act is when something is said. Prophecy is a confrontation. The prophet definitely knows what his or her Word implies but they do not elaborate with their views. Their primary concern is the message and not the form of delivery.

A difference between the prophet and ordinary people is the possession of a heightened and unified awareness of certain aspect of life.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet / Part 14

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on August 25, 2014 at 4:03 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

It should be noted that in prophets the gift of prophecy and the gift of exhortation are typically present, along with Words of Knowledge, which is a form or aspect of prophecy and Words of Wisdom, which is a form or aspect of exhortation. In addition, keep in mind the gift of prophecy is not merely about foretelling the future. Today it operates most often in different areas; say approximately, 80% in various means of operation and perhaps 20% in foretelling. We must always keep in mind that prophets today are not exactly the same as the ancient biblical prophets.

When the prophet is prophesying or exhorting, to those listening the words of the prophet can sound like a roar in the ears of the hearers. In some cases, the prophet may appear in somewhat of a state of frenzy, given to excessive emotionalism but for the prophet in these moments, in their mind and heart, he or she seems to be showing restraint in their view as they are trying to communicate the emotions of the Almighty in the meager idiom of man.

The words of the prophet are not meant to be bitter, though often mistaken as such, nor is the prophet attempting to make the people fearful or excessively alarmed. The prophet is reaching inward, to the spirit and soul, when communicating with the people, attempting to make an inner impact on the hearer. The prophet is merely doing what is necessarily to honor God’s purpose for them. One must never forget that the prophet’s purpose is to be used of God as a voice that moves people to repent, to convert or renew the inner man, to revive devotion to Christ, to love God, self, and/or each other, and to bring reconciliation between Jesus and the hearer.

When examining the intensity and emotions of the prophet, one must keep in mind that the prophet has contained within his or her spirit the love of God and the anger of God, both there, enraptured or en-fevered. The prophet lives in that divine space between divine patience and divine indignation. The infilling of God’s thoughts, emotions, and words creates intense emotion[s] for the prophet especially during the receiving of a Word and/or vision, for they are being moved by God Himself to understand how God views a situation. This causes the excessive passion, perhaps what appears to be nervous energy, superior vigor, amplified strength, increased expression or motor activity, et cetera that one witnesses.

Man often views the anger of God in such a way that it incites fear of pain. However, to God the anger is the pain. Prophets try to express what that anger means but doing so is very difficult – the sorrow, the disillusionment, and the disappointment caused to God by His creation’s (people’s) disloyalty.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet / Part 13

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christianity, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on August 20, 2014 at 11:59 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

The prophet present and represent a Holy God, a God who put in place and defined all the virtues we would like to see in people. Holiness originated with God, comes from God, and is imparted to mankind by God through the surrender of self-will.

Despite all the fear the wrath of God brings to people, the prophet is not crushed or shaken in his or her understanding of God and trust in God. To the prophet what is Divine is never strange, odd, or weird. Amazingly, the prophet can convert fear, shock, or terror into a song of praise, for the prophet sees that when the Lord smites He is often both smiting and healing (Isa. 19:22 and Hos.6:1). People look at their lives, the problems they are in, and rail against or complain to God, the prophet looks at the problems and recognizes that God is disciplining because someone refuses to change, to obey, to surrender their self-will.

Hosea 6:1 (AV – KJV)

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

Isaiah 19:22 (AV – KJV)

And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

When it comes to injustice or sin done against a person the prophet internally suffers those harms done to another in their own self, they so identify and empathize with the injured that it seems to them that they too are the injured party or prey. This is an aspect of the ‘anger of God’ that they carry in their spirits – the end to indifference.

Exodus 22:21 (NKJV)

“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

“The man who is angry at the right things and with the right people and further, as he ought, when he ought, and as long as he ought, is praised.” – Nicomachean Ethics – This is not someone or something I would read or recommend, as philosophy cannot be reconciled with Scripture but this particular quote is fitting as it support Scripture’s views on righteous anger or righteous indignation.

“Severity must tame whom love cannot win.” – Abraham Heschel

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Pesty Moralist – The Prophet / Part 12

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christianity, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on August 18, 2014 at 6:37 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Since the prophets see the world through the eyes of God, they perceive the world in terms of justice or injustice. When it comes to acts of ritual or things of beauty both, when associated with injustice, become an abomination to the prophets. You must remember that the prophet’s preoccupation with injustice and the passion with which they condemn injustice is rooted in their sympathy with God, as they have a divine understanding of God’s heart.

Prophets simply proclaim God’s concern for justice. Divine concern is at the heart of, and the key ingredient, in prophecy. Morality, especially prophetic morality, derives from the Truth that God demands morality and thus prophecy fulfilled is the realization of God’s concern over a moral matter.

The great dilemma is that what seems rational to the prophets seems irrational to the men and women steeped in sin, immorality, worldliness, carnality, and/or denial. Prophets can be some of the best and the worst people you would ever want to know depending on your moral health and your devotion to God.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.