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Originally from: Originally dated: Sun, 31 Aug 1997 15:01:23 -0400 (EDT)
A recurrent theme I have heard from many prophets
is that, "now that I have shared I will be rejected".
Who was it said they would write a bestseller
entitled, "Hurting Prophets and Insecure Pastors"?
It's certainly true that sometimes the word of God
will be rejected. That happens independent of the
means of transmittal, whether by prophetic word,
vision, scripture, sermon, dream or whatever. The
Holy Spirit can use many means to bring people
to conviction and repentance - even an earthquake
(Acts 16:29-30)!
But sometimes the rejection of the prophet is
caused by the manner of the prophet himself
or herself. For example, if I share a prophecy
out of a heart of manipulation or control, people
will generally sense that and react against it.
I know of one person who left a church to
start up another one, but not without sharing
a "word from the Lord" to several key people
that the Lord wanted them to join him. Knowing
the person concerned, I am sure he genuinely
felt that the Lord had spoken. Yet his message
was (thankfully) rejected by many, although not
by all (with tragic consequences).
Alternatively, if I share a message out of
pride in my own abilities as a prophet, or
out of anything else that is not totally
the Lord, then that too will be sensed by
the recipients and my message rejected.
John 10:2-5
So in summary, if as a prophet my words
are rejected, I need to ask the fundamental
question:
"To the best of my knowledge, having asked
the Holy Spirit to shed His light on my
conscience, did I share God's word in God's
way at God's time to God's choice of
audience?"
If the answer to that question is not a
certain "yes", then there is an element of
my own responsibility for the rejection of
the word. I can't just blame other people
"stubbornly" rejecting the word of the
Lord.
One of the classic tricks of the enemy is
to cause a prophet to feel alienated from
the rest of the flock (I King 19:14). There
may often even be some justification for
the sense of hurt. But at these times it
is important for the prophet or prophetess
to keep his or her eyes on the Lord. Only
He can direct us what to do in these
circumstances. Only He can heal the
wound (often only after the choice has
been made to forgive).
The alternative is that a "wedge" or distance
is formed in the prophet's heart between
the prophet and the flock. This is not the
heart of Jesus, who is intimately and
passionately in love with His flock and
who fully identifies with us even to the
point of taking our sin upon Himself at
Calvary. And this difference between
the heart of the prophet and the heart of
the Good Shepherd will become evident
sooner or later to the sheep, who will in
turn run away from the prophet.
If we have known rejection, maybe it is
time for us to ask the Lord to remove
the beam from our own eye before we
can see clearly to remove the mote
from our brother's eye!
As a sheep of the Lord I have been
listening to many words on this list. Some
I have witnessed to, some I have not. They
"felt" wrong, I can't put it more clearly than
that. I would encourage all of us to develop
that attitude of listening to the Spirit as we
read the words shared on this list.
I personally would feel a lot happier if
folks would do that when I am sharing,
because I am NOT perfect and I make
mistakes. But it would sure help if
somebody could say, "Well, that bit
was OK but I didn't witness to the
other. Perhaps you need to pray more
about it, brother!" Would you do that
for me, my brothers and sisters? I
would really appreciate it.
I'll close with the words of one much
wiser than myself on this topic. May
the grace of Jesus be on your heart,
soul, mind and body!
1 Cor 14:1
1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire
spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
(NIV)
Blessings
Michael
Mgerner@aol.com
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