New thing in Xangaland – if you are not a member of Xanga you can comment, there is an oblong box right after the prompt to email it and if you are not a Xanga member you can use that box to comment on this post. Underneath the five stars it says give props or post a comment.  I would love to hear from you! I think dialogue is so important.  Heather

We had an interesting question during Friday’s Bible study. One of the women in our group was having a medical test where she had to lay still and be quiet, not moving. Someone (I think it was her sister) came with her and told her that she heard her praying out loud. The technicians would not have permitted talking for that would have messed up the results, and she was praying silently, but wanted to know how the person heard her voice.

Pastor Don brought us to Acts 2. He said it was a difficult thing for people to accept the supernatural. We want to believe what we are ready to believe and willing to believe, and God wants to do the supernatural, beyond what we can conceive in our fleshly natures. We want to control everything, from how God responds, to when He responds. God wants us to realize that He is God and that He does supernatural things.

Jesus, before he left the apostles, told them to wait and He would send the Comforter to them. The apostles at that time did not have any idea about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit would manifest.

Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

They had to qualify by being in one accord, or in other words on the same page. Worshipping in Spirit and Truth.

Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They had no idea what was happening here, having never had the experience with the Holy Spirit. They HEARD A SOUND, and it sounded like a rushing wind.

Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

This was their best description for what they had not experienced before. Pastor Don said that it might have been something like the heat waves that come off of a hot asphalt road.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

ALL were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke with other tongues. When this happened, they had never experienced this before.  They didn’t know what it was at the time. Isaiah and Jeremiah also spoke about tongues, stammering tongues and languages they never knew. This is a dispensation of the New Covenant and we receive this from God without prejudice. They were endowed with power from on high. Although they spoke in tongues, they were in control for they could stop it at any time they chose.

Our society and Biblical training have limited the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit gives utterance it is not demonic possession. The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete who comes alongside of us.

God will not manifest according to our scripts, tongues are used by God to help us know that He is sovereign and we are not. Tongues seem like foolishness to men, so we know God is sovereign. If we are not prepared to receive what God has commanded, if we are not a yielded vessel we cannot step into the pulpit or in a prophetic ministry.

Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

Jews from around the world.

Acts 2:6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Pastor Don pointed out that they HEARD A SOUND, and they were confused because the sound of tongues was heard in each person’s language.

Acts 2:7-8 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born?”

Pastor Don pointed out that Galileans were like the southerners of Israel, and considered rather backwards and not able to speak in multitudinous languages.

So how is it that they heard what they heard, or how is it that we hear? There is a supernatural ability of God to change what we hear and see in the natural by His spirit. God alters the physical and opens up windows in the spiritual.

How is it that we hear (v8)? God must come into the natural to cause this. It is a miracle of disruption of the natural by the supernatural.

Another Example,

Acts 10:1-3 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.”

Pastor Don pointed out that the 9th hour was broad daylight. And he (a Gentile) saw a VISION, and the angel was SAYING, so he heard as well. This was not his normal experience, but his hearing was attuned to God.

Acts 10:4-5 And when he observed him (the angel), he (Cornelius) was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.

He heard the instructions from God and obeyed them! The Lord has mercy and even reaches out to Gentiles.

Acts 10: 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.

Cornelius acted immediately on the angel’s instructions from God. With the Prophetic you can HEAR it, but for it to occur you also have to ACT on it. The measure of the prophetic is not what the message says, the measure of the prophetic is what YOU DO with it.

Pastor Don said that if he came and gave someone a vice grip. And they looked at it and said, “Oh, what a great tool.” but they left it at church, or they took it home and put it in their tool box and did not use it, the vice grip would not do much for them. The fact that the vice grip is lying about unused is no measure of Pastor Don, it is the failure of the person to take to heart what was given to them and invest something in it and use it.

If you have a prophetic word spoken over you, hold it in your heart and feed and water it. The more fantastic the Word is, the more you need to feed and water it. Even if it is a general world like “You are blessed by God.” Remember that blessed means happy, whole, properly placed, highly favored, etc. Feed that Word and hold it in your heart. Even if you don’t see manifestations of the prophetic word immediately.

Pastor Don pointed out in answer to the question about how the person could hear the inner prayer of the one having the medical test is that God supernaturally permitted it, that the woman heard the prayer in the Spirit, because it was not something that was said in the physical.

A question came up about someone being on a roof and falling in the spirit, the verse was Acts 10:10 regarding Peter and the vision Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.

Pastor Don pointed out that the word “fell” was literally fell, like in keeled over, hit the floor, was in the Spirit.

Then we went to Acts 20:7 Pastor Don pointed out that if you think he does long sermons and Bible studies, listen to this Now on the first day of the week (Sunday) when the disciples came together to break bread (Communion) Paul, ready to depart the next day spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

Acts 20:8-10 There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.”

Pastor Don pointed out that just like Elijah and Elisha Paul laid on top of Eutychus, but added something new, he “embraced” him.

Acts 20 11-12 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak he departed. And they brought the youn man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.

Talk about understatement, “not a little comforted.” I bet they were overjoyed. Notice Paul kept talking until daybreak.

Then Pastor Don got to the part of the Bible study that he intended to teach, 2 Kings 7, which he states is his favorite Bible chapter. He said that so often we know the prophetic for good, but if the prophetic is not acted on it can turn out to be not good for the hearer. We can sometimes avert danger by our attitudes. It is one thing to hear the prophetic word, another thing to receive it. We are not to judge the prophet, the prophet can be a prophet, a child, a donkey, an unsaved love one, whatever, but rather we are to judge the FRUIT OF THE WORD. Are you willing to listen? Are you ready to receive it? Open your heart to receive. If you negatively respond to the prophetic word it blocks the blessings of God, for God will not force Himself into our lives if we do not want to receive what He has to offer.

Pastor Don also pointed out that we do not have to accept a casual put down, or make it part of our life. It seems to be a natural habit to gossip, but we will be held accountable for every idle word. It also seems that people feel that it is very intellectual to disbelieve God.

2 Chronicles 20:20 …Believe in the LORD  your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets and you shall prosper.

2 Kings 7:1-2  Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ” So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

This servant was a close confidant of the king, had the king’s ear. He knows that there is a famine. The town was under seige, and there was little food. Yet through Elisha the LORD was speaking prosperity, yet this man was questioning if the Word of God was true, his answer was in effect, “Yeah, sure, when elephants fly.”  BUT God’s word is true, and this man did not act on it. The confidant of the king judged that the prophet was wrong and judged that God was wrong. He opened himself up to doubt and unbelief. So Elisha told this doubter that you will see it with your eyes (so you know that God will do it) but because of his unbelief and doubt he will not eat of it.

Had the man then and there repented of his doubt and unbelief, changed his thinking, asked forgiveness, the outcome might have been different for him.

Pastor Don pointed out that Heaven comes and visits the church on the earth. The church itself is not heaven, it is composed of humans with fallibilities. But when Heaven comes and visits the church the church becomes a heavenly place. It is a beautiful thing.

2 Kings 7:3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die?

Pastor Don said, “If anyone has put themselves on hold, get a life and get off of hold.” Here the lepers knew that they were dying, so why stay the same, why not make a change. (Heather’s note, Pastor Don wrote a new song and the introduction lyrics are a constant repetition of the following words, “Keep doin’ what you’re doin’; keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’). If you don’t know what to do to get off of hold, seek the council of God don’t just sit there waiting.

2 Kings 7:4-5 “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.

So often we can get worried and expect the worst, and when we get to the situation, we find that our worry was fruitless, that really there was nothing to worry about. The Syrians were not there.

2 Kings 7:6 For the LORD had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses–the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”

Another case of HEAR, God caused the Syrians to hear something in a supernatural way, and they acted upon what they heard, and retreated.

2 Kings 7:7-9 Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact–their tents, their horses, and their donkeys–and they fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it. Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

Pastor Don pointed out that their act of moving caused the lepers to have abundantly what they needed. They started out keeping it all for themselves, but even though they were outcasts of the city, weren’t treated right by those in the city, the lepers knew that they had to share what God gave them, they knew that they were not doing right by just keeping it to themselves, that they were not being a blessing.

2 Kings 7:10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound–only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.”

Pastor Don spent some time talking about how our church really depends on the gatekeepers. That often that is the first Jesus a person sees – the parking attendants and the people in the foyer. If these people are kind, loving and greet people with a smile, people (newcomers and regulars) will come in happy and ready to receive. If they are snarled at or disrespectfully treated they will come in with an attitude that may block God’s blessings. Gatekeepers have an important task to do.

2 Kings 7:11-12 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside. So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.’ ”

The blessing Elisha prophesied was there, but the king assumed that the Syrians were using the carnality of the Israelite’s hunger to draw them out and trap them. He was trying to interpret the situation from the fleshly point of view, the circumstances. Don’t do that, you will miss out on the supernatural design of God.

2 Kings 7:13 And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.”

Praise God for godly servants who give good advice – suggesting that a few men go out and explore. Pastor Don said, why were they to take the “remaining” horses. Because of the famine the people had been eating horse flesh.

2 Kings 7:14-16 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.” And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king. Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 

Here is the fruit of the prophesy of Elisha, it came true, a seah of flour was sold for a shekel, two seahs of barley for a shekel!

2 Kings 7:17 Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

So the confidant of the King, who had spoken doubt and belief also had the prophesy spoken over him come true – that he would see with his eyes, but  He would not eat of it, for he was trampled in the gate and died.

2 Kings 7:18-20 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.” Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, “Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

Pastor Don then pointed out that every one of us is a leper in our background, there is pain, difficulty, trouble, sin. Not one of us is perfect. Are we not like the lepers, sitting around and waiting until we die? We need to get up and do. In the tents of our enemies are great rewards to take advantage of and people to lead to the Lord, to life eternal.  God can get us out of our mess, and get us busy for the Lord. Believe because we serve and awesome God and King.

Hope you have a blessed Sunday.

Heather

This came in an email to me, it is a devotional called KneeMail done by Mike Benson, given the way the church is going today, it seemed timely, for we seem bent on changing what God has said, and sometimes I think that we think that because we have changed rules and God has not responded immediately that he concurs with what we have decided in our flesh to do. This is not so, God is just waiting, hoping we come to our senses, but one day He will judge those who try to twist and change His word. The link to subscribe to this devotional is at the bottom of the article.

I will try to get Pastor Don’s Friday Bible study up later tonight when I can have a block of time on the computer. Have a blessed day!

Heather

Brethren,

It is with the utmost humility that we inform you of a change of worship practices in your normal sacrificing. Be assured that we are bringing about this change only after much prayer and study.

We have recently concluded an in-depth study of the Law as delivered by our brother Moses that covered 400 days. (We might note that is ten times the length of time it took the Lord to impart this Law.)

We have decided to bring about a change in the type of fire used in worship. We are aware that there is a standing tradition of using only one source of fire, but we, as holy priests, do not feel obligated to blindly follow tradition. Numerous polls of our worshipping clientele indicate the overwhelming opinion that they do not care where we get the fire used for their sacrifices just as long as the service is conducted in a respectful and meaningful way.

We were in agreement with this growing majority, as we cannot see how a change in fire will affect anything in the least about our sacrifices. The animal is still properly cooked, the incense burned. We are of the mind that were we to secretly substitute a different fire it would be impossible for any of the worshippers to know a change had taken place.

Besides all this, we became aware of the fact that nowhere in the Law does the Lord forbid the use of what some of our detractors have referred to as “strange fire.” We feel that the lack of such a restriction was meant to give us freedom. For those who disagree, we would ask you to show us any place in the Law that tells us we cannot do something the Lord has not seen fit to condemn.

We also wish to point out that the congregation of Israel is the only religious group in the known world that willingly limits itself to only one kind of fire. We have become the laughingstock of the land of Canaan and have been ridiculed openly by many groups. This “only one fire” self-righteous policy has alienated us from everyone else. We believe this change will open up many fellowship opportunities.

Now, to set the minds of some of you at ease, we will continue to offer a traditional service using the old-fashioned fire as well as this progressive service with the new fire. As a matter of fact, we may occasionally use the old fire in our progressive service for special feast days. In this way we hope that our older citizens are still comfortable even though they dogmatically insist on a worship style which is declining and we believe to be stunting our growth.

Consider the freedom this new practice affords us! We will no longer have the expense of maintaining a constant fire in one location. This will also make it possible to appeal to a younger audience as we discover more entertaining ways to “light the fire” of our assemblies. (We hope you caught the little play on words there!)

For those who still oppose the use of new fire, we ask you not to be judgmental of new ideas. We also hope you will not use this change as a excuse to divide our people or stir up trouble within the congregation. We remind you that this has been well thought out and the majority of elders have signed on with us. It is true we have not included our father Aaron in this deliberation; but we were well aware of his tradition-bound views and still plan to leave him in charge of doing the traditional service anyway. We also have not consulted Moses, but his humility is well known and we are confident he will want to uphold the majority decision in this effort to improve our worship.

We are very much looking forward to our first new fire service. We hope you will make a special effort to be present to witness a new age of enlightenment in the church of Israel. We know God will be watching and we anticipate that his joy over seeing his people take a great step toward throwing off the burden of binding tradition will be an electrifying experience.

See you there. Bring some extra barbecue sauce, for we think this new practice is going to spread like wildfire!

For freedom’s sake!

Nadab & Abihu, DDLP (Doctors of Divine Law and Progress)

P.S. After the successful changeover in this part of our worship, future plans include the ordination of women priests, inter-idol fellowship activities with the various pagan groups nearby, and a special service called, “It doesn’t have to be Passover to celebrate Passover anymore.” (David Brassfield)

–To subscribe, send ANY message to: 

kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org

While this title was not all Pastor Don taught on, it is a wonderful acronym. And this Bible study truly will be a HELP to you. I have never attended a Bible study that I didn’t get something from, because Pastor Don is an incredible teacher, but some Bible studies stand out from the other excellent ones, and this one is stellar.

Pastor Don pointed out that there is power in our attitudes, There is power in hope, power in expectancy, power in love and power in prayer. We need to keep believing, in faith.

As the song goes, “You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative…”

When prophesies are spoken over us, or situations come that seem to fulfill prophesies spoken over us we need to discern. We need to be a FRUIT TESTER, FRUIT INSPECTOR, AND FRUIT OBSERVER. We need to be patient, for the fulfillment of some things in our lives take time.

Pastor Don then went on to talk about the Prophetic gifts.

He reminded us of his last Bible study on this, that there were different offices in the Church, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher and Apostles. Just because a person gives a prophesy once does not mean that they are a prophet, or if they teach one time that they have the teaching anointing. God can use a yielded person in one of the offices as there is a need.

There is an error in the church today regarding preaching. People have taken the action of preaching and turned it into an office, but it is not one of the offices listed in the Bible. Many people get puffed up when they preach, but preaching is an ACTION, not an office.

In reality everyone is a preacher, but in the church we often give a preacher accolades. In reality, preaching is a form of prophesy – FORTHTELLING, Telling the Word of God.

So often in churches today there is preaching, but no manifestation of the Power of God. So people are rewarding preachers for what is in effect an empty act. Preaching is empty until someone gets a hold of the teaching and changes. Pastor Don said that growing up in the church he heard a lot of exciting, vehement preaching, but the people would listen, go home, and by the following week come back unchanged by the preaching – doing the same things they did before the sermon. When people remain unchanged by preaching, the preaching is an empty act.

Prophesy is for exhortation or comfort. Pastor Don pointed out that many of us have been in churches a long time and have not changed. We have come and found emotional release, sang a few songs, heard an exciting sermon, and then walked out unchanged. Without the manifest power of God we will not see results.

Preaching is not an effective way to change people. Teaching, getting people involved in the learning process will produce change. If a person listens to the teaching, learns and makes changes then there will be a change in their life.

People come to church with a desire to experience God, to receive a touch from God. When the gifts of God are out of proportion and out of position no one gets changed. Pastor Don told us that he puts pressure (Heather’s note, loving pressure) on us to do better, to change, to believe God for something to happen.

When Jesus heard Peter try to talk him out of going to the cross, Jesus did not coddle Peter, saying, “That’s nice….” He said to Peter, “Get thee behind me satan.” He made Peter see that Peter was speaking out of order.

There is great pressure in the church today to keep people attending. If pastors are only preachers, there is something missing in the church. The pastors can sweat, speak loud, get excited, but it does not always produce anything of substance.

NO OFFICE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST SHOULD STAND ALONE as if somehow it is sufficient.

We need all the spiritual gifts functioning in the Body of Christ. Pastors that preach sometimes think they are doing a good job, but if they really examine their congregation they will see that no one is getting better.

The Prophetic can touch another function in the five-fold ministry. A prophet can loose the ability to loose, to lift up and get people to another level. The prophetic can also foretell the future, challenging a person to change. It is like throwing out the gauntlet and the challenge needs to be taken up.

*************
Pastor Don said that if we get what he is teaching next, we will never be the same. Trust me in this, Pastor Don is accurate in this statement! So I know as you read this you will be blessed.

When a prophetic word goes out it is spoken and we need to ask ourselves a few questions.

1. DO WE HEAR IT?
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When a prophet comes to tell you what, “Thus says the LORD…” what is happening or will happen you have choices. You either can HEAR it or you can MISS it. We can become so desensitized to the Spirit or so bound to the emotions that, because of the nature of the delivery, we don’t hear it. Remember the person delivering the prophesy does not have to be a prophet or someone in a high office, it can be a child, a neighbor, a scene from nature, a boss, a person you do not consider spiritually advanced, a stranger on the street, your spouse, a thought that we can’t get out of our minds. But we have to stop and listen. To stop and hear it. We need to receive (hear) the prophetic word. Sometimes we can look in the wrong places for the prophetic word, expecting it from a certain place, and God has already provided it in a way that we did not expect.

If we ask God, we have to have the faith to believe that, “my answer is coming.” When we pray, we have to believe that God has heard our prayer. God may not always pay attention to our whining – He will listen the first time, then He expects us to believe something and do it. We need to put our faith into, “I am going to receive from God.” But we also have to recognize that the Spirit of God is not obligated to obey us. We get upset, stamp our feet and complain when God does not answer our prayer NOW in the way we thought He should answer it. But God will answer in the time and place that He chooses. Whether we listen or not at the time God chooses to answer is our responsibility, not His.

Just like when our kids exhibit a demanding attitude and we do not respond instantly to their demands, the more attitude we show toward God, the longer it may take to receive our answer.

We need FAITH TO BELIEVE THAT THE ANSWER IS COMING, no matter what it looks like in our circumstances. If the situation is life and death and we miss God’s answer, He may give it to us several times so that it increases our chance of receiving the answer. If it is a fleshly desire, God may give the answer only once.

We can talk ourselves out of our blessing. We can have a thought in our mind that is from God and then debate if it is from God or not from God. Would God really want to do that for ME?, etc. At times the thoughts are not from God. One way to tell is that if a thought agrees with the worst of our personality, negate it for it is not of God.

All promises of God are yes and amen. Anything contrary to God’s promises is a lie. Don’t supply a “No” even if God has not answered in a while, expect that the answer is on the way. (Heather’s note, in Daniel 10:12 the glorious man tells Daniel who hadn’t heard an answer for his prayer for three weeks, “…Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” Pastor Don taught on this once and pointed out that if Daniel had prayed a few days and given up the glorious man (angel) would not have come. We have to have faith that the answer will come, and the answer was sent FROM THE FIRST DAY, but there can be things we are not aware of that delay the answer).

Sometimes God has us in a holding pattern, and the answer is, “not yet”. But our answer will happen in the time and season that is the best time for it to happen.

If things don’t happen as you plan it, hold on. If warfare is raging around you, hold on. The Prophet is God’s answer to your need in that situation. Don’t shoot the messenger. Sometimes the messenger will give an answer you were not wanting. Sometimes we expect Fed Ex and UPS shows up with the answer. The joy of the Lord is to see you get what you need when you need it.

God also wants to do things His way in His timing. Sometimes we pray a certain way and get an answer. Then we keep trying to approach God in the exact same way and method to get an answer when the next situation comes up. God does not want us to make an idol of the method. He wants us to trust in Him.

Pastor Don said, LISTEN TO EVERYTHING, CAST OUT A BIG NET TO GET A BIG FISH, NOT ONE HOOK AND ONE LINE.

When we have people anointed of God, we have to know that it is the anointing of God on their life that will interrupt our lives at times. We don’t need a formal setting to receive a word from God. God can use his anointed one to speak a word into our lives through a brief encounter or a casual conversation. It does not have to be a big formal affair to hear the Word of God. The anointed one does not have to stand and wave his hands and bellow out, “The LORD SAID, The power of the Lord is upon me and you need to HEAR THE WORD of the Lord.” A quiet word said in season can be a prophetic word from God.

When the Word comes and you have your antenna up and hear a word that is around you, you need to

2. TEST THE WORD. Can I believe for that? Can I receive it? You can believe for something but not be ready to receive it. You can believe for prosperity and not open up a bank account to receive it.

Pastor Don talked about a tent revival in a small town that had a drought. The revivalist prayed and stated that God was going to send rain. The next night he came to preach and looked around and noticed that, except for a little girl, no one brought umbrellas. They were not ready to receive the rain.

FAITH IS AN ACTION OF BELIEVING what you RECEIVE and MAKING PROVISION for it. We need to be ready to believe it, ready to receive it. No matter who is speaking the prophetic word or the form that the word comes, we have to ask ourselves, Can I believe it? and Am I ready to receive it?

When we receive a prophetic word our natural response is to be afraid. Can I handle the answer? Am I ready? We can let doubt creep in through our fear. But FAITH IS THE ENEMY OF DOUBT. Faith does not mean that we are doing everything perfectly. But what we need to do is to work against doubt and unbelief. Unless you aggressively attack fear it can cause doubts to arise.

Doubt comes from the emotional realm. Fear is an emotion. An intellectual person will deny that fear is an emotion and come up with terms that deny that what they are feeling is fear, but really it is the emotion fear that is casting doubt.

When we have fear, we start speaking doubt and unbelief. We need another emotion to fight the emotion of fear. Pastor Don said that if we are in a bull ring with a charging bull, we do not pull out Emily Dickenson or an intellectual writing on peace and calm and read it to the bull. We have to fight the bull.

If we have fear we can raise the emotion of hope, or joy, to fight it. If there is anger, we can have repentance, forgiveness. We have to determine to stay happy even when our circumstances seem to negate happiness. Against hope, fear cannot stand.

One person mentioned that one way she can tell that it is the Lord speaking is that the enemy comes to try and steal away the blessing. Pastor Don pointed out that sometimes that is a good way of determining it is a Word of God, sometimes not. Then he said:

SOMETIMES YOUR OPPOSITION CONFIRMS YOUR POSITION.

Faith is not an emotion, but faith can affect our emotions. People can sometimes mistake faith as feeling good about something. But faith is not a feeling it is in the heart, it is the place where you know that you know that you know.

The electricity of the spiritual realm is faith. Faith says “I know” not I am waiting and hoping. When there is true faith, what one has faith for always happens, even if it is the wrong thing the person had faith for. Someone mentioned, be careful what you ask for, you may get it.

3. WE HAVE TO LEARN TO DO WHAT MARY DID.

Luke 2:48-50 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously. And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

Jesus was speaking the fulfillment of the prophesy, about His ministry and calling. Sometimes when the prophetic word comes we do not understand it.

Luke 2:51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

She did not put it in the realm of her thought life, she stored it in her heart. She stored the prophesies of the angel, Simeon, Elizabeth, the wise men, the shepherds. She stored all the prophetic words spoken

When Jesus said that he had to be about His Father’s business, He was not talking about carpentry. She held the prophesies in a deep place until the time of its fulfillment.

When you hear a prophetic word, GRAB AHOLD OF IT, even if there is no application for it at that time, it may be a Word out of season, or a Word spoken in error. Sometimes prophetic people feel that they have to always speak a prophetic word.

Someone asked if a prophetic word is spoken over another can you apply it to yourself? Pastor Don said that if our heart seizes the word and receives it, God can bring forth that prophetic word in our lives.

Remember, God will never leave you or forsake you, Sometimes a person receives a blessing from God, walks out of the room and talks themselves out of the blessing saying, “I ain’t blessed.” The room might have been filled with angels ready to pour out the blessing on the person and they just spoke their blessing away.

We need to put our faith into action and God will come through.

When a prophetic word is spoken, STORE IT SOMEWHERE, write it down, memorize it, get a recording of it. Keep speaking the prophetic word over yourself. Apply faith to the prophetic word. Agree with the Word.

You might be very poor but have a prophetic word of prosperity spoken over you, that all your needs will be met. You may not see it in your circumstances, but believe for it in your heart, have faith and God will come through.

So often healing or a word goes into a person and becomes dormant. The anointing is still there, but the people around the person have talked the person into unbelief and the anointing cannot manifest. That does not mean that it isn’t there, it just is not manifesting. Once the person starts speaking words of belief, and claiming what the healing or word has said, then the dormant anointing will manifest and the person will see a change in their situation.

When we get faith inside and hear a prophetic word we can either kill it or feed it. The prophetic word is spoken and it can lie dormant and at the right time the person can come into agreement with it and the anointing will manifest.  We need to not go by what we see and we need to watch what our mouth says.

Then Pastor Don read us a passage that illustrated what he taught above, it is long so I am going to give you the address so that you can read it on your own. Look for times when the blessing was believed and when the blessing was rejected. 2 Kings 7

One word of doubt is 2 Kings 7:2 …Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?…

Hope this blesses you! It sure makes me want to make sure that I watch my words and my thoughts, that I hold in faith and believe God.

Have a blessed day,
Heather

So God gave Moses the instructions for the gathering of the Manna. Remember according to Exodus 16:4 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.”

Well we will see that they do not walk in God’s law.

Exodus 16:16-17 “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.” Then the children of Israel did so and gathered some more, some less.

Day one, okay. We usually are pretty good following instructions the first day. Remember, the people were hungry and they were grateful for the bread from God. Of course over time greed and wanting to test the limits would come into the picture.

Notice, the Manna is on the ground, and the people had to bend over to pick it up. There was enough Manna for everyone, and God had a set portion for each person. The Manna was to be gathered in the morning and would disappear when the heat from the sun hit it. There will be no laggards or late sleepers.

Exodus 16:18 So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

God will supply all of our needs.

Exodus 16:19-20 And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

First of all, disobeying God’s directives always produces a stench in our lives and what we do in our own understanding is often fraught with rot and does not last. We spoil God’s perfect plan for our lives when we do not obey God, and leave ourselves open to what is not beneficial for us.

Moses was the pastor of these people who constantly seemed bent on testing the limits of God’s patience. I have great respect for pastors who give their hearts to the people, give godly advice and then watch the people fail because they do not follow the godly advice. I am sure it breaks the pastor’s heart, and then the people blame the pastor and God for the repercussions of their disobedience to what the pastor and God told them.

Those who left the Manna (I keep wanting to call it Bread like God does – I am certain He calls it Bread because it is a precursor to what His Son will do for us as the Bread of Life), seem to be saying some negative things about God through their actions. Whenever we disobey God we speak through our actions negative things about God.

The Israelites are first and foremost saying, that God and His prophets do not need to be heeded. Big mistake there, because God is not pleased when we persist in disobedience. It is saying that the people did not value the Manna, for they had leftovers. And disobedience produces decay. They are also implying that they need to hoard the Manna, not willing to trust in God’s provision.

Of course, after one morning of stinky, wormy Manna, the Israelites got the point and I suspect they did not leave any over for the next morning. That is so like a loving parent, sometimes God lets us see the results of our disobedience and how unpleasant those results are, then we are more willing to obey Him.

Exodus 16:21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot it melted.

So often we are told that we must take God’s offer of salvation, for we never know what the next moment will bring. At some point such an offer is no longer there. We have the Bread of Life if we reach out and take the free gift, but if we don’t God will let us have our wishes, and He will not force Himself into our lives. If we do not reach down and pick up the Manna, it will melt when the sun becomes hot. Our lives get hot with situations, and if we keep keeping Jesus out of the midst of our problems, we too will have a meltdown, and will end up hardening our hearts. Far better that we gather the Bread of life.

Another analogy for Bread is the Word of God. So often in the Scriptures it talks about early morning prayer and devotions, and sometimes, if we do not gather our Manna (our spiritual sustenance) before our day begins, we can be subject to meltdowns when the trials come into our lives.

Exodus 16:22-23 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD has said: Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.”

I love this, God is sovereign, he makes the rules. The two omers collected on the sixth day will not rot when left over. There will be no worms in it. When we follow God’s commands we will have sweet sustenance. And of course with that is the timing. If the people had collected two omers on the fifth day it would have rotted, only on the Sabbath eve is it preserved..

Sabbath was something very special that God made for the Israelites. God rested on the seventh day of creation. I am certain God was not wiping sweat off of His brow, saying “Whew, I need a day off!” He, like a good parent, was modeling the need for rest and refreshment that we all need. Before God instituted the Sabbath the people worked seven days a week with no rest. But we are not made to work like that, we need a time to rest and turn our thoughts toward God, then we can become recharged. When we take time off to spend with God, He blesses that and work gets done.

Exodus 16:24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.

When God gives an instruction, even if it doesn’t make sense to us (remember the last time they left Manna overnight it turned to worms), God will bless the following of His instructions.

Exodus 16:25-26 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath day, there will be none.”

So what did they do? What we have been known to do at times, not fully believe that God means what He says.

Exodus 16:27 Now it happened  that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.

Could it be that they wanted a head start? Were they not listening to God and did not gather two omers the day before? Did they think to profit from it? God noticed that they did not obey, but He is merciful.

Exodus 16:28-30 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in His place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

We will see that the Israelites do not always honor the Sabbath day or the Sabbath year, and this will have repercussions in their future. What is also sad is that over time the laws for the Sabbath will be so oppressive. What God meant for rest and refreshment and communion with Him is turned into drudgery and duty. In fact one thing Jesus was often guilty of is breaking the Sabbath with His healings and good things that He did. He told people that God made the Sabbath for the people, not the people for the Sabbath.

Exodus 16:31 And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

Coriander seed

Exodus 16:32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.

How incredible that God wanted to make sure that future generations would remember the Manna. That is one thing that I love about God, His promises are forever. His Covenants last, and He cares that we teach our children about Him.

Exodus 16:33-34 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.” As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony to be kept.

In fact, this will be one of the items put in the Ark of the Covenant when the tabernacle is built.

Exodus 16:35 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of he land of Canaan.

How faithful God is!!! He took care of their needs for 40 years, gave them their daily bread. Lets do a bit of math, the Israelites had 360 day years, so 40 x 360 = 14,400 days

14,400 days x 12,000,000 pints (conservative estimate on 2 million in wilderness

equals 172,800,000,000 pints of Manna or 86,400,000 tons of Manna

Can you imagine???? How faithful God is, and yet the Israelites will still seek after old idols, they will complain and grumble about the manna. Sometimes I think God does so many miracles in our lives that we become used to them, and do not realize the magnitude of what He has done. Our God is so faithful.

Now, please tell me why this next verse is put in here. And yet I know it is there for a purpose but I can’t figure it out.

Exodus 16:36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.

It seems so stuck out in left field. I could see it if they put it in as a parenthetical remark after God told them to gather an omer (one-tenth of an ephah) of Manna. But this line is here by itself. I wonder why God isolated it like this.

Hope this blesses you. Remember we have our Manna in the form of God’s Word. He gives us breath, life, our hearts beat constantly all day, we have vision, neural synapses that can’t be understood. And the beauty of the earth and creation. He also gave us Himself. So many, many miracles.

Have a blessed night!

Heather