Hello, my faithful friend! It's been a while since our last little chat. I wish I could blame my self-imposed hibernation on current events, spectacular adventures or even a much deeper and enriching soul-searching sabbatical. If you have followed me a little or read any of my work, you already know better. I won't bore you with the details of the past year's, post "Supernaturally Dysfunctional" book release or the spiral into dysfunctional disillusionment that followed its euphoric completion. Yes, that is my feeble attempt at sarcasm.
In all sincerity, I've missed our time together. That truly says it all. Though I have no idea if my book, blogs, or podcasts in fact reach anyone, I have felt a little prompting to share what I believe God has been up to. At least in my little neck of the woods.
The completion of your first book, all the way to its publication, is a very long and satisfying process on so many levels. When you first hold it in your hands, the tears gently fall and the prayers begin to flow. I can tell you now, the prayer has always been, "Lord let this project touch at least one soul and change a heart for you." It has never been about me. Yes, its stories were my dysfunctional familial examples, supernatural in nature, but always about overcoming darkness with the light of God's love. I hope that message came shining through.
I completely believed that with "SD" firmly under my belt, all social media promotions completed, blogs relating to each chapter finished, as well as its three completed podcasts, I was done. I felt I had done all I was suppose to do with the book and the topic and it was time to move on. If you have read my book or blogs, then you already know that things seldom turn out the way we believe they should. I was definitely sad of its ending, not knowing if the effort made any kind of difference at all, and told God about it in no uncertain terms. I also explained to Him that I was moving on to something else, letting it all go. I imagine God, at this declaration, leaning back with a twinkle in His eye saying, "Oh, you think so? Alright, kiddo, let's see what ya got." He has a great sense of humor and I'm sure He gets a kick out of my hare-brained schemes from time to time. I'm equally positive that I've disappointed Him or broken His heart as well, but that's a story for another day.
So now what? I had no idea. Seriously. Things had not gone at all the way I had planned. I was at the start of something new...waiting on the Lord, yet again. If you recall chapter 14 of "SD" titled "The Waiting," you probably remember that not only is it the hardest part, It's not exactly my favorite thing to do. In fact, I'm still trying to master it. Yet ANOTHER trip around that stinking mountain.
But God. God had other ideas.
I woke up this morning at exactly 2:22 am. This is not normal for me, as I'm usually in the 3-3:30 am-ish sleep interrupting time frame on any given morning. I felt a prompting on my heart, that I was to remember Daniel 2:22 when I started my day. There goes His wonderful sense of humor showing up again in small but fabulous ways. Daniel 2:22 states "He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him."
This is where my blog begins.
The subtitle, "It's just a bunch of hocus pocus," may seem like a strange segue into today's topic. I assure you, it is most appropriate. In regard to this blog's (and podcast's) title, many most-likely believe the prophetic to be just that: a bunch of hocus pocus.
Actually, the prophetic can be both divine, when coming from the Holy Spirit Himself, or an act of divination, the complete opposite. I mean, what did we expect? We know that our enemy continually tries to take something holy and pure from the Lord and change it into something dark or evil, in order to fulfill his destructive purposes. This is nothing new. How, then, can we discern the difference or even the fine line between the divine or divination?
First of all, let's dive into what seems to be happening at the present time in our country as well as in the world. It is evident that there seems to be an over abundance of battle-weary Christians who are growing disillusioned with global events, have social media burnout, and are tired of the biased and less than trustworthy news outlets. We are all tired of being under the thumb of a seemingly corrupt government (On every side) that doesn't seem to care about its people. Our wonderful government seems only to be concerned about growing in their own personal agendas or power. To put it plainly, a very high percentage of us are severely worn out from the daily battle and continual fight. We find it challenging to stay positive in an increasingly darkening world. Most definitely, I'm being Captain Obvious with these statements of what seems to be going on, especially during the fall season of 2022.
What, then, are many Christians doing because of this continual battle and depressing day to day existence? Possibly, if you are anything like me, you are boycotting the news as a first leap towards sanity. Next, lots of well-meaning people of faith may seek out the latest prophet of the day in order to stay connected to God's news. We find them on YouTube, Rumble, social media, etc. We also do this in the hopes of getting a special word of knowledge from a prophet for our own personal lives. It's almost as if we aren't sure of what God is saying to us and desire a prophet to validate our promptings. THIS COULD BECOME EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Seeking out the prophetic for these types of reasons is a very bad habit to get into and could be detrimental to your health, happiness, or could even hinder your relationship with God.
Prophets play a major role in God's end time plans, according to the Bible. Most prophets actually do hear from the Lord. Many are legitimate. Several are not. I'm not here to tell you which prophet is or is not actually hearing from God. It is not my job to criticize. But I will tell you that those who say "thus saith the Lord" had better be sure they are really hearing from Him. If they make such declarations and are not actually hearing from God, they are instead walking in deception, and will more than likely be dealt with in an uncomfortably harsh manner.
Today's blogspot has a lot to do with a live YouTube broadcast I listened to last week. A well-known prophet and her mentor were speaking about an important message that they felt God wanted released for such a time as this. They also gave out messages pertaining to certain people who were watching their livestream. Here is a made-up example of what one of the prophets shared on this program: "Is there a Leslie listening today? Leslie, the Lord says that your son will be delivered from drug addiction right now, in Jesus' name, etc."
My disclaimer; I believe that God could absolutely be working in that particular way and through those above mentioned wonderfully prophetic ladies. He is God, after all. He can do whatever He wants, using whomever He wishes. I have no right to judge their validity and refuse to do so.
During their livestream, however, I began to see a disheartening pattern. I rarely, if ever, read the live comments in the feed as the teacher, pastor or prophet is speaking. I did, though, on this day, and it felt like an instant punch to the gut. I became sad in that moment. I felt as if the Holy Spirit may have been tugging at my heart, letting me know that He was sad as well. These precious people, in almost every single comment, were asking to hear their own names. They were begging God to speak to them through these prophetic women. They were hoping their specific name and issue would be spoken aloud with God answering their need in that exact moment, especially in the way that they longed to hear it resolved. Many of us think this way, don't we? So many are hurting. By seeking out the prophetic to see our future or hear from the Lord, as many were doing on the above mentioned livestream program, we are unknowingly dipping our toes in the pool of divination.
Basically, the spirit of divination is prevalent when we long to obtain insight into questions or situations by occult practices or rituals. It includes fortune telling and soothsaying and is from the enemy.
God warns us of false prophets in Jeremiah 14:14 (NIV); "Then the Lord said to me 'The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, worthless DIVINATIONS, idolatries, and the delusions of their own minds.'" Not only can a prophet be operating in divination, but any Christian can as well, when they follow prophet after prophet in the hopes of hearing about the future. This is especially the case if he or she is seeking a prophetic word to pertain to them specifically for personal gain and insight.
Referring back to the ladies‘ live YouTube program, and through tear-filled eyes, I did something I VERY rarely do. I left a comment. It basically went something like this:
"I am sad to see that so many are hurting, especially during this time. PLEASE do not wait for one of these ladies to say your name, in order that you may finally hear from God. He is perfectly capable of telling you your next steps, answer your prayers, or as Daniel 2:22 reminds us that He, Himself, can reveal to us deep and hidden things we do not yet know."
I'd like to add today, that according to Isaiah 40:31 "those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings as eagles. They will run and not be weary they will walk and not faint." Teach us, Lord, to wait.
God is not Santa Claus, though we act like we believe Him to be when we come to Him continually with our wish lists of how we want our prayers to be answered. If He doesn't come through according to our own time tables, we believe Him not to be listening or that He has forgotten us completely. We have lost the art of "waiting on the Lord."
That's the "divine" part. Actually waiting on and hearing or receiving a prompting from the Lord would definitely fit in the divine category.
God also reminds us in Romans 2:11 (NIV) ,"For God does not show favoritism." He loves us ALL the same. He loves YOU just as much as He loves His prophets, pastors, mentors, or even presidents. He is able to use you to further His kingdom, share the love of Jesus, and defeat the enemy. His Word emphasizes these truths. If we mean that much to Him, and wield that much authority, we can also, without a doubt, hear from Him directly.
If you love the Lord, simply stay in His Word, quiet yourself before Him, and "wait" upon Him. He WILL show up and unveil to you "deep and hidden things you do not know." Daniel 2:22.
INSTEAD OF GOING FROM PROPHET TO PROPHET:
Just spend time with Him.
Read His Word. {His Word is Alive! Jesus is the Word that became flesh}
Then pray, soaking quietly in His presence.
I promise you, He will show up...and whisper on your heart.
FOR YOU ARE THE ONE WHOM JESUS LOVES!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please bless the one that you love, the one who is reading these words at this very moment. I pray that you lighten their load, help them to continually look up, and to seek you with their whole heart. Thank you, Lord, for revealing deep and hidden truths that you wish them to know this day. Thank you for this time together. We love you, Lord, and give you all honor and praise, in Jesus' name. Amen
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