A Prophecy for me?
For permission to use the material on this site, please, contact us.
There is much ado about prophets and prophecies, today. Jesus said, "in the last days there shall rise up false prophets and deceive many." (Matt. 24:11) It is the intension of life's author to have false prophets, in the script, to confuse those who will not listen to their drama coach the Holy Spirit. Are there sanctioned prophets? Herein lies the confusion which can only be cleared up by the presence of the Holy Spirit within the believer.
Some say that prophecy is not for today; to which I ask, then what other part of life is not under God's control? Has God fell asleep that he no longer speaks? Could you imagine starting a school year as a teacher, handing your students the curriculum and telling them I will not speak to you about this material again until the end of the school year? In other words, to say there are no sanctioned prophets today is to relegate God to silence. So, there are extreme views on both sides of the proverbial road.
Life is a demonstration orchestrated and scripted, by God . He wrote the script of life, concerning: nations, churches, and individuals, for an explicit reason. When God raised up a prophet to warn or instruct, it was not arbitrary; but for the purpose of revealing part of the script, before it was acted out by the players. In this way, the audience knew what to look for, before it was played out.
Typically if a play reveals part of the script, before we see the action, we say that the play has narration. That is the easiest definition of prophecy. The narrator tells us what to look for in the play or sets us up to understand why the actors are in their particular dilemma, at the point in which we are introduced to the scene.
God has written the play of life for all the nations and their people groups. The angels are the audience:
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
We also, as actors, observe other actors, on the stage of life. There is not a part of life that God has not scripted, choreographed, type casted, and decorated with living costumes and props. That means our individual lives are scripted, as well.
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. [6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Ps 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. [24] Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Although, I may not read the script or prophecy for my life in the pages of scrip-ture, however, God can have someone confirm my part to me (1Corinthians 1:8; Mark 16:20), before I actually have to play it.
1Co 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. [30] If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. [31] For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. [32] And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. (The Holy Spirit will not prohibit us from speaking what he reveals to us, even if we are untimely and disrespectful.)
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit.
Ac 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
Ac 21:11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
"Wait, wait, wait, what about free choice? I'm a free agent. I do what I d_ _ _ please; when I want too!"
Oh, really? What part of the Ten Commandments can you violate without a consequence? "To every action there is an equal and opposite re-action" is the law of physics that professor Newton taught us, in high school. So it is, in all of life, including our spiritual life.
Heb 2:1 ¶ Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. [2] For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; [3] How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
There are consequences to doing what we "d_ _ _ well please, when we want too." The only "choice" that we have is the same one given to Adam and Eve, in the garden: obey the script or rebel and attempt to re-write the script ourselves. To obey puts us back into compliance with the original author's intention; because life is all about the demonstration of rebellion verses obedience; good versus evil. Although some have re-written the script of their lives (like gravity or other laws of God), time reveals the error of their ways and that error is worked into the original script that God had planned.
Pr 13:15 ¶ Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.
How much easier it is to simply play out life the way God intended it; instead of attempting to orchestrate our own way. There is a way that seems right to a man; but the end thereof is the way of death.(Proverbs 14:12) It is the glory of God to conceal a thing and for us to search it out. Therein lies the mystique and excitement of a life lived for Jesus.
Pr 25:2 ¶ It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart
Jesus said to the Apostle Paul, "It is hard for you to kick against the pricks." (Acts 9:5) Paul was going his own way, persecuting Christians with zeal, until the author of life stepped upon the stage and said, "Stop!" Paul was "scripted" to be a major player in the formation of the church; and he was not listening to the drama coach. Sometimes, God may stop us in mid stride, to get us to listen to the Holy Spirit.
When we are given a script in a play, we may have the tendency to forget our lines. I believe that is why the Holy Spirit is given to us (who have received Jesus as savior), in that He whispers our lines to us in the inner man:
Ps 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
1Ki 19:9 ¶ And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? [10] And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. [11] And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: [12] And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.
Therefore, the Apostle Paul writes, "Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." Not liberty to sin; for "shall we sin that grace may abound; God forbid", Paul writes in Rom 6:1-2, 15. Rather, we do not have to concern ourselves, nor be fearful, that we are going to miss a line.
Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Mt 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
We are free; at liberty to release what God has put into our hearts, without fear.
The devil always attempts to re-write God's script; but even he is limited and his writings are compensated for by the master architect of life, who has scripted the devil's actions, as well. One example is the hearts of Joseph's brothers. They were filled with envy to the point that they wanted to kill him, however, God moved upon Ruben to spare Joseph and sell him into slavery, whereby, God was able to put Joseph in a position of power over all of them. Joseph, elected by God, had compassion for them and pity on their evil hearts:
Ge 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
So, it is that God has written the final act of the devil:
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! [13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. [15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. [16] They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; [17] That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? [18] All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. [19] But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. [20] Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Re 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Our teacher, God, is not dead; nor does he sleep or keep silence. Unlike other books in the Bible the book of Acts does not end with finality; but is still being written. The last verses of Acts read:
Ac 28:30 ¶ And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, [31] Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
Today, God speaks through those whom he choses by the unction of the Holy Spirit. As believers, who have the Holy Spirit within us, it is our duty to listen to God's still small voice, within us, for confirmation of what another prophet is telling us and by the judgment given to us by the Holy Spirit, act accordingly.
Be blessed by it.
Dennis D. Evans