The problem is that the church has an appearance of godliness but is lacking in the power. The things of God that were all throughout the ancient church, healing, the prophetic, spiritual deliverance, all of those things; where are they now? What happened to Christ's prayer for the saints that they would work GREATER MIRACLES than Christ himself? There is indeed much hypocrisy, and it goes above and beyond merely natural things like being nice to the poor or lacking moral fiber. Where is the spiritual power?! Canned up by fearful spiritual bean counters who are more interested in theology and arguments than they are about the TRUE character of Christ.
It is easier to not try to perform acts of spiritual power than it is to try and fail because you didn't have the faith for it, and learn a lesson. It is easier to accept your lot and that of other's as "God's will" then to put your faith TO THE TEST and SPEAK into the lives of other people and ours in faith and Christ's name.
But true prayer, true prophecy, and and anything spoken, is something that YOU do...and you do it with God. You put in your two cents, and God puts in his 2 trillion gold bars. But you still put in two cents, and that two cents matters a great deal.
How many times has Christ talked about mustard seed sized faith, and the woman dropping the small coins in the temple offering? Or about the talents that are increased when they are invested in? Our contributions of faith matter a great deal in the kingdom of heaven. If we are not willing to even contribute a little to using the spiritual gifts, then the church is nothing but a foolish virgin standing outside with no oil. We need to be wise virgins and have the abundant oil of the holy spirit and God's anointing.
It is easier to not try to perform acts of spiritual power than it is to try and fail because you didn't have the faith for it, and learn a lesson. It is easier to accept your lot and that of other's as "God's will" then to put your faith TO THE TEST and SPEAK into the lives of other people and ours in faith and Christ's name.
All of these things flow and operate out of love. Prophecy apart from love isn't any different from the $25 an hour psychics on Main Street, because while it may reveal things it does not do so for the purpose of love, but for money, which does not reach the heart of the person and edify them (which is the point of prophecy in the New Covenant).
Healing apart from love is a parlor trick, and apart from love there simply is no deliverance from demons because, as Christ said, "How is it that demons are cast out by the prince of demons?" Apart from love all of the things I mentioned are controlled by the demonic and by our sinful nature.
To give someone a prophetic word of encouragement, that IS an act of love, see? It is an expression of love, which is at the center of all things. By attaining love, you attain Christ's character that the church is attempting to make people be (which is what you are addressing) and also Christ's power, which is what I am addressing. Both are necessary.
You have got to understand this: Our words have power. Have you ever heard of something called a self-fulfilling prophecy? They are real. The words you speak into other people's lives have an impact on them. I'm not just talking about when you are speaking to the person. I am talking your prayers, what you say about them when they aren't around, what you think changes the world. If it were not so, then why is it that at the end every man will be held accountable for the words he has spoken? Why is it that sin can be committed long before it manifests in the body and can be spoken to someone? Because it has an affect. But because people do not believe in their own power (because of a bunch of Calvinist garbage that says that everything is sovereign), they do not believe in the power of prophecy, which isn't from people anyway, but is a combined effort of God and man.Healing apart from love is a parlor trick, and apart from love there simply is no deliverance from demons because, as Christ said, "How is it that demons are cast out by the prince of demons?" Apart from love all of the things I mentioned are controlled by the demonic and by our sinful nature.
To give someone a prophetic word of encouragement, that IS an act of love, see? It is an expression of love, which is at the center of all things. By attaining love, you attain Christ's character that the church is attempting to make people be (which is what you are addressing) and also Christ's power, which is what I am addressing. Both are necessary.
Just to be clear on what I mean by "prophetic": If you look at the definition of the greek word used by Paul, it can be succinctly summed up as "what God is thinking at a given moment and wants you to say for him," which is anything spoken that edifies others, that is an encouragement (because God loves you 100%). One time, a girl I know came up to me in a coffee shop and just said, "David, I know you really are destined for great things, I can tell God has a big calling on your life, I don't know why I just feel that you do." I know for a fact this person knows little to nothing about the prophetic, but that person gave me a prophetic word.
Nowadays, prophecy is often associated with judgment. That was in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, prophecy is positive, and is a gift given to people for the purpose of infusing God's joy, love and mercy directly into people's lives. But the reason why it has been abandoned is because people no longer believe in the power of their words and what they put their faith in.
Nowadays, prophecy is often associated with judgment. That was in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, prophecy is positive, and is a gift given to people for the purpose of infusing God's joy, love and mercy directly into people's lives. But the reason why it has been abandoned is because people no longer believe in the power of their words and what they put their faith in.
But true prayer, true prophecy, and and anything spoken, is something that YOU do...and you do it with God. You put in your two cents, and God puts in his 2 trillion gold bars. But you still put in two cents, and that two cents matters a great deal.
How many times has Christ talked about mustard seed sized faith, and the woman dropping the small coins in the temple offering? Or about the talents that are increased when they are invested in? Our contributions of faith matter a great deal in the kingdom of heaven. If we are not willing to even contribute a little to using the spiritual gifts, then the church is nothing but a foolish virgin standing outside with no oil. We need to be wise virgins and have the abundant oil of the holy spirit and God's anointing.
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