Gifts

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Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;


There is coming a time when all who know Jesus will prophecy and dream in a powerful anointing...an outpouring...the Joel 2:28 outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. This is the time of the fullness of the "greater things" Jesus promised. Righteousness matures in the end. Therefore, faith matures in the end...and prophecy WILL mature in the end:


John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.


What started as a down payment at Pentecost will be released in full in the generation the Lord returns to...in INCREASING measures... in the years leading up to His return. I should be "contending" for the increases now. As faith increases, prophecy WILL increase.


We should all prophesy...it is available to anyone who earnestly desires it. You don't need a gifts assessment to earnestly desire something...you just need to put on some desire:


I Corinthians 14:39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.


The spirit of prophecy is simply hearing the Holy Spirit in a directional way. Every sign gift is rooted in the spirit of prophecy: a word of knowledge or revelation, instruction to heal in agreement with Jesus, a word of encouragement that cuts to the chase in someone's heart, divine comfort in just the right word, and an invitation into the future a heart was designed for.


When God's divine insight and power is released from human to human, divine things begin to happen. Prophecy is Church 101 ever since the Book of Acts...how much have we forgotten as a Body since then? If you don't use them...exercise them...the muscles of faith, and the muscles of prophecy, atrophy. If a living thing isn't growing, it IS dying. That is why Paul warned:


I Thessalonians 5:20-21 Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.


I miss out on much that is available to me simply because I don't exercise the muscle... I don't "contend" for it. I am alive, like a tree. I need light and food, just like a tree. Any tree that is in the shade will "reach" for more light by growing it's branches toward the source of light. Many oddly shaped trees are out there just because of where they had to reach from to get some light.


People are the same way. Love requires free will...free will requires I start the conversation if I want more from God. He is so powerful. One whisper of a command from God would REQUIRE I live in the fullness of that command. God doesn't operate like that. Instead, He has chosen love. God issues invitations in His words that require a response to accept the invitation.


If I want more light...If I want to live in a greater "abiding" in the Holy Spirit...I have to reach for the source of that light...like a tree. People reach for God...the light...the Word of Life....with their words. "God, I want to prophesy today. Let me see what you see, feel what you feel. Jesus, show me the doors you are opening in front of me and let me walk through them" this is how we reach for more light. The more I ask, the more I receive:


Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.


Paul said we prophecy in "proportion to our faith." If I want an Elijah measure of prophecy, I simply need to work at an Elijah measure of faith. I build faith by taking risks. A secret history of seeing God move in agreement with my reach is what builds faith. When a tree increases the span of its branches...reaching for more light...its roots grow deeper and wider, too. Faith is our root-base. Asking God for simple opportunities to pray and prophecy over people, heal the sick and cast out demons...comfort and encourage...friends AND strangers...and then taking the RISK to actually do it (say the words) when I see the opportunity, is what builds my faith, exercises the muscles, and builds up the Body.


If I will contend for this, I will grow in it. When God shows up...and He will...then "being faithful" with the small measure of increase (celebrating small miracles as real miracles and actually talking about them) is necessary to grow. A headache healed, or a friend comforted IS the power of God touching planet earth. If I write it off as coincidence, or as my own creatively comforting words...then I shouldn't expect an increasing measure. However, if I reach with my request for more, and walk through the doors God opens (take the risks), and when the little miracles happen, I treat them like actual miracles...well then I better just brace myself for more and more power from God's very throne to touch my life!


This IS where the Bride is going. It is no coincidence that Revelation 10 and 11...a description of the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit to ever touch planet earth (the two witnesses are the fullest expression of faith and prophecy), is nestled between the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments of Revelation. Now is the time to start building faith with the Reach, the Risk, and the celebratory Response of thanksgiving!

Luke 19:26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

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