An Ass and His Jawbone

July 10th, 2012

Keep it Moving

I’ve had some interesting experiences lately.

The Bible tells us to covet the ability to prophesy: “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues (1 Cor. 14:39).” I’ve experienced a number of the gifts of the Spirit, but I am not really up to speed on prophecy. Once in a while I get a sentence or a phrase which, I’m pretty sure, comes from God, but I’m not one of these people who just flow like a river.

I don’t believe in saying this or that came from God, unless I’m on solid ground. The Old Testament said the Jews were to kill false prophets, so mistakes were not tolerated. Actually, they were tolerated, now that I think about it, because the Old Testament contains examples of a number of liars who were not executed, but still, the principle applies. It occurs to me that actual prophets were not tolerated. They were put in pits and sawn in half and so on, while the butt-kissers got parades. But that’s a rhetorical rabbit trail which I will avoid. What I’m getting to is this: I’m not going to run my mouth and claim God’s authority and HOPE I’m right.

A lot of “prophets” in the church are not so punctilious. They go around preaching and telling people wonderful things about the future…which are not true. You never hear them say, “Pastor, God says you need to stop dyeing your hair and skimming from the church’s charity wing.” They always say, “You’re going to do mighty things! You’re going to have a powerful TV ministry! Your stretch marks are going to go away without surgery! You will be so rich you’ll live on the tithe and give away ninety percent, and you’ll have an orange helicopter in your yard and a tennis court in your living room, just like your megachurch buddies!” They point to people in the congregation and say, “God is going to give you [insert profitable business here] and send you around the world!” Of course, none of this stuff actually happens, but no one keeps track, so there is no correction.

Nobody wants to end up like that. Nobody with any integrity.

Anyway, over the last couple of nights, I’ve felt words rising up inside me during prayer. It starts with praise which seems to exit under pressure, as though it did not come from me (anyone who prays in tongues a lot will understand this), and then out come the statements of fact.

Prophecy isn’t always about the future, and it’s not always highly specific. Sometimes it’s strong encouragement. It can be vague, as the ancient prophets demonstrate many times. The stuff I’m hearing isn’t extremely focused; God isn’t telling me to go to locker number 582 at the airport where I will find an orange kewpie doll filled with Bolivian money. And I’m not hearing that I’ll be on TV with a giant lacquered Christian hairdo and a purple suit, paying myself an eight-figure salary. But I hear good stuff. I’m hoping it’s true. Some of it is about an increase in God’s love flowing through me. That would be nice. I’m not totally unaware of my faults, so I do ask for more empathy, and I would like to receive it.

Perry Stone has a wonderful teaching out this month. Boiled down, it goes like this: spirits need bodies in the earth in order to get things done here. Satan used a serpent. Jesus came in the flesh, and he was killed, and now he is coming again, inside each of us, through the Holy Spirit. This is why he calls us his body.

I agree with this. The fruit of the Spirit are his character (or “righteousness”), put inside us through grace. The gifts are his power (or “kingdom”). In the past, Christians got by with accepting salvation and trying to be good. But we are expected to be little replicas of Jesus, complete with his supernatural characteristics, and that only comes through the Holy Spirit.

If we don’t prophesy, and if we don’t have his knowledge and wisdom, and if we don’t receive and interpret messages in tongues, where will we be? The ancient Jews used to communicate with God in the Holy of Holies, unless I am seriously misled. I am told they could inquire of God, and he would give them answers by miraculous means. This is one of the ways they found out whether they would succeed in battle. It seems a little silly to expect modern believers to try to get by with their own meager understanding. Satan’s servants haven’t lost their supernatural power, yet somehow, we are not expected to develop our own. Does that make sense? Of course not. Paul said we battle supernatural beings in high places. Are we supposed to do that by earthly means alone? It’s like the Polish cavalry, riding out to attack German bombers with swords.

I think supernatural power is what draws martyrdom. Satan doesn’t care all that much if you get people saved. It’s a defeat for him, but he still gets to rule the earth, as long as we’re weak. And it is widely believed that believers have to reach a certain level of power and righteousness before Jesus returns. It may be that keeping Christians weak prolongs Satan’s reign and postpones his destruction and humiliation. In any case, martyrdom is pretty rare in times when Christians deny the Holy Spirit, and it was very common back in the beginning, when tongues and miraculous manifestations were considered routine. The bigger the threat, the bigger the earth’s immune response.

I keep seeing the things God told me 25 years ago confirmed. Prayer in the Spirit is vital, and you have to do it a lot. The amount matters a great deal. You have to fast. You have to read the Bible. You have to pray with your understanding and analyze and admit your faults. You have to get the supernatural juice turned on. These things are easy to do, because God does most of the work. They will bring power into your life. They will end hopelessness and depression. They will put your life on track. And of course, heaven waits at the end, with rewards you have accumulated.

I think it’s this simple: you can grow, or you can rot. There is no such thing as sitting still. And like a plant, you will not grow without water. That water is the living water of the Holy Spirit. It has to flow every day, just as a plant has to be watered over and over.

Take it for what it’s worth. It has never stopped working for me.

One Response to “An Ass and His Jawbone”

  1. Ruth H Says:

    Unfortunately there is a lot of martyrdom going on in the Islamic countries. We as a nation have turned our back on them and they are paying for our mistakes. We will pay too. That isn’t a prophecy but it is the way it works. We have a growing anti-Semitic, anti- Christian culture and it really scares me. This is not what I wanted to leave to my descendants.
    (Just read Richard Fernandez in Belmont Club in The Modern Refugees, somewhat pertinent, but not completely.)