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Posts Tagged ‘authentic’

I should preface my testament with a little disclaimer.  As a father of four, I can attest that my relationship with each one of my children is completely unique, because each one of them is completely unique.  Different things motivate them, different things scare them, different things inspire them…  What works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for the others.  And as such, each one engages a different part of my being, which is ultimately reflected in our individual relationship.  I believe that this is true of “Our Father” and His children as well. 

If that is correct, then it follows that just because He isn’t speaking to me about something, doesn’t mean that He isn’t speaking to one of His other children about it.  For this reason, I try to avoid pointing my finger at other folks “prophetic” words as being false.  If it doesn’t ring true in my spirit (1John4:1), I just let it fall to the ground and move on.  I encourage others to do the same for anything that comes from my lips.

With that said, it is hard not to admit that much of what presents itself as “prophetic” these days seems wildly out of step with the Father’s heart, as I understand it.  In my experience, the God who tells us not to worry about tomorrow (Matt.6:34) doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about what’s going to happen tomorrow.  And the God who tells us not to focus on what is seen (2Cor.4:18) doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about current events.  And the God who is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about notable cultural figures, no matter how significant we might think they are to our future.  And the God who said that “no man” will know the hour of His coming (Matt.24:36) doesn’t spend a lot of time dropping hints about the date of His return.

Instead, I have found that the God who said that He looks at the heart of a man (1.Sam.16:7) spends a lot of time speaking about issues of the heart.  And that the God who is faithful to complete the good work He’s begun in us (Phil.1:6) speaks more about the internal work (transformation) than the external work.   And that the God who didn’t give us a spirit of fear (2Tim.1:7) isn’t speaking words to stir up our fears.  And that the God who tells us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb.12:2) is constantly drawing our attention away from circumstances and back to His Son.  And that the God who promises to work “all things” to the good for those who love Him and who are called to His purposes (Rom.8:28) speaks with great confidence of His ability to do so.

Since darkness is simply the absence of light, I haven’t known the Lord to give endless warnings about what’s going on in the dark.  Most commonly, He just exhorts me to be the light, against which the darkness has no defense.  His words bring life (John 6:68), compelling me to invest all of my trust in Him, and not in some corrupted man-made system.  They push me to love my neighbor more completely, not engage in some fruitless battle of ideologies.  For me, it is not a question of accuracy, it is a matter of authentically representing the heart of my Father.

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