PropheticReformation.com

Heart matters / learning to live

an honest approach to being prophetic

The scriptures are so essential to the Christian. They're clearly God's precious gift to us. They are not, as Rob Bell points out in his book, 'Velvet Elvis', a handbook for Christian life. You only consult handbooks when you have tried everything else and then, only as a last resort!

The Bible is so much more different. We are wise to go there first.  In consulting God and enquiring of Him many of the answers to our questions are already set out in writing for us. They are written with words that are Divinely inspired and infallible. 

The scriptures are so precious and yet... we don't always live as if they were the final authority in our lives. That is reflected by the amount of time we sometimes allocate in our busy lives to them.

I have been around prophetic people who have insisted that it is time that we see the merging of the Word and the Spirit, but the truth they don't see is that the Word and the Spirit have always been inseparable. They have never been separated except in our imagination.

There is perfect unity between the Word and the Spirit and you can't get the finest layer of gold leaf between them. They are one, in perfect unity.

So important?

Why is that important? It is important because what we believe about such things is reflected in what we teach and do in the name of our God. There are times we do need to be pedantic. Many of my most foolish moments were because I didn't apply what the scriptures had advised.

Not the easiest book...

The Bible is not the easiest book to read. Prophetic people can be in a rush to see prophetic messages or undertones and miss the real therapy that is going on - God addressing our own hearts. I've taken the steps of spending time just reading and re-reading scripture. I want to know God and know His ways and as I search the scriptures God wants me to think about what I read, and also apply it. It is not always easy. 

Recently I read and re-read the Epistles of Peter about 12 times, carefully making notes and pondering over what I read. Then I read through a commentary and was astonished at how much I had missed. What is amazing is the discovery I will make in a few years time, as to how much the commentary had missed. There are untold riches in the scriptures that take time, energy and committment to dig up and enjoy.  That raises another question. Do you enjoy what you are reading? It should be raising hope, courage and faith in your heart.

May the same Spirit of God that inspired the Holy Scriptures inspire your heart as you read them, and cause light and life to flow from them for you. But some of you are going to be disappointed at times. The Scriptures do not always yield their treasures in a heart beat, but with a heart girded with a confidence that the Scripture is always living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, we know by faith that something is happening in our heart. Don't give up reading. Acquaint yourself with the Scriptures. Make friends with them. Learn and know where to turn in the Scripture when floods come.

My discovery is that when you least expect it, the Scriptures suddenly, and without warning, erupt with revelation, light and glory.

George Jeffries had a call during the Pentecostal revival in the British Isles which is calling to us even today, "Back to the Bible!" Listen carefully and you will hear that God is still whispering that today.

I'll finish this shortly...

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