Sunday, September 30, 2012

What God Did While I Was in Texas

I was in Texas the past two weeks and while I was there the Lord blessed me with some wonderful encounters.  This blog post records those encounters and the nuggets of wisdom God gave me through them.

On the plane ride to Dallas, I asked the Lord if He would give me someone that I could speak to about Him.  When I got to my seat, a young woman was sitting in the middle seat.  She was very friendly and introduced herself to me.  We chatted about normal things that strangers chat about and then she mentioned that she works for a consulting firm helping financial institutions develop controls for mortgage operations.  I said "Oh what a coincidence; I'm a bank examiner going to Dallas to examine a mortgage operation."  I then asked her what company she was consulting, and she told me Bank of America.  I said that's who I examine.  And then she said, what office do you work in while in Charlotte?  I told her the location and then she said their firm works in the same building.  By that time, I realized God had sent this person to me to speak to.  After talking for a little longer, she took a nap since it was a long flight.  

While she was napping, I asked the Lord to give me a prophetic word for her.  I figured, hey, God speak anywhere, why not on the plane?  And he showed me two things.  One that God was going to give her revelation while she journals.  And the second thing I felt was heat on the side of my face.  I knew that stood for healing, but then I wondered what God wanted to heal.  God then touched my lower forehead, nose and mouth area.  I didn't understand what that meant at the time, so I wrote down what I thought it meant.  Later when she woke, I handed her the two messages I received.  She thanked me and then we talked about churches we go to.  In passing she mentioned that she had been to the doctor the day before the flight.  She came down with a sinus infection and had to get antibiotics since it wasn't getting better.  And then I knew why God had showed me healing, and touching my lower forehead, nose and mouth...He wanted her to know that He's going to heal her sinuses!  I didn't realize she was sick, so I didn't understand why God had touched me this way before; but then I realized it and told her about it.  She was very encouraged!  And so was I!

What did I learn from this...I had asked the Lord to speak to me and give this woman a word from Him.  And this is what He showed me.  God is interested in healing and touching every aspect of our person, and every person we encounter.  He could have told me anything, but this is what He chose to show me.  I'm still stunned by that revelation.  Although maybe I shouldn't, because Jesus demonstrated this while He walked the earth.  And He said greater works shall we do (who are His disciples) because He goes to the Father...and will send the "Helper" to annoint us with power and authority.

The weekend of September 22nd I was in Waco, TX where I had gone to college and lived several years.  I visited a church on Sunday where a few of my friends were attending.  As I walked in, a greeter gave me a bulletin and I sat down waiting for the service to start.  I read through the bulletin to see what the church was doing and then noticed their address...it was 4777 Lake Shore Drive.  Immediately I knew this was a prophetic address; in fact the Lord had led me to learn about the meaning of the number 4 that very weekend.  In the Hebrew alphabet and number system, every number also is correlated with a letter in the Hebrew alphabet.  And each letter has a meaning; unlike the English alphabet.  The number 4 means "doorway" in the Hebrew system.  Within scripture, 7 represents completeness and 3 represents the trinity.  So putting this together, this church is a doorway into the fullness of God...that's their ministry and calling.

As worship was being held, I again felt surrounded by the Lord's presence and could hear hundreds of voices worshipping Him there, although there was only 70 or 80 in the service.  I knew this was supernatural what I was hearing and again felt God dropping messages in my heart for this church.  I told the Lord if He wanted me to share this with the pastor He would have to make a way since I didn't know Him and didn't want to interrupt their service.  

The pastor spoke after worship service and gave a message that I had actually wrote about on this blog site several months ago..."Who Am I?"  He went through many of the same scriptures that I detailed in one of the Who Am I blogposts.  And He talked about part of the vision of this church was to minister in every Spanish speaking nation on the earth.  In fact, they were broadcasting this service on Telemundo television network (a Spanish speaking broadcast).  After speaking, he invited anyone to come and receive prayer.  He and his wife prayed along with several elders prayed for all who came.  I went up and stood in the pastor's line and when I got to him he asked what my prayer need was.  I told him that I had a word for him and the church.  So he listened to what I shared regarding their address and the "sound of many voices" and how this church would get larger and need more capacity.

I expected the pastor to thank me and that would be it, but to my surprise he asked me if I would tell the congregation what I had told him.  "Sure" I told him and he directed me to sit down on the front pew while they finished praying with others.  He called me up later and I told the congregation what the Lord had showed me.  After I sat down, the pastor got up and told the church that long before they even moved to this property (they had been located somewhere else in the city just a few years ago) he had been asking the Lord to give them a prophetic address.  The church they were now in had been vacant for several years and was deeded over to them just over a year ago.  When they received the property, the pastor didn't want to keep the old address, so he petitioned the city of Waco to change it to a different street the property was on.  The city of Waco told them he could have any address from 4700 to 4999 since the frontage of the property was so long on Lake Shore Drive.  So they picked 4777...but the pastor confessed he had no idea what "4" meant, he just liked having three seven's in the address.  When I declared this word to him, it was an answer to his prayer for a prophetic address!

The pastor then told us that over 30 years ago another prophetic-evangelist had been to the church building that they now occupied.  And this evangelist prophesied that God was going to use this church to be a major revival center for the city of Waco; however it was not going to be the church who occupied the property at that time, but another church that would be multi-cultural.  When I prophesied that God was going to use this church in touching hundreds and thousands and that they would need a bigger facility this was a confirming word to the "multi-cultural" church that now occupied that property.  Whew...go God!

What did I learn from this...I'm still downloading lessons on this, but the first impression I have is not to doubt the still small voice of the Lord.  The revelations I received during the service did not come from a loud booming voice or an angel appearing to me.  They came from the still small voice of the Lord speaking to my heart.  And I just acted upon what the Lord gave me.  I didn't try to draw attention to myself by stopping the service and declaring things, I went to the pastor and told him.  The pastor was directing the service and it was his call to do with what I had heard that morning.  And I learned that God is interested in establishing His word...sending me to that church 30 years later to confirm what He declared many years before.  Get ready Waco...God is going to invade your land with shouts of praise and victory!  The spirit of the Lord shall flood the earth and Waco will be a place of refuge for the weary and thirsty.  The Lord will come in mighty waves in that city...just watch and this church called "Christ the King" will be a mighty influence of good in that city.

I have many other things to share, but this blog has already become long enough.  Until then...may the mighty one of Israel flood your home with joy and victory!

David

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Walking on the Water


1 Corinthians 14:1-3 (NET) Pursue love and be eager for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For the one speaking in a tongue does not speak to people but to God, for no one understands; he is speaking mysteries by the Spirit.  But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 
Over the past few weeks I have been extremely encouraged in the gift of prophecy.  God has been stirring my heart in this gift and I’ve had an unusual vision given to me while working in New York.  This blog post is to encourage you to move forward in the admonishment that the Holy Spirit gives us through Paul in 1 Corinthians 14.  
The gift of prophecy was given to strengthen, encourage, and edify the body of Christ.  It is uniquely designed to speak into the moment to help the recipient stand strong, move forward in confidence, and receive vision and resolve to pursue.  
Paul goes on to say in this chapter that he has a desire that we we would all prophesy, because of the power that’s released through this gift. 1 Corinthians 14:5 (NET) I wish you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be strengthened. When this gift operates in its effectiveness, it uniquely provides strength to the church.
Is it possible that anyone can prophesy?  I believe the answer is an absolute yes.  Consider that the root of prophesying is listening to God.  For a person to prophesy or speak according to God’s Spirit, he or she must first hear what the Spirit is saying.  Who does God want to talk to?  Only people who are designated as prophets?  Only pastors?  Only apostles?  The scripture is emphatically clear that God’s desire is that all of His people hear his voice and communicate with Him.  A person who is prophesying is combining listening skills with faith to declare what he or she has heard.  I believe this is a skill that takes time to develop but is so worth pursuing because of the tremendous benefit given to the body of Christ.
With that said, I wanted to share a few stories of how God has been encouraging me in developing this gift and how God used this to encourage others in the body of Christ.
Two Sundays ago I was at a meeting where we were planning how we could minister to people coming to Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention.  A group of us were practicing ministering in the prophetic gift.  I was called on to prophesy over anyone in the group.  I felt a little pressure since this was a new group of people and I didn’t really know anyone more than saying a casual hello.  I prayed silently under my breath and asked God to speak to me.  Immediately after I received a brief vision (mental picture) regarding an elderly gentleman sitting across from me.  In this picture I saw this man as if he was in the prime of his youth, dark hair, and wind blowing across his face and hair.  So I began relating to this man the vision I had received about him and told him that I was getting the impression of his youth being renewed.  The wind represented the spirit of God moving over him and restoring him in many aspects of his person (emotions, health, and spiritual condition).  And as I spoke this, I sensed that this was a work going on in his life right now.  
As I spoke to this man, he began getting tears in his eyes.  Later when I had finished speaking, he told the group that for the past 4 months God has been moving on him in unusual ways.  He has been feeling an unusual amount of tenderness in his heart during this time and will often begin crying as he feels God’s spirit coming upon him.  He looked at me and said “I can’t believe how accurate your word was to me...I’m amazed.”  This man went away from this meeting with a renewed encouragement of what God was doing in his life and that he wasn't just getting "weird" by being so tender.
Later that night I received the beginning of a vision for a prophetic team leader but felt I should wait before speaking this to him.  I prayed for more revelation regarding the brief vision I had received about this man.  On the way to church the next Sunday, I began “seeing” more regarding this initial vision.  It was unusual to me because the entire vision revolved around a medieval setting.  The vision spoke of this man’s character, how he was being trained, and future purpose of his life.  That day I got to share with the leader what I felt God gave me for him.  I figured afterward that either this guy is going to think I’m totally off my rocker and I just blew my chance of having any relationship with this man or just maybe there might be something redemptive to what I shared.  So I asked “Did any of this speak to you?”  And to my surprise he said “totally.”  He then related to me that if I had asked him to describe what God’s call was on his life and what goals he has, he would have related it to me using medieval pictures and language.  He thinks that way all the time!  Oh that was so cool.
A few weeks ago the Lord gave me a vision right before I went to bed one night.  In this vision I saw Jesus standing on the water and he was looking at me sitting in a boat.  In the vision Jesus reached out his hand to me, but he didn’t say anything.  But as I looked in His eyes, I could hear a message coming from His heart.  His eyes said, “Come walk on the water with Me”.  I didn’t exactly know what He meant by this at the time, but I wrote it down and pondered its meaning.  Just this week God showed me more about what He meant by this.  I was reading a book by Steve Thompson called “You May All Prophesy” and in the book Steve relates that every time we prophesy its like stepping out of the boat and walking on the water!  We don’t know if we’ll sink or walk; but if we keep our eyes on Jesus he’ll catch us and lead us.  
So how about it?  Want to walk on the water?  The Lord's body needs to be encouraged and strengthened.  It needs you and I operating in the gift of prophecy.
I believe God is calling many in this generation living to come walk on the water with Him.  In the last days, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy... (Joel 2).