Deeper Communion: Part 3- Prophecy & Personal Responsibility

(Understanding and Cooperating with Conditional Prophecy)

Father is calling His children to deep intimacy. Deep Intimacy requires maturity, and maturity involves teaching, correction, and training. ( Eph 1:18,  2 Tim 3:16,  Heb 12:11)

Straight off, let’s clarify language. If you believe God speaks to your spirit, you believe in prophecy. “Prophecy” is simply the heart, mind, and will of the Father revealed to His children. It is our birthright and the normal expression of a living, breathing relationship with our Father, King and Counselor.

One of the areas of His kingdom we need to begin to embrace is personal responsibility when God speaks to us and shows us what is on His heart for us.

We are spirit beings. We interact with our Father’s kingdom through cooperation. We cannot cooperate if we do not hold ourselves accountable to what He is speaking to us about.

The Church in the United States has lost a lot of grit in this area. This carnal, western church mindset has begun polluting the Body of Christ abroad as well. When a fellowship begins to steer away from certain aspects of His heart, ultimately we uncouple from other areas altogether. All things in the kingdom are interrelated.

Loving, balanced teachings on holiness and personal responsibility, (which are grounded and rooted in His immense Love for His children) have all but disappeared in this generation. Gifts and callings will always become compromised when this occurs.

One such gift that has become compromised as a result of this is prophetic insight (a.k.a. Father’s heart revealed to us).

Let’s expound on this. There are two kinds of prophecy given.

1. Unconditional prophecy
2. Conditional prophecy

Unconditional prophecy is where the Holy Spirit shares something Father will bring to pass that requires no partnership on our end. Said another way, it requires no personal responsibility between our relationship with the Lord. A couple of examples of unconditional prophecy is the Return of Jesus, the Millennial reign, and the covenant with Abram (Gen 15:1)

Conditional Prophecy is where the Holy Spirit shares what is on the Father’s heart that requires our personal involvement and partnership in order to come to pass. This is grounded in intimacy. This is not to say our Creator is not omnipotent. Rather, it is an expression of His desire for deep communion and intimate fellowship. Examples of this are the prophecies of Jonah, the death of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1) and the declaration that Samson would be a Nazirite all the days of his life (Judges 13:7).

Understanding the nature of conditional prophecy is crucial if we desire to walk in greater intimacy with our Lord.

OK, so… here is how this looks.

The Lord will share with us something that He desires to do. He may do this through scripture, a dream, vision, impression, or spiritual word shared through another member of the Body. When this occurs, it is our part to go to Him in prayer and ask what specific leading and direction He desires us to take in order to allow His desire to come to pass in and through us. This is an expression of New Covenant living. Both parties play a role in their relationship with one another.

NOTE:  

When Father shares something with us, it is an INVITATION to go deeper into His heart.

This is true whether it is a word of correction or a word of exhortation. For someone to share a legitimate spiritual word without teaching and instructing on that word, or how to partner with Father-God to bring this to pass, is spiritual negligence. Our walk with the Lord has a “God-side” and a “man-side.”  Let me repeat. It is spiritual negligence to share a conditional word without the blueprint. This spiritual carelessness is running rampant in this generation, and for many, is a deliberate decision not to share things that challenge the Body.  Deliberate.

• Sharing Father’s heart has become a popular pastime (God-side)
• Sharing the requirements on our end (personal responsibility) has not (man-side)

This borders on prophetic manipulation at best. At worst it is an emotionally stirring encouragement, rooted in the soul that actually hinders the recipient from maturing in Christ. As a result, the Body of Christ has trained ourselves to become very passive in our own prayer time. When the Lord shows us things to come, we have become idle recipients of His intention.

This really needs to end, guys. It is doing the Body great damage.

The kingdom of God is a government of intimacy with our Creator.  Stop and think on how many “prophetic” declarations have been shared with countless Christians that never seem to come to pass either corporately or for the individual. Why is this?

It is mindless and convenient to dismiss them all as false words (though this certainly does occur… a lot), but of the legitimate spiritual words that are brought forth, there is a more pervasive and serious ailment going on:

We have become afraid of  discussing anything that requires personal responsibility.

The result is we have become ignorant on how to partner with Him.

All over the world, Christians are being martyred, yet here in America, we are afraid to talk even about correction, much less persecution. We are told instead to simply “believe.” If we say “yes and amen” enough in response to a declaration of what God is going to “do” then (poof…) prophecy fulfilled?? This is simply not how His Kingdom operates.

Here is how things work, Family. When the heart of the Father is revealed, the vast majority of the time, it is conditional. It is an invitation to press into His heart more. Please remember Jesus died for the sake of intimacy with His creation. Salvation is the doorway to begin a relationship of deep communion. There is no real intimacy where there is no true partnership.

Most often, both words of correction, as well as exhortation, carry with them a condition based on an area of our belief-system He is asking us to correct. When Father shares His heart, He is revealing an aspect of His goodness, and how He desires to extend His goodness to His children. His kingdom government is based upon the Law of Love. We are qualified by the blood of Jesus. Now we only need to participate.

“and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”  Col 1:12

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature..” 2 Peter 1:4

Marriage is the closest earthly picture we have of kingdom intimacy. It is a covenant between two people. One of the many reasons why so many Christians have such strained marriages is we do not understand spiritual covenants. To the degree we cannot relate to how the Kingdom operates, we bring this darkened thinking into all of our own earthly relationships. The foundation of Father’s kingdom is based on His nature. Love.

Every year we may hear and read about what the Lord is doing.  Yet more than ever I see the American Church struggling and starving for a touch and taste of His goodness. Hearts are crying out to see His hand and His eyes. A large reason for this is that many of those in places of influence are not teaching and instructing the Body. We want to give exciting words, meant to soothe our pains and fears, instead of pointing to the altars of our heart where they are to be slain through cooperation with the Holy Spirit. This has gotten old. Very old. The Body is crying out for healing and true spiritual living. The counterfeit is losing it’s appeal. This is a good thing.

He shares His heart that we may answer His calling us to Himself. He offers us His goodness, His love, His gifts… His very Self.

This will always start in our soul (mind, will, and emotions). It is the soul that is the gatekeeper to either partnering with the Lord, or rejecting what He desires to bring to pass.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal 5:1

The immediate context here is in reference to Jesus introducing the law of Love. The fuller spiritual application here is that anything… anything.. that we turn to feed and comfort and soothe our pains, hurts, fears and wounds, prevents us from walking in the freedom of the law of Love. The result is slavery. The soulish, carnal answer within the church has been to offer up more fluffy prophecies and promises.

His goodness and love are not in any way in question here. Neither is prophecy. I am lovingly challenging those who have a place of influence to teach the full gospel. Please… stop muddying the waters for the rest of the Body.

To the rest of the flock: Do not be afraid to ask Him what he wants to perform in your heart in order to release His kingdom in you. It releases the power of His affection. It ushers us into the express reality of His kingdom. It is healing, restoration, and true Life!!  Please… don’t be afraid. His perfect love will eventually cast out all our fears as we continue to partner with Him and heal.

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19

2017/2018

The Lord is dealing with careless and immature words being spoken in this season. He is in the process of lovingly disciplining the elders of this generation. But do not look to this.  Begin to practice the kingdom principles of conditional prophecy even when you do not see it practiced by others.

Application

The next time you bear witness with a dream, vision or public/private word, I implore you, immediately begin to ask Father-God what is your own personal responsibility in this friendship. What does He want you to do? Here is a good place to begin: look to your thought life. It will often start there. It starts with your belief system. It is our beliefs that determine the kind of relationship we have with our Lord.

Prayer:

“Heavenly-Father, Lord Jesus, and Holy Spirit. I give you permission to show me areas you are longing to set me free from the lies and hurts and fears of this world. Show me what you long to do in my life, and where you desire greater intimacy.  I open up the door of my heart to you that we may have intimate fellowship. I give you all of myself.

Reveal to me your heart. Then I ask for the spirit of Wisdom and understanding to show me how to walk in your truth and cooperate with your plan for me in this season. I choose to cooperate with you, that we may walk in relational Oneness. So be it.”  

Meditations

Verses to consider:  2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Hebrews 11:6, John 15:5, Ephesians 1:18, Revelation 3:20.

My beloved family and friends- how I truly wish you knew the depth of my love for you all. … all of you… you are deeply cherished and loved.

David NY