A Prophet Without Honor

Do you know who is sitting next to you? That’s a child of God with a unique manifestation of His character. That’s a vessel containing the power of the Holy Spirit if they choose to walk in it. That person sitting next to you could be the key to your breakthrough.

Have you neglected to notice who they are in Christ because you see them every day? Do you fail to acknowledge their anointing because you’ve seen them at their worst, or seen them grow up, or seen them fall a few times? Just because you know them as your friend, your mother, your son, or your colleague doesn’t negate the fact that they could be a live power line.

These people we know intimately are no different than the people we sometimes put on pedestals. We tend to clamor for these “big” people to speak to us or pray for us, but we look right past the people we see every day. These “big” people are really not that much different than you and I—they contain the same God that lives on the inside of every single person that is born again. And I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it, but these faith giants probably deal with the some of the same shortcomings, stumbling blocks, and perception problems that you and your friends and families face. After all, these giants of the faith are somebody’s friend, somebody’s mother, somebody’s son.

It is much easier for us to honor the people we view from afar because we probably don’t know their every weakness or know who they were before they became the person we see now. We can honor them (or their ministry) much easier because we usually only see the good stuff and hear about their best moments. But I submit to you that the very people that you do life with can hold the miracle in your life that you are looking for if you will choose to start honoring them for who they are in the Lord. And that means you honor them fully…let me explain what I mean:

Let’s say I get to see one of my uncles a few times a year at family gatherings. I’ve known him my entire life. He has watched football with me, taken me to amusement parks, and bought me gifts at Christmas. I know him pretty well and have been around long enough (and heard enough stories from the family) to know his interests, how he used to be, and what he is like now. Now let’s say this uncle is a preacher. He travels around and preaches the Gospel. He is a great family man and loves his wife. I have the opportunity to approach this man in a several different ways. I can honor him as 1) the guy who grew up with my mother and tormented her; 2) my uncle that I’ve always known; 3) a man who probably doesn’t care all that much for money; 4) a provider for his family who is faithful to his wife, 5) a man of God who has led countless people to the Lord; etc, etc, etc. The way in which I choose to honor him is equivalent to how much I can get from him.

Notice that in Matthew 10:41, Jesus says, “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.” Thus, by merely honoring a person according to their place in the Kingdom you can get everything that they have. In the case of my uncle, I can choose to honor as little or as much as I like, but whatever level I honor him that is how much I can receive. If I only look at him as ‘the guy who buys me presents at Christmas’ or ‘the funny uncle who makes fart jokes’ then I am missing something. If I don’t stop at the familiarity of knowing him and instead choose to honor him as a man of God who has spent his life to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ then I can receive so much more from him. The amount of respect and honor I give him is directly tied to how much I can receive from him.

It’s so much harder for us to see people that we know intimately as people who could be special…as people who could have a very unique place in the Kingdom. What if I said my uncle was Billy Graham? Would that change how you think I should view him? Guess what—Billy Graham IS somebody’s uncle. Somebody has the opportunity to only see him as their parent’s brother…only as a guy they see mostly at holidays. They get to choose if they will honor him as somebody they’ve always know intimately and heard crazy stories about his past, or honor him as being an evangelist to the nations.

You have the opportunity to look at the people around you differently than you have always done. These people aren’t only your friends and family; they are children of the Most High God. Choose to honor them fully and watch more life flow into your relationships.

Discernment

Satan is a master of deception. He has a knack for making things look and feel real when all the while it’s a fake. This presents those of us who follow the Lord with problems sometimes: being able to discern what is of God; being able to distinguish between the voice of God, the Enemy, and ourselves; being able to separate the real from the fake.

I feel like this must be an area that needs some attention b/c I didn’t start out writing this blog in this specific direction. Let’s shine some light in.

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So how can you be sure you are hearing from God? not being deceived? heeding the right voice? doing the right thing? It can be tough, for sure. When you don’t have a clear-cut “yes” or “no” from the Lord, it can make things difficult to decipher. But I think I can help you a little.

1. Pray for discernment

Pray in all things!! You are gonna hear that a lot from me :) When you pray for discernment, you are asking God to give you insight into how things really are; you are praying to see past the natural into the spiritual realm. You are asking for the Lord to help you see things that your eyes can’t see. When you do this, you may notice the Holy Spirit quicken certain things to you that you could otherwise never know...you may get a certain feeling…you may experience weird sensations in your body that clue you in to what is happening…you may “just know”. It can happen in a lot of different ways. Just be open to what God is trying to tell you and don’t be surprised if it comes in a way you aren’t used to.

2. Stay in the Word

If you are always in the Word—the real deal—then you know when something is false. For example, let’s say all you’ve ever had is Angus beef. When somebody comes along and tries to give you a soy burger, you are gonna know instantly. The same principle applies here: when you constantly feed yourself the authenticity of the Bible, worldly knock-offs are easier to spot because they are so glaringly different from what you are used to. Satan can only offer you imitations of the real thing. So if you can tell that it ain’t real, then it ain’t from God.

3. Learn from experience

As you are subject to more challenging situations and overcome them, you are gonna have more personal knowledge to draw from—you can compare your current situation to what you’ve already seen. The things that used to confuse you and maybe require lots of prayer, study, and guidance will now take only a quick, “Oh, I’ve seen this before.” Your experience can help you to identify the situation for what it is and take the necessary steps of action. Obviously, there are gonna be new things all the time (which is why you never cease to pray and read the Word), but your past victories will strengthen you and give you more confidence and competence going forward.

Don’t be sad or discouraged or down today—the Lord loves you!!! Keep pushing in and believing for revelation—it will come :) Remember, our God is not a god of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). I’m praying that He shines some light into the dark and/or confusing situations in your life, and that He gives you clear direction and clear discernment on the decisions you have to make. I’m praying with you. And I love you, too.

In Christ’s Amazing and Never-Ending Love,

adam

Embracing Mystery

Two weeks ago I wrote about taking God at His word. Today I’m gonna tell ya about the 2^nd big thing I’ve been doing recently: embracing mystery.

I have a tendency to want to know exactly how things are going to play out in my life. No matter the area, I want to have a plan and a good idea of how things are gonna look once I get there, and how things are gonna look along the way. Before I even start moving from Point A, I not only want to know about Point B, but I also gotta know what the path in between holds—does it have some cool restaurants, a sweet place to hang out and relax for a while, a few rough patches that I need to brace for??

That desire to know how everything is going to work has kept me from experiencing the biggest and best things of God. Yes, God has still blessed me tremendously; even when I’m operating with little faith...trying to do things pretty much by my own power. But He wants to bless me more.

To get that real good stuff, I believe it’s gonna take more faith—faith that says, “I don’t need to know how you are going to do everything; I just know you will.” I have to believe what I can’t completely comprehend. Though my mind may initially say it’s impossible, my entire being has to get on board and embrace the Kingdom reality.

God’s ways and methods are higher than ours. Does it not make sense that He can work things in ways that are beyond our comprehension? Does He not constantly do things that are beyond rational explanation? You don’t have to see everything with your naked eyes to know that it is happening! 2^nd Corinthians 5:7 says, “We live by faith, not by sight.” We’ve gotta embrace the things that we can’t see naturally. We’ve gotta be ok with not having control.

When you start to take God at His word and believe what He says to you, your faith starts to rise up. Even when things seem bad, you trust and believe that what the Lord has told you is going to come to pass. This is the kind of attitude that flows into embracing mystery. Even though you have no clue how things are going to work out, you just believe that it will.

Pretty soon you notice yourself actually enjoying the mystery of it all. Watching God work becomes like a game of peek-a-boo when you were a little kid. Ha. You just end up falling all over the place in laughter and joy as you bask in the blessings He is pouring out on you.

Ya know, little kids don’t wonder how their parents are always there, always putting food in front of them, or clothes on them, or taking them places and showing them things they’ve never seen before—they just know it happens. They don’t question it. They laugh and have fun and enjoy the ride. Let us become more like children with our Heavenly Father. He’s a good Dad.