When you are finding life to be challenging, you are probably seeing life as a duty, not the MINISTRY that it is. You are a new creation now, not the old anymore! When burdens come, you have to ask the Lord what He wants you to do. This means you have to look to Him and be open and teachable. You don't know everything, so you cannot be The Judge.
I am praying for the Church to learn again how to target the enemy in prayer. I just read another post on social media for a young child fighting brain cancer, and the family is begging online to strangers for prayer! I believe a few churches pray for people, but not in agreement like they used to do. It takes some efforts, but without it, we lose precious life ground! I can think of reasons why they don't, but let's talk about why they should! The Enemy is pushing the Church back by its lack of prayer. And God just thinks we don't really care!
Stay in the fight!!! All of our leaders were and still are being hit on, BUT the ones God will use will be those who stay in the Fight! God will notice and give favor. Of course, use good reasoning but know that we serve a God who can do miracles. Go by His Word! Others will notice and look to you for it later when they see you have survived. Your faith has value! Those who don't support HIS Work and His Move, will not get as many benefits.
One way to get rid of baggage is to count your blessings! Wishes and wannabes have a way of plaguing the soul. Most of the time we have decided the order of the way we want things to be. And then suddenly we have a bag or burden filled with unrealistic expectations! It can be really heavy. Sometimes we just have to step back and count our blessings. Those blessings are meant to lift the weights, make us feel better and lighten the loads we put on ourselves.
HOW Jesus is taught to us makes a big difference! Many wrong doctrines have infiltrated the Church. And many things are not "fixed" in just a day or two. I had one of my sweet FB friends ask for prayer for a location transfer. And I had a prayer request like that of my own a while back. I pursued it and then the Lord spoke back and said to me it was not about the location! "I" had it all figured out, you see! He instead asked me what was I called to DO? I had wanted my personal comforts as the priority over His will! But my "comforts" were not HIS priority!
What are you looking for? It's good to make a wish list and be very real. But then take it to the Lord and His Word and discern how "on track" you are. It can be humbling, but it also can be VERY HELPFUL! Then do your best to understand what His will is from His Word and get some things reconciled. It is probably NOT as bad as what you thought! The Word will reveal to you what you CAN do - it will give instruction and encouragement! See how Jesus spoke to people in the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the Bible. He reached them!
I am not (on purpose) going to act like I am anything or anyone that I am not. I see a lot of people who act bigger than their calling and this "aura" surrounds them like what happened to THEM is better than others. This SO DEFEATS the Cause of Christ in His Redemption work! Some just can't resist that, and then they make all these "special distinctions" that set them apart from others! That is the spirit of the Pharisees!!! I don't know if Americans or others can get cured of that or not! I am strong in my gift now, because of my sincere efforts, but it wasn't always that way!
Prophecy is not magic. In fact, it is not a skill, although some are experienced in it. But that is not the strength of it. Prophecy is not "man" controlled or "man" originated words of God. Prophecy is words of God expressed through man, and the gift is God originated. I believe God would be pleased if everyone could speak the oracles of God because it would mean that they are close enough to Him to do it! Because God is a Spirit, the words of God are close to His Heart, and relate to His will and His intentions. True prophetic words are not meant to show off about the future or anything else but His will, but prophetic words are communications of His will.
Every young minister who is called, at whatever age, is eager to share their gift. While some seek a specific call, others are just full of zeal, ready to share what they can. This is beautiful to God just like parents see all good in their small children who seek to perform well in their certain ways. The young minister is really excited when they get to sing or preach in a segment of the church service. They can feel they have arrived when they get the attention of others and feel that their "anointing" is confirmed. It's great to them and significant, but they often act like a teen-ager and don't realize that they didn't have to acquire the building and pay the utilities and set up the sound system and maintain the audience.
Freedom in the Spirit is a wonderful thing. It allows you to explore HIM. And when you explore you learn things, new things, that you have not known or heard before! It was fun being a kid and exploring, but you also know there were times when your parents or caregivers said, "Wait a minute! Watch out over there! Be aware of this or that, or Don't do this or that." They meant all that for your good! They were delighted when you matured and you learned now to cross the street safely, or later when you could run to the store for them. If you kept your boundaries right, they could give you more and more freedom.
Follow Up
