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Sermon of the Week 
Friday, April 29 2016

Part 2….Receiving and Activating Personal Words of Prophecy

Let me begin today with the area of prophecy that we will call

“Fast Forwarding”… A definition of Fast Forwarding is

to make adjustments in the present, by taking a look at the future…because our direction determines our destination….

    Anyway, what I may not be able to do now, may change with time, so that I will be able to do later on what was not possible in the present.      

    We go as far as we can see, and when we get there, we’ll be able to see what we could not see right now….we just need to trust the process. He is the God who is there….where you can’t be and you can’t see.

    A man went into the book store, and the clerk asked him, “Can I help you find anything?” Well, can you help me find and recover my misspent youth,” the man joked. The clerk leaned over and whispered to him, “We keep that in the back, between world peace and winning lottery tickets.”

Which begs the question, “do you have to settle for whatever mess you find yourself in”? I believe the final word is that we don’t have to figure it all out now, we just need to know that the Lord knows the way through every wilderness…..

    If God is truly speaking through the word of prophecy, He is certainly able to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together that are it’s fulfillment. That means the people, circumstances and situations that are all pieces of a bigger picture in your life, that will continue to move you forward because He has gone ahead of you and marked out the path for you.

    Prophecy is intended to help us find the role which we are most suitable for, it doesn’t pound square pegs in round holes, and it doesn’t not tie us up in knots pursuing something for which we are completely and totally unsuited! Jesus is the potter, who molds and shapes the clay, He is not Thor with a hammer, pounding and hammering on us, with a vengeance.

    There are genuine and true prophesies that can take years to be fulfilled, and that’s okay, because He is preparing us for it as well as He is preparing it for us. We believe in promises that are yet to come…. that must be walked out and walked in, by faith. The Holy Spirit is an alignment specialist….and He knows how to make all the adjustments necessary for our best outcome.

    When Moses was confronted with the burning bush, he discovered that prophecy allows you to Fast Forward, and it Turns Common Ground Into Holy Ground….. It causes the ordinary to become extra-ordinary, it allows the impossible to become possible. It Fast Forwards us by touching the soul and spirit….Scripture describes this in Psalms 42:7 as “Deep calling unto Deep”….and David says this comes at a time when the soul is cast down, and it came like waves washing over us….

    When prophetic truth strikes the soul, it comes in waves of release and there is a breaking of bondage, hinderances and limitations and captives are set free! Often this causes an eruption of emotion and spontaneous expression in praise and worship, as freedom comes to reign in the center of a person’s being!

    Psalm 30:11 “You have turned my mourning into dancing you have put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness, v12 so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent, O LORD my God”.

    Instead of just looking at how far you still have to go, you begin to look at how far you’ve come, because you’re not the same person you used to be!!! Prophecy lets you know that you can get anywhere and do whatever is needed, from right where you are this moment!

YOU CAN STILL GET THERE!!!

He knows us and He has considered all the options….

    The hostess at the resturant showed a woman to her table, and the woman asked her to keep an eye out for her husband, who was on his way and would be joining her soon. She started to describe him: “He has gray hair, wears glasses, and has a potbelly …” The hostess stopped her and said “Honey, today is senior citizen day, and you’ve just described every man who comes in here”….

    We are not that different in the things we face, We all have so much in common….Aren’t you glad no one has to describe you to Jesus so He can recognize you….The hairs of our head are numbered, He knows our going out and coming in, our rising up and lying down. He knows the number of cells in our body, before we call He answers and before we get there He’s been there…..

    So, Invite the Holy Spirit to show you any conditions that He wants you to meet in order to bring your dreams to fulfillment. Ask the Lord to reveal any prerequisites that must be accomplished before the word He is speaking over you can be come to pass.

    For example, if the Lord gives you a word that you are going to be used to bring revival to Mexico, He may require that you learn to speak Spanish first. Sometimes the prerequisites are spelled out clearly by the nature of the prophecy. Other times they are not. Ask God to show you what (if anything) your part is and then ask Him to empower you to be able to take whatever action is necessary, and it will be amazing….

    To have an amazing outcome……Risk more than is required, learn more than you’re obligated to learn, be strong and of good courage. Seize all the moments that take your breath away. Love, lead, speak the truth with kindness. Live out your values regardless of what those around you feel or do. Laugh often and deeply. Cry and let your heart stay sensitive. Innovate and simplify because life is complicated enough. Master the things that try to master you. Let go of all mediocrity and don’t settle for anything less than excellence. Stay humble and be a second-miler. Always give out as much as you get. Do whatever you do with passion. Break through your limitations and transcend your fears and doubts. Inspire others to go further and be better by example, not just words. Dream big but be willing to start small. Stop putting it off, Act now and never, never stop.

    I said earlier that our direction determines our destination….but if that is so, what determines our direction?.... Our direction is determined by what we are focused on and give priority to. All of us can think of those opportunities, events, places, things, people that you wish hadn't grabbed your attention, as well as those opportunities, events, places, things, and people that we wish we had followed through on….(right)?

We could all be millionaires today, RIGHT!

    We all have some ‘If onlies” and some ‘what ifs”….What matters is what are you focused on now, and what you are doing about it.

    When Lazarus died, and word was sent to Jesus, He showed up 3 days later and the first thing He was greeted with was….”If only you had been here, he would not have died’…. But Jesus turned it around and said, “If only you can believe, I am the resurrection and the life, I am here now, and he can live again”….

    What Jesus was saying was…”Just because the past didn’t turn out the way you wanted, doesn’t mean the future can’t be better than you could ever imagine”….

    Proverbs 4:23-27 -"Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts. Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil and compromise in the dust."

    How do so many marriages end up ruined? How do so many Christians who started out excited and committed to Christ go down the tubes? This verse right here tells us, “Keep your eyes straight ahead.” People stop paying attention. They stop focusing. They stop doing the right things. They just begin to drift. Any of us can do this in our relationships.

    There are times when I lose focus at home and get fixed on thinking about a lot of other stuff….. Winnie has to finally bring my attention to it. She calls it "Chuck's World". “Hello, this is earth, making contact with Chuck’s World”…..Are you there?

    She’s reminding me to fast forward, and adjust my direction… if I want to reach my destination, and stay out of trouble with her!

My mom used to grab me by the chin and say “Look at me when I talk to you”…. That’s what prophecy does….. God is saying “Look at me, you are getting distracted, adjust your direction”!!!

    That’s why we need mirrors as we grow up, to see ourselves the way others see us…. It’s easy to see what everyone else needs to do, but what we need, is the mirror that shows us ourselves…..and then we need to keep our focus according to what the mirror shows us…..

    James 1:23 “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror. v24 For he sees himself, and goes on his way, and then forgets what manner of person he was”.

    We stated that to Fast Forward, is to make adjustments in the present, by taking a look at the future…because our direction determines our destination….

    So, We need to fast forward, to change unhealthy directions in our lives that are robbing us of wholness….We need to fast forward, to change the destination of our kids before it’s too late…. We need to fast forward, to get our dream and our calling from God back on track…..

    Our future selves, want to talk to us…they want to tell us to make the adjustments necessary, so that 5, 10, 15 years from now, we won’t be living with regret, disappointment, heart-ache and not be able to change what could have been changed.

   The spirit of Prophecy comes to help make those corrections, before we get there…..The good news is, that….to get a picture of our future selves, so we have a clearer view of what we can look like and be like….

    Having said that, we all have times when we would like to have a rewind button when things are just going all wrong….and nothing is turning out the way we planned….You push it and Poof…..REWIND!

Prophecy is like the Rewind Button that can guide us in reversing the effects of unhealthy and unwise directions …..                                  

    Speaking of rewind, Meg noticed that her friend Sally was wearing a new locket, Meg asked her if there was a special memento of some sort inside.“Yes, there is, it’s a lock of my husband’s hair.” Meg got a strange look and asked “Isn’t Larry’s still alive.” “Yes he is, but his hair is gone and I really do miss running my fingers through it.”

Don’t keep missing what you can still have….

    Proverbs 6:31 “But if the thief be found, he shall restore sevenfold and he shall give up all the stolen goods in his house”.

    We have stated that Prophecy is a Rhema word from God to a specific person in a specific time for a specific purpose. When correctly applied, it enables us to use the best means at the best time in the best way, to accomplish the best outcome.

    So, we are given instruction for how to get back what Satan has stolen…It reveals where the stuff is that has been stolen or lost, that is part of our inheritance….                 

    In 2 Kings 20, Hezekiah was given a prophecy by Isaiah that he should prepare to die, but Hezekiah reminded God of his faithfulness to do all the Lord had given Him to do, and God sent Isaiah back to prophecy that the sundial would go backward ten degrees, as a sign to him that God was going to reverse time, and instead of dying, he would live an additional 15 years.

    When Joshua fought the Amorites in the book of Joshua 10:12-13, He cried unto the Lord, and God caused the sun and moon to stand still (which meant that the earth stood still) for an entire day, so that they could win the battle….which meant there was no night for 2 days.

If God could stop the rotation of the earth to answer the prayer of Hezekiah and make it go backward 10 degrees or 3 1/2 hours, and give Joshua a full day of sunlight to defeat the Amorites….

What can that same God accomplish in your life as well!

These two stories convince me that while a prophetic word can fast forward….. it can also give you opportunities to rewind….

    God has a lot for you, but you can miss the “lot” that he has, by tripping over the little! I believe Joshua and Hezekiah got a rewind, so they could clear up their distractions and hindrances and get back on track again! There are small things in each of our lives that have the power to block the big things in our lives….We fret over the little things, because we have trouble just giving it all up to him….and losing control of the little so we can take hold of the “lot”….

    A wife was making a breakfast of scrambled eggs for her husband. All of a  sudden, her husband bursts into the kitchen. "Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the! Salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"                                      The wife just stood there wondering if he had totally lost his mind.                    "What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs, do you understand how many times I’ve done this and you’re acting like this?" The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when you’re in the car while I'm driving."

    Let God have your stuff!!! And then let it go! The Rhema word comes so that you can access and activate your inheritance! We all reach places where we have outgrown yesterdays blessings….You have come far beyond what was handed down to you, and to try to remain in what was enough yesterday, will leave you with not enough today, because you are not where you were yesterday!

    God is bringing you to your Goliath Level…..There was a time when David slew a lion and a bear, but then he came to a new level, a Goliath level. The principal was the same, but the rewards were far greater… It’s not about the battle, it’s about a new level of reward which is being prepared for you as you move into the bigger thing when you let go of the little thing…..

    Sometimes your greatest opportunities come while you’re on your way to something else…. David didn’t start out the day to fight Goliath, David started out to take lunch to his brothers, and Goliath got in the way!!! You’re on your way to a little thing, but suddenly your Goliath level shows up and the little thing doesn’t matter anymore…..

    Where you are about to end up is far greater than how you started out! There is much more for you than what you started out with…

    Ephesians 3:18 “May we be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; v19  And to know the love of Christ, which passes all knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fulness of God. v20  For He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is now working in us.”

    Your inheritance is what God has for you, the life you have, is what you have built upon it. The prophetic allows us to be wise in building upon the foundation of the values and principles of the Word…

    Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: v25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. v26 And every one that hears these words of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand v27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it”.

    We rarely understand what we’re saying when we declare, “Where He leads me I will follow”. We are not be able to see all that God is up to, and to be honest he might not have been doing exactly what we would like him to be doing all the time, but he is there and he is working and interceding on our behalf. I can’t promise you that everything will work out exactly the way you want because you and I don’t have all the facts. I can’t even tell you that everything will seem to be spectacular or amazing from your point of view. But the spirit of Prophecy gives us a window in time, and I can promise you that if we will have faith we can face all the “what ifs” of the future with confidence.

    If God is in it with you… Don’t get hung up somewhere in your story….

Believe that He will make a way where there is no way…. It’s not over till it’s over and it’s not over yet…. Don’t put a stop sign where God only put a “yield the right of way”….He is in charge of the rewind button…but He gave us the choice to use it or not…

    Romans 8:17 tells us, “And if we are His children, then we are heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. So that if we suffer with him, we shall also be also glorified with Him.” I looked at the word “Heir” and it is “klay-ro'-o”…. (to assign by inheritance)…Yes, it is assigned by inheritance. You are in charge of the rewind button of your life….You can choose to be bitter or better….To prove how messed up it can be to stay bitter instead of getting better, I share with you the cake that Betty Bitty baked…..                                   

    Betty Bitty had some butter, but the butter was bitter. So she said if    I bake a Betty Crocker, with this bitter butter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter, will make my batter better. So she bought a bit of butter better than her bitter butter and she baked her batter and the batter was not bitter. It was better that Betty Bitty had bought the better butter. ( in other words don’t dwell on the bitterness)

    In Exodus 15:22, the Israelites left Elim and came to Marah… where they were thirsty but the water was too bitter to drink. In Elim they has sweet water and food to eat…. But believe it or not, Marah was better for them than Elim. At Marah they had a change of covenant blessing ….           

    It says in Exodus15:26 that God made for them a statute and a covenant that would be as long as the nation lasted. It was in this place of bitterness that He said “I will put none of these diseases upon You, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee”.

    Maybe you didn’t get permission, but you can still get forgiveness.. How many are thankful for erasers on pencils? Forgiveness resets everything and gives us a new beginning.  When you fall, when you mess up, when you do that thing that you said that you’d never do, you must get up, repent, turn to Jesus and know that you’ll find healing there. The more you see your own flaws and shortcomings, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you.

    You can find purpose in the problems, triumph in the troubles, water in the waste places, sanctification in the sweat, answers in your adversity, restoration in your rough paces, direction in your difficulties, fragrance in your failures, help in your hindrances, orientation in your opposition, and praise in your predicament….

    The old song says…. From sinking sand He lifted me, With tender hand He lifted me. From shades of night to His glorious light, Oh, praise His name, He lifted me!

    Know that hard times are not coming to destroy or limit you, they come to promote, increase, inspire and encourage you to be more than you ever were before….

    Peter denied Christ and He not only was forgiven but he was restored….David failed miserably but when all was said and done, he was called a man after God’s own heart….The people who came to Marah, found healing for their bitter waters. The prodigal son came to himself in the pig pen and came back home again to redemption and restoration… Peter denied Christ but became one of the chief apostles…Paul was a Pharisee who killed Christians, but he became the apostle to the gentile world…

    He’s still changing lives, and rewriting history by resetting lives with restoration forgiveness… Let me ask you to make this confession with me as I come to the conclusion of this message ….

    “I am good ground and I am ready to receive the prophetic seed, proven and tested. It shall not come in vain, but shall accomplish in my life and the lives of those I touch, all that it is sent forth to perform. I receive the revelation, correction, insight, guidance, strategy, release and peace which comes through the prophetic gift. Because I walk in the light, error and deception, are brought out into the open and revealed, so that I do not fall prey to the snares and cunning devices of the Devil.                                                                                                                   

    The Holy Spirit in me makes known unto me the intention of the Father as He interprets what the Lord is opening unto me. I am instructed in what I need to do, as I remain open and surrendered, so that my actions come into harmony with whatever changes are needed for the word to come to pass in my life. I cleanse myself of any personal agenda or motive, so that I am not distracted or swayed away from the inner working of God’s powerful truth. I receive the peace of God, that I may cease all struggles and I persevere as I endure, until the prophetic word is fully completed. I receive the outcome which God desires, fully accomplished and completed, In Jesus Name!                                                        

    Lord, You are greater than the flood of things that would try to overwhelm us. We believe You are raising up a standard in this place and in our lives. A standard of truth in the inner parts, of transparency, integrity, and loving, compassionate living. Come in your power, in your love, in your wisdom, and make right what is not, make sound what is unsound, bring wholeness where there is brokenness, healing where there is injury, and justice where there is injustice. We thank you for your touch, for your covering, for Your presence just now, in Jesus Name…..                                                               

    Now take a moment and soak in that as the Holy Spirit prays through you, allow the waters of transformation that flow from God’s throne to sweep over you…..
 

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