Awakening Your Prophetic VoiceEbook PDF Download
By Betsy Jacobs
Price: $16.99
When you are born again, you become a new creation. You are "born again" from the seed of the Holy Spirit inside your soul that begins to grow and manifest.
As you feed on the Word of God and are nurtured around those who walk in the Spirit, you will begin to grow and thrive in the creation that God has ordained YOU to be! You will go through a number of transformation processes. What you start off as young is probably not what you will look like when you are older and more mature.
You can easily see this in the natural world as well! There are phases from infant to adult. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:46, "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual."
We have to be born before we are born again! But that doesn't mean that God is unaware. How often we want to cozy up to God and get Him to tell us all He knows so that we can help Him manage us! But the closest that will come is through close intimate prayers with Him where we learn to hear His Voice and learn how to respond to it.
Oh how important it can be TO US to learn this! We are not in charge of everyone else and everyone else is not in charge of us! Many of us, if not most all of us, have a calling of some kind. God planned so that we as the Body would bless each other and help us all to thrive. It will bless us individually as well as corporately. He made us to NEED one another.
What is a Calling?
A calling is a form of ministry opportunity that will serve others. Yes, because it is in the Holy Spirit, it will be supernatural but in a way that blesses the Lord and His Plan and others.
God may have called you into the hospitality ministry. Sounds like something so simple, but the right things at the right time can be like offering a cup of water to one who is thirsty and who won't lose their reward. It can change their lives, not just because they needed the water, but because it touched and ministered to their soul as well. It refreshed them, replenished them and spoke the blessing of God to that person!
It is a natural thing with a supernatural kiss! I wish I could take each of the gifts talked about in the Bible and share what they can do, but your mind can figure a lot of this out. And people who have certain ministries often are wise enough to teach them to others who have interest!
Not everyone can understand things right away, but they will remember in their souls that touch of the Spirit and it can have a lasting effect. When the Spirit gifts join forces they make an even stronger statement, but they are not "the focus," the Spirit of God is! This is why we need a good healthy BALANCE in all the ministry gifts of the Spirit.
Some will think and believe that "the calling" is what transforms them. No, discerning your calling is a response to the Spirit work of God inside of you. You are NOT "a ministry gift" before you are a person. You know that, but sometimes others get confused on it. This needs to be understood. Every person stands before God for their own work!
Jesus is the Head
We can take on too much "authority" when we believe that people should revolve around us because we have become aware of the Spirit working inside of us. Duly noted, we are impressed! As a prophetic scribe, I remember when "words" started coming to me and I was afraid to correct the typos, haha. I felt the anointing so strong and it was new and so everything felt "holy." It's a wonderful feeling and you want to honor God, but we have to learn how to assimilate our calling into our personal lives and to others as well, because that is how we will answer to God.
Many can be "afraid" to share what their calling is, but if it is listed in the Bible as a ministry gift / help / equipping, then we should not be ashamed to be it or know it or recognize it! Let's not make "fake fear" a part of our paradigm. If it is "fake" then it is difficult for us to discern it and judge it.
The Bible says that prophets judge prophets. 1 Corinthians 14:29 says: "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge." Instead of judge, we could also say "discern." A discerning parent or family member can see and know what is best and do that in love. The Bible also says this because those who know their gift area can discern it even better for that gift.
A pastor can help a pastor, a cook can help a cook, an engineer can help an engineer, just like a mechanic can help a mechanic. They know "the language." Their experience makes a difference, but some things are just obvious to all in the ways we go about it if it is "good" or not.
Jesus is the Head, not the ministry gifts. The ministry gifts happen and can function well BECAUSE Jesus is the Head! If we get close to Him and work to hear His Voice, many great things can happen.
He can help us to get well rounded, and we will be effective in our ministry like He was! He can give us many insights and good discernment because He is ALL the gifts wrapped into One! And He will not withhold, but wisdom understands that a needed part is needed in its place. We need Him to help lead and guide us.
Equipped for the Works
As I was praying about writing this article yesterday, the Lord gave me a vision of a person in a winter coat in winter. The air outside was cold but it was a pretty day, but the coat was needed. Because the person had the coat on, they could do a lot of work and projects that they wanted to do. But if they did not have the coat, they would have been disabled after a bit because their body could not handle the cold and it made them much less productive and functional!
The Lord asked me the question, "Are they still the same person with the coat on or off?" I got what He was saying. Yes, it's the same person, but the coat equipped them for the works! Sometimes we look at the ministry gifts as if it is a supernatural person more than just a person with the anointing. Can you see why it is important to learn and know the gifts and callings?
Things can become corrupt and it hurts all of us. Mature ones can discern it often, but some others can be deceived and defiled. It's why we ALL need to discern the soul and care about others.
When you learn the flow of the Spirit, you can see where it goes, or flows, and where it doesn't. There are reasons, like some things are established and are doing well, OR something is not receptive yet and so the Spirit moves on around to where it can be received. Don't try to get into rating or ranking, but discern what God is doing! God is in charge of the River. The mature will help the others. But He loves to hear your prayers! And He will respond to them.
I think we all want to be in the River of God where there is Life. I think that is God's goal for us all as well. Life is big and it can be very delightful! Some days it is work making way for others to come in, but that is our job.
You know that cities have to accommodate large groups in ways that they don't when people live in the country all spread out. It can be two different worlds and both worlds can be a blessing.
God is in the people business and He cares about both! He has made provisions and they need each other! Collaborative things can bless the others in solving problems and fulfilling needs. The city is grateful for the farmers who work to provide food, for example, and the country is grateful for the collaborations of groups that study to ways to provide for their needs.
Young David could not wear Saul's armor when Goliath was a threat to their nation. It was not the right fit! It would not work. Neither can we wear someone else's mantle that does not fit us. But we can be helped by them and learn from them. There are principles that bless us all. It's good to be free and it is good to be disciplined, yes? We need both!
Understand that as you learn about life and callings. We put on the armor and we put on the gifts. And sometimes it just becomes a part of us because it is "in use." But guard your personal relationship with the Lord at all costs. That "seed" from Him that is maturing and will for all eternity is the gold that lasts.
Pam Clark
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