The Prophetic Lifestyle

A post by Brian Harrison prompted me to begin thinking about the apostolic nature of our lives, and what it means to speak apostolically.  What does the Apostolic look like?

Brian mentions 4 things that are characteristics of apostolic statements/actions.
1. It's Heavenly and not Earthly
2. it is corporate and not personal
3. It is sacrificial and not self-serving and therein emits the aroma of Christ.
4. It is authentic and not fabricated

I was reminded of the close tie between speaking/living  prophetically and speaking/living apostolically.  Just a couple days previous to reading this article by Brian, I had read the preview for a book at Amazon.com that talks about what it means to live prophetically.  I love the way this guy writes.  I had stumbled across his web-site when looking at the openheaven.com forum.

Let your Light Shine - Ray Ashmore

Here is the the Amazon description for the book:

Jesus is The Prophet. Every word that comes from His lips is prophetic. Every expression of His will is prophetic. Every work of His Spirit is prophetic. The Holy Spirit is the conveyer of truth to the church both in words and deeds; and the church is to be a picture of that very truth to its community and world. Prophecy is far more than words or visions. Prophecy is a life lived individually and in a gathered community that bears testimony to God and His redemptive work. Prophecy isn't restricted to the simple understanding of the prophetic ministry that most charismatics espouse. True prophecy always, without exception and in every way, lifts up Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

and a profound excerpt from the book:
"By extension, as we steep ourselves in the word of God, we learn from Him, grow in Him, and become truly prophetic. It's not that we will be prophets, but we become prophetic in our living. How does this take place? It takes place by the Holy Spirit as He transforms our lives into Christ's likeness. As we grow into His image, The Prophet Jesus grows in us. He is put on display through us. His words and thoughts are expressed by us. Our words reveal Him and our lives display Him. Our actions, the events in our lives, and our responses to them are all symbolic of Christ's life and His will for us. We are prophetic in the truest sense of the word."
This got me thinking about how our lifestyle as Christians is to let the Life, Love, and Character of Jesus flow out of us in such a way that we become a prophetic statement to the world.  We become a testimony of what God and his Kingdom is really like.  The advancement of his Kingdom depends upon us entering into union with Jesus and living the life of the Spirit.  This is what living a prophetic life is all about!  I had always thought of prophecy as being prophetic utterances - but this has opened my eyes to the fact that there is much more.  Prophetic utterances flow out of our union with Christ and getting a hold of his heart of Love.  They do not flow out of our intellect, they flow out of deep communion and identification with Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. 

Old Testament prophets did not just pronounce "Thus saith the Lord", their lives also became prophetic statements of the Heart of God for his people.  They did not just pronounce judgment, their lives became so filled with God's heart of Love, Mercy, and righteous anger it drove them to do some fairly interesting things that looked quite ridiculous.

One of the problems with many Christians is this: We have a tendency to Know a lot of stuff, Say a lot of stuff, but are can be very deficient in the area of Doing much of the stuff.  Jesus said that we would be able to Do the same works he did, even greater works.  It is not enough to know what to do, even to talk a lot about what to do.  When we become Doers of the Word, and not hearers only, we enter into the true prophetic lifestyle.

I also believe that this strong disparity between what we Christians preach and what we practice has made us an object of scorn and ridicule from the world's perspective, and not in a good way.  Listen to this comment by Steve Crosby he posted on Facebook.

Many of you are not going to like this post because of how "broad a generalization" it is. I don't care, so please don't respond to me about how "every one is not that way." I won't post your comments if you go down that road. I am not talking about the EXCEPTIONS here. I am talking about the NORM. I am talking about the PUBLIC PERCEPTION of Christians and Christianity. My wife has worked for Sta...rbucks for 8 years. Her UNEQUIVOCAL, NON-NEGOTIABLE, REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE (not phony baloney-Sunday-morning-Wayne's world of Christianity) is that the customers who are the most vocal about their "Christianity," who come in for their "Bible studies," and their "fellowship groups," who "pass our their gospel tracts," are the nastiest, rudest, most inconsiderate, demanding, selfish, impolite, cheap, self-centered, and unthankful of all her customers. Nothing hinders the cause of Christ more than . . . "Christians." I understand why our culture despises "Christians and Christianity." I do too. I don't even use those terms any more when describing myself. They are hopelessly contaminated in the minds of the world. Lord, please deliver the world from your "followers."

I realized that if we focused more on letting our lives be so consumed with Jesus and his love, we would present a much different testimony to the world - the testimony of Jesus, the true spirit of Prophecy.  Didn't Jesus say they will know we are Christians by our love for one another?  They will not know we are Christians by our doctrines, how well we know our Bible intellectually, our ascetic lifestyle, faithful church attendance, good preaching, cutting-edge worship, or hyper-spiritual experiences.  They will know we are Christians by our LOVE. 

Sometimes, the Love of Jesus within us will compel us to say things that will offend people, but they will know we are speaking from Love - not self-interest, self-righteousness, or condemnation.  They may hate us, reject us, and kill us - but let it not be because we were too Religious.  Let it be because of our identification with Jesus Christ.  Let it be because "the" prophet Jesus is speaking through our life.

The power of a focused Heart

Last year, Ondrea received a prophetic picture while praying for me. In it, she saw my heart like a White horn - when I blew the horn, it had tremendous power to change things.  This means that when my heart is turned and focused intensely toward the Lord, there is great power and anything can happen!  The power of intercession and prayer are magnified when my heart is turned towards the Lord.  Prophetic words and energy can flow from my spirit when my heart is turned towards the Lord.  Just like a horn produces a sound, the energy that is produced from a focused heart is in harmony with the Lord's voice and purposes.  The horn also represents the multiplication of sound that occurs.  God multiplies power and energy when I pray or act in accordance with his desires and heart.  Even if I don't feel anything tangible, I can expect fruit and change when my heart is focused towards God. I love this prophetic picture because it is so clearly portrays a heart that is in union with the Lord's Heart.

I found it to be true that when I am able to keep my heart turned towards the Lord, my faith level soars.  I find it easier to avoid distractions and am full of anticipation for what the Lord is going to do.  When my heart is divided or distracted regarding earthly concerns, my faith level plummets and I find myself faithless, discouraged, and disheartened.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18
¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

When we inwardly turn our hearts toward the Lord, the veil is taken away.  We are able to see clearly and receive truth from God.  Conversely, when our hearts are turned away from the Lord, there is a veil keeping us from seeing clearly.  The veil keeps the light of his love and truth from our hearts.

Matthew 13:22
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

It is impossible to have a passionate, burning heart for the Lord when our lives are filled with distractions and wordly cares.  A heart that is focused on the Lord is in love with him and his words are meaningful to us.  We will hang on his every word and listen intently to his voice.  Similarly, when my heart is focused on my wife and I push out all distractions, my love for her intensifies.

Proverbs 4:23
Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

This scripture is a basic principle of how life works that contains great truth. It is an ancient path, so listen carefully.  The eternal principle is this:  "Our hearts contain life, and that life is going to flow into something, so be careful what you let that life flow into."  If we allow the life in our hearts to flow out into things that God does not intend it to - we will have nothing left over to give to the things that are important.  It is imperative to "Watch over your heart", guarding diligently what you allow the life of your heart to flow into.  If we give our hearts over to our jobs, we will have nothing left to give to God or our families.  If we give our heart to making as much money as possible, the spring of life will run dry eventually.  If the life-flow of our hearts is not rooted in God and aligned with God's heart, that life in our heart will eventually run dry.

Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This scripture contains another, similar basic principle of life:  The flow of life from our hearts will be directed toward whatever we treasure.

This is why Jesus said we cannot serve two masters.  We will find it increasingly difficult when the flow of life from our heart is divided up into two separate streams.  One stream flowing into the things of the world, and the other stream flowing into the things of God.  We will find that when our hearts are intensely focused on the things of God, the worldly stream dries up.  Conversely, when our hearts are intensely focused on worldly things, the God stream dries up.  We cannot maintain two streams flowing in opposite directions!  It is pride and foolishness to think we can!  Believe me, I have tried it and failed from experience!

When we are united with God and our heart is turned towards him; when we have surrendered to him, his spirit can flow through us. Then, rivers of living water can flow through us as John 7:38 says  ^"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

On the practical side (help for when our heart isn't focused on the Lord):
I have found that is quite difficult to turn my heart toward God when I am believing lies about him.  Like the prodigal son, I believe the Father might be angry with me so that lie keeps me from turning to him and receiving the love and rest I so desperately need.  We need to renounce lies about God and receive the truth about his true nature and our true nature before we can have an open, honest heart that is turned towards him.  When we are believing lies or we are bound in sin, we will continue to hide and run from him.  We will build up walls of self-protection from him and from others.  It is important when we are in this place to call out to him for help.  I have also found it helpful to renounce lies and speak truth out loud and/or bring them to another person.  If there is sin, confess it to God and if necessary to anothe believer. When you do this, it breaks the hold of the lies and then you can be free to behold him with an unveiled face again.  I have found it helpful to ask my wife for prayer when I start to fall into the performance trap and feel my relationship with God beginning to slip.  Not only does it break the cycle in my head, it lets her know I have needs and weaknesses that she can be praying and encouraging me in.

I love in the movie "Seven days in Utopia", the main character is a golfer who had lived for nothing but Golf since he was a child.  Pushed hard by a Father driven to make him succeed, he finally breaks down and sees God's truth.  Here are the lies he wrote down and buried:

1. My golf scores are a reflection of my self-worth.
2. Failure in golf is failure in life.
3. Success in golf will bring the fulfillment that I long for.
4. My calling in life is to play golf.
5. The opinions of others are paramount in the choices I make.
6. God is a crutch for the weak.
7. Tradition is sacred and never to be challenged

I have also found it helpful to prayerfully make a list of lies, then make another list of God's truth.  Here is a sample list that I wrote up about a year ago.

1. Lie - God is only available to me if I have been good enough today.  If I have prayed this morning, been nice to people and basically been perfect.
Truth - God is near to me, will flow through me, and is available to me at all times, whether I have been perfect or not.  In fact, I need him even more when I have failed.  Look at the Joy of the father when his prodigal son came home!

2. Lie - Tomorrow will be a better day.  Even though today is really screwed up, a good night's sleep and some time will fix things.  I can't approach God today so I must resign myself to failure and misery today.
Truth - God works Today!  If I turn my heart and repent now, God will meet me now!  I don't have to wait until tomorrow.  I can have a soft heart again now!  No day is too screwed up for God to redeem now!  Hebrews 3:7,8 - "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts"

3. Lie - I have screwed up too badly for God to save me. In fact, I am a screwed up person. I am a lost cause.  Who am I to enter God's presence and draw near to him.  He probably wants nothing to do with me now.
Truth - I am God's Son!  I am cleansed, forgiven, perfect, righteous, holy.  I can go boldly to God because I am in Christ!

4. Lie - I am a failure and will never rise above the mistakes I have made.  Things will continue the way they always have.  I am destined for defeat and failure all my days.  I will not succeed or accomplish anything of worth.
Truth - I can do all things through Christ.  I am more than a conqueror.  There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.  No failure is too great for God to redeem and change.  No cycle of defeat too deep for him to break.  I can and will move mountains and defeat giants by Faith.

5. Lie - I don't have what it takes to do what God is asking.  I'm not gifted enough, don't hear from God well enough, am not smart enough.  I'm too selfish and don't have the right personality or enough charisma.  I'm not a very good leader.
Truth - Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me!  I am complete in him.  I have all I need in him!  Galatians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, Having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
I choose to receive from God everything I need to be a blessing to others.  God has blessed me and will continue to pour out his love, gifts, wisdom, strength, provision, and care so I can pour out to the people around me!

I also created another similar list of lies/truth towards the end of this article.
http://roadofkingdom.blogspot.com/2012/02/living-by-faith.html

The Exuberance and Joy of Jesus

 Luke 10:21

 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

We have been reading the book "Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldredge.  While not agreeing with some of his broad-brush strokes in other books he has written about what most men are like, we have found this book to be very refreshing and gives a much-needed glimpse into the real personality of Jesus.

Beautiful Outlaw Web site

We gathered with some friends along with our children a couple weeks ago and shared some of the different characteristics of who Jesus is, and found it to be a great discussion.  We are focusing as a family on getting to know Jesus better as he really is.  The religious fog surrounding who Jesus really is has confused and kept many Christians from experiencing a daily, interactive relationship with him. 
Some of the interesting characteristics we shared about Jesus included:
1. Fearless
2. Courageous and determined
3. Close to the broken and downcast
4. Prickly - unshaven (a picture of his humanity and realness)
5. Humble and real
6. Sacrificial Servant
7. Exuberant and enthustic
8. Exceedingly Joyful
9. Peaceful
10. Extravagant Giver
11. Good receiver
12. Eyes of Fire
13. Intense

I will add to this list as I get time, it is by no means comprehensive, but gives a picture of the direction we were heading as we shared.

I shared a dream I had about 2 years ago that helped me get a better glimpse into Jesus' personality.  I remember in the dream, there was a gathering of people who were waiting to see God revealed, like he was going to come out on stage where we could all see him.  The anticipation was great amongst the people gathered there, and I remember wanting to get into the front row.  When a man came out on stage and began telling jokes(good ones of course), we were all taken aback a little.  And, he was actually quite funny.  He then came down amongst the audience, and began to touch people, dancing and laughing the entire time.  His Joy was contagious, and everyone he touched began to laugh uncontrollably, including myself.  He was having a great time of it, he absolutely loved filling people with this joy.  I remember thinking - this is the most exuberant, excited, joyful person I have ever seen.

When I woke up, I realized that this man was Jesus Christ.  This dream has changed my view of Jesus, and has stuck with me to this day.  Many times I look back and I can still remember how this dream changed my picture of who Jesus is in my heart.

When I woke up, I was also reminded of the scripture Zephaniah 3:17
¹⁷ The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

I am also reminded of David in  2 Samuel 6:14 "And David danced before the Lord with all his might."  He was undignified, not caring what people thought - his only focus was on "the Lord".   "with all his might" speaks to me that he was very exuberant and enthusiastic in his dancing; this was no mournful ballroom dance. David's dance was a dance of joy and an expression of enthusiastic love and praise to God.  Let's get rid of our religious, dignified, Michelangelo-like picture of what David's dancing might have looked like and see it how it really was.

Also see 2 samuel 6:5 "David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals"

Here we have a picture of David and others celebrating with all their might. This is not a solemn, dignified worship service here, this is un-restrained abandon before God. This is a picture of what the "man after God's own heart" did to show his love and passion for God.

2 Samuel 6:16, 20
¹⁶ As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.
²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
The religious spirit operating through David's wife tried to shut down this worship.  The religious spirit always despises and looks with contempt on those who express great joy and enthusiasm.  See how she criticizes and finds fault with what David was doing by focusing on what he was wearing rather than looking at his heart, sounds just like the Pharisees of Jesus' day doesn't it?

²¹ David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
²³ And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

See how David responded to her criticism? Rather than attempting to please her, he gave absolutely no place for the spirit of religion - in fact, he said he would go even further next time. "Even more undignified than this"  David did not care how people perceived him, he knew his heart was pure before the Lord.

In conclusion:
We all need to have revelations and experiences to help us get a real picture of who Jesus really is.  We need to get rid of the religious thinking and demonic lies that have distorted our view of who he really is.  How can you have a relationship with someone like the man pictured in most of these paintings?
Traditional depictions of Jesus

Much Christian art (and theology) has concentrated on guilt and suffering. But Jesus came to bring joy to the world - not to make guilt-ridden wrecks. This collection of paintings from artists from 18 countries gives their impressions of a laughing, loving Jesus who is a living presence.
Jesus Laughing Exhibition

I believe Jesus is very un-religious, in the sense that he really enjoys life and people.  I believe he loves to laugh, and he has a sense of humor.  He created you with a sense of humor, didn't he? What makes us think our creator would have less of a sense of humor than his creation?

I invite you to open yourself up and ask God right now to reveal to you the real Jesus so you can experience his exuberant love and joy!

Jesus is passionate for you, his heart burns to reveal himself to you. His heart is directed towards you, his eyes are ablaze, turned in your direction. He longs to give you his joy and he is enthusiastic to spend time with you. He wants you to experience him and get to know him!  Don't be afraid of experiencing and encountering Jesus!

The Road of the Kingdom

“In the desert prepare the way for the Lord;

make straight in the wilderness

a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,

every mountain and hill made low;

The rough ground shall become level,

the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

and all mankind together will see it.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

– Isaiah 40:3-5

Ondrea had a vision last year while we were in prayer with a couple others.  In the vision, she saw a road or highway.  The highway was the road that represented God's kingdom and also led towards his kingdom, the Promised Land.  The hand of God was there, directing and guiding the builders.  The work was hard, but enjoyable; it was not stressful or overly-difficult because those building were doing exactly what God wanted them to do. 

Those who were building the road did not know exactly where it led; all they knew was they were listening to God's instructions and obeying him.  Along the road were settlements, villages, houses, etc.  Many would leave the road and join the settlements.  Those in the settlements would spend time attempting to convince those building the road how great the settlements were, and why they should join their settlements.  The settlements many times were great places, filled with great people.  The settlements were not inherently evil, many great things were happening there. However, it was bad in the sense that those who settled had left their primary calling and were no longer building God's kingdom.  The settlements offered peace, safety, comfort, and could meet many needs.  Those trying to get those on the road to come into their settlements were sinning because they were distracting the builders from their true purpose in God.  They should have been able to recognize the call on others and encourage them in it rather than trying to make themselves feel better by getting others to "settle" with them.  Those on the road looked foolish to those in comfort so they felt "better than them" and a need to "help" the poor people that weren't in their settlement.
We believe the road represents the life of Faith, such as in Genesis 12 when Abraham left his country, not knowing exactly where he was going.  He was leaving a life of comfort and familiarity, leaving much of his family, to follow God. 

Hebrews 11:8-11
 ⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

I am reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 8:20
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Jesus had no place to call his own home.  He was a marked man from the time he entered his ministry, the religious leaders were out to kill him.  He lived to follow and do the will of the Father, he had no room to settle down and grow comfortable, not even a place to sleep at times.

I am also reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14
¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

The way to life is narrow and difficult while the way to destruction is easy and wide.  There are many detours and seemingly great places that God wants us to stay away from.  We are called to a life of faith, and that will include difficulty and self-sacrifice.

Settling for less than God's call on your life will mean different things to different people.  Listening to the shepherd's voice, obeying and following him is the key!