The Gift Of Prophecy

  “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but of the Father who sent Me.” JOHN 14:23-24

  In the list of Paul regarding the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit we see that there is a gift of prophecy for some members of the Body of Christ. In the Old Testament all of the prophets said “the word of the Lord came unto me saying…” Today God speaks to us from His word, I am referring to the written word of the Bible which is what the sower sows among the people. As for God’s selection of souls to be prophets He always choose those who obeyed the commandment to read and speak the word of God. The prophets were those who reverenced the word and considered it to be holy. And hence they would not mix religions amid the doctrines of the God’s word, nor regard the so called authority of the word of men.

  “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:8

  Now Jesus tells us that if we love Him we will keep His words, His words of the New Covenant, and He promised us that if we do then He and the Father would come to us and make their home with us, in us. As it is written “Christ in you the hope of glory” and “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” and ” Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

  Jesus also tells us this “the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life.” Wherein the Spirit of God abides in and dwells in His word. Hence if we read and study the word of God, and get His word planted in us, then His word will sprout to life in us, it will come alive as the Living word of God in us. And we then shall be as Jesus was who was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). We too shall have the word abiding in these tabernacles and hence temples of flesh. And so, the Spirit of the Father and the Son abides in us.

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:23

  And so, for prophets today in the Body of Christ it is the word of God and the Spirit of God in His word that stirs in our spirits, stirring up our understanding, as well as our vision. We can envision things in the word of God, even the deep things of His word that He opens up to us by removing the seals off of His word, much like the veil of the temple was rent into two so that we can access the throne of God in heaven through Christ in us, and not have to go before any priest to represent us.

  Hence the gift of prophecy working in souls across the Body of Christ today, works through the written word of God that they have read and studied and planted in their hearts to stir up in their hearts, mind and soul, stirring up their spirit to receive a vision or dream or a word of understanding. And they are more concerned about the prophecy in the Bible that people have not read and are not aware of more than anything in this world afoot today.

  Hence God speaks to His prophets today through the word of God that they read and meditate in.  The prophetic soul has the word of God planted in them to lead and guide them.  And it helps them to discern the difference between the Spirit of God speaking in their hearts and souls as compared to some other voice, and this world is full of voices as we all know that can influence us.  And so we are influenced by the Spirit of God working through His word.

  I can tell you this, where God wants to lead people today is through those things in His word that men have over looked now for many generations.  Men tend to get caught up in religious doctrine and interpretations and think that these views and opinions are the word of God, as orthodox interpretations of the end times.  Yet they have not studied all of the Old Testament prophecy to realize that they are the foundations that New Testament prophecy are built upon and are that which is used to define and interpret the New Testament.  And chances are then, that the end times scenarios of modern theologians are full of holes and human interpretations rather than that which is the true vision of things across the landscape of God’s word.  Which could mean, that the trends of the future, and the outcome of things are not at all what religion has taught us.

  Those of us who do have the gift of prophecy know that we can only be approved of God by having the word planted in us, which comes alive in us, and so lives in us according to His will.  You can not say you are a prophet without the word of God living in you, some might think they are prophets and have God’s approval but they tend to lean towards the words of men for men’s approval and some even mix the words of new age prophets amid their teachings, and hence are false prophets.

  “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15