Why are Prophets So Often Misunderstood?
- Transcript
- Hi my name's Julian Adams. You know, as a kid growing up in church, I used to be super scared when I heard that a prophet was coming through town. I remember thinking to myself, "I better make sure that I'm super holy "'cause I wanna get rid of all my sin" 'cause all of the models that I saw in the prophetic in those days were angry, frustrated people who wanted to expose all of the bad things in people. I'm not quite sure how much sin I really had as a 10 year old kid. But, go figure, I was repenting and fasting to make sure that I was super holy just in case my sin would be exposed. I've noticed in the church today, there's this sense of misunderstanding around the prophetic and around prophets who are seemingly angry and who want to expose sin, and who cover it all under the guise of "discernment." And I want to encourage you that that's not what biblical prophesy looks like. You see, I've discovered that often people in the prophetic prophesy through an Old Testament lens. They prophesy through a view of scripture that actually, the Bible says, speaks of Jesus, points to Jesus, and Jesus is now our new model. He is the perfect prophet. And that's how we're to live. That's how we're to prophesy and it seems to me that Jesus felt comfortable with sinners. He felt with those who were not regarded by society as clean, yet He was able to speak into their lives, and to call out the best out of them, and that's what New Testament prophets should look like. That's how we should minister. One of the things that I see very often is a frustration that builds in prophetic ministry, and in prophets particularly in local churches because they often have seen, prophets often have seen, what God wants to do tomorrow. They're living in that today, but the rest of the church is still trying to catch up with yesterday and it produces this kind of tension. It produces this kind of an elastic bag of stress, as it were. And the prophets are like, "Come on! You've gotta move faster. "You're not doing enough!" And it produces a frustration in them. I've discovered that when you live in the place of healthy understanding, that God is in charge of everything, and He's moving circumstances, people, and hearts behind the scenes so that everything would work according to His purposes, it lifts the pressure off of trying to manufacture something. It lifts the pressure off of living in frustration, my responsibility is to bring the prophetic in a healthy way that looks like Jesus. That looks like His characteristics. That looks like His heart. And when I do that, it breaks open an opportunity for people to partner with heaven in the prophetic. Prophets aren't meant to be angry. They're meant to carry the sense of God's life. They're meant to carry the sense of God's mercy. In the Bible, justice and mercy goes together. And prophets who carry a strong sense of justice also have to carry a strong sense of mercy, because at the cross the victim and the perpetrator go free. That's what extravagant, scandalous grace looks like. And so I want to invite you into living in a prophetic way that reveals the heart of mercy and justice, that's not filled with frustration or anger, but lives happily in the tension of tomorrow knowing that God is working everything out in such way as to bring people into the fullness of His purpose. Hey we've got a free PDF on how to give words of knowledge, click on the link below. I know it's gonna encourage you. Also, if you're loving what we're producing, won't you like our YouTube and share it on all of your social media platforms.
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