Ever find yourself frustrated that a word you received just never came to pass? Have you asked yourself what might be the reason or reasons that it didn’t. Here are some thoughts I believe will be helpful for your tomorrow.
Matthew 13 tells us that the word of God are like seeds. Words we get are also like seeds. So when you get a seed what do you have to do? You have to plant it. Many people get words put they never do anything with it. A seed not planted bears no fruit. How do you plant a word? First you have to plant it by saying Lord I believe this word. Then you have to cultivate the word by praying about it and pondering what it says. If you read Matthew 13 you’ll discover the seed can fall in stony places (our heart can become stoney) and it won’t grow. We can allow trials to kill our seed as will becoming entangled about the cares of the world. Every seed need to be cultivated, watered and weeded. Recently I planted some grass seed. I had to water it every day and even watering most of the seed never germinated because it was too hot. Yesterday I bought some top soil and burlap to cover the new soil and new grass seed I put down. I had to cultivate the seed just as we need to cultivate the word/seed we are given. If we leave the seed alone the seed simply dies. Are you tired of having your seed die? We must cultivate, water and protect our seed from the elements of life. Matthew 13 also tells us that our seed doesn’t grow because it is choked off by the things of the world. Life itself can kill your seed unless we otherwise preserve the seed. Matthew 13:18-23 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Seeds germinate at different rates so the need to continue to nurture the seed by praying about it, doing our best to water, weed and protect from the elements of life. If you receive a prophetic word as well these concepts apply with adding just one more thought. You must use the word like a sword in battle. 1 Timothy 1:18 “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare” You have to fight the enemy of your soul, fight your emotions and fight the negative thoughts we all get. An example of a seed is I wrote the other day that understanding is on the way. I am cultivating that word. I say this a lot if you don’t believe it who will. Oh some seeds that look like they have died are just in a dormant state. Cultivate your seed…
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If you get a chance I would encourage you to take in our Sunday morning worship service 8/2/20 (solomonsprochonline.com)
We are so blessed that each time that we meet The Holy Spirit is present. Each week we are greeted by the Holy Spirit and he Loves us and He is always making adjustments to our lives, always encouraging, always surrounding us with His affection. Yesterday, was one of those mornings when everyone knew God “was in the House.” There was a moment in the service when Rece (part of our worship team) sang a brief prophetic song which simply quoted part of Psalm 30:5 which says:
When I heard that I heard God wanting me to declare - THIS IS OUR MORNING.” Wherever you are hear this there has been a declaration in heaven - THIS IS YOUR MORNING… Perhaps one of the most frustrating things I have dealt with in my walk with God is His time table. I have often said to myself that his watch is broken. It is obvious that I usually have a preconceived idea of when God needs to things. I have my time line and He has His.
There are multiple reasons for that but I would like to talk about one. Plain and simple we are not ready. As much as I have tried on multiple occasions to convince God that my tame frame is good. It just doesn’t work. During this week I have had a number of people’s names and faces appear before me. They are bewildered why God hasn’t answered them. Perhaps He has but they don’t like the answer or they just haven’t been willing to see the answer or for now He has chosen not to answer. I have often remarked that we have the wheel within the wheel mentioned in Ezekiel.
Often God is working something else in us than what we can see or perceive at the time. You know the verse:
To be honest that through the years I have had this verse quoted to me for my benefit. Usually not happy to hear their input. Back to the idea we are not ready. The following verses in Exodus really illustrates the concept that we are not ready. The story is Israel has just left Egypt and their thinking okay in a week we’ll be in the promise land.
Wait a minute there was a short cut but God said you know if I allow you to go the short route you we face some things that you're not ready to face. In our Father’s infinite wisdom He sees what lies ahead and He loves us so much that he what’s to give us every chance to be successful. If the door or doors are not open rejoice Our Father is setting us up to SUCCEED… The nursery rhyme that has a deeper meaning for me. Here is what it says,
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the King's horses And all the King's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.” There are times in all of our lives when we all are so broken that we are unsure if we will be whole again. When those times of great brokenness crashes into our lives we somehow look to what we can do or what others could do. We look to friends, family, money, different circumstances - we’re desperate! We look every where to repair our brokenness. The more we look to our own resources the pit we are in seems to get deeper. In this state of brokenness we can easily not run to the only one who can put us back together again. We can find ourselves disappointed in God, hurt that he didn’t prevent it. Even when we pray there seems to be no answer, no comfort. It’s great to have people love and support us but in these times our only real answer and hope is the God that is ever so near.
This state of brokenness opens a door for us to discover that we can actually have the presence of God in our lives continually. Let’s read how Isaiah puts it.
The idea is to have a spirit of brokenness that has created a spirit of humility. It is here where God choses to dwell. Everyone has a Humpty Dumpty moment… Over the last week or so I’ve been asking the Lord what he wants me to do going forward? The answer is always the same talk about his power and demonstrate his power.
In talking about his power I am reaching out to everyone who has been with me in a meeting where the power of God was being manifest. I know each time I talk about the things I saw God do I am filled with faith. I believe we are to write a book called “He Was Among Us!” I said we because I am asking all of you to co-write this book with me. Can you imagine the impact we could have by writing what you have seen God do in a meeting with me or even in a private meeting. I would be “over the moon” if you would take the time to write as much as you want. I only ask that you give me permission to use what you wrote. I am seeing so many faces…
Please write and together we can glorify God. Have you discovered by now our thoughts and feelings often contradict the word of God. Then you add to that the continual lies of Satan designed to discourage us, distract us from our purpose/goals and to steal from everyone of us our purpose/destinies. We must declare and what God says above our thought and feelings.
One of the areas we need to take back is how amazingly powerful we are when we pray. Yes, our thoughts and feelings often agree with Satan that our prayers are ineffective and they heaven is closed to us. Here is the word of the Lord: It’s all a lie… We will replace the lies and distorted thoughts and feelings with truth. Here is the truth. When we pray our feelings have nothing to do with accomplishing great and mighty things. Here is what James writes:
You say I’m not righteous : Lie! Paul goes to great lengths to declare we are legally righteous because of the sacrifice of Christ. Here is one of many verses;
Truth is if you have committed your life to Christ you are righteous and you qualify for James 5:16.(NKJV) “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James goes on to say, look at the power available when we (ordinary people who are now extraordinary people now;
Look what happened when Jesus prayed:
Yes, despite our feelings, thoughts and lies when we pray heaven is open in fact it’s opened now and we have an invitation to enter that open heaven.
Truth is when you pray things happen… This morning as I was rereading what I wrote yesterday I got this thought. At least for me that is one of the ways God speaks to me (oh and the devil uses thoughts too).
I felt prompted that I needed to expand “talent”. I again could see many faces of people I know and don’t know and I could hear them say, “I don’t have any real talent God could use”. I can’t do this I can’t do that. I can’t express myself. I know what I want to say but when the words come out it’s not what I really want to say. I’m not an evangelist, I’m too shy to have the boldness to pray for people whether I know them or no. Here’s a good word from the Lord. Stop comparing yourself to everyone else. Stop rehashing what you don’t have and focus on what you do have.
Is your gift to listen to people? Is your gift mercy? How about compassion just the way to listen and respond to others. How about giving a person a hug or gently touching their hand? How about a phone call to say I’ve been thinking about you? Is your gift to send out short notes of encouragement through the mail or using emails. Send words of encouragement anonymously. Can you sow or sing? Can you say hello. I have in the past spoken about the power of hello (it is powerful). Can you make a meal, bake some cookies? Can you find way to serve in your church community? There is always a need to volunteer in multiple ways - cleaning, ushering, gardening, nursery, teaching, serving extraordinary people in transition (homeless). Can you encourage people just with a few words. That happened to me after church yesterday. Words have power… There are countless gifts too numerous to list. Perhaps you are a missionary or called to support one. Maybe God gives you burdens for people so you can pray. It could be you are an intercessor or not. If you want to look at spiritual gifts we have 1 Corinthians 12-14. Then there is :
Look at the gifts/talents mentioned in the following verses:
God’s looking for teachers, people who exhort, leads, shows mercy and yes the gift/talent to give themselves, time, money etc. I also am seeing the Holy Spirit distribute new gifts and talents and having some people put-on hold what they have done for years. It is a time of are beginnings, being stretched and challenged. It’s time to take risks of faith, to trust God in new ways, LISTEN YOU ARE NEEDED… YOU HAVE A TALENT/TALENTS GIVEN TO GLORIFY GOD AND EXPAND HIS KINGDOM.
Paul writes and says, USE what God has given you. Or we should listen to the question God asks Moses.
Moses changed the corse of history by using what he had not what he didn’t have. You too can change lives by using what God has given you… This morning around 6:15 I sat to be with the Lord. I didn’t come with my agenda or my to do list. I just wanted to be with him. Within moments I heard the sound of a trumpet. I remembered a verse in Revelation.
Then this morning as Ps Tom was opening the service he actually read this verse among others to the church. When that happens it makes me pause and reflect on how much our Father enjoys speaking with us. I continued to hear the trumpet and I became very excited and then I heard another verse come crashing into my head”
Then I heard, tell them that, ‘THEY HAVE TALENT.“ He began showing me a sea of faces and how these amazing sons and daughters of God were listening to lies. I literally saw the devil whispering into people’s ears and vast majority of people began to nod their head in agreement with the lies. I saw the Lord weep and he said they are allowing their gifts, talents and callings to be stolen. I heard him say, “Tell them, “THEY HAVE TALENT.” So I am climbing to the roof of my home and I am declaring you have talent that your Father gave you to honor and glorify him. Your talent/talents were given that we would find purpose and fulfillment. Paul had to write Timothy to remind him to use his gift/talent. I kind of feel God is reminding us as well.
I believe our Father is going to bring greater clarity and understanding what we are to do Get ready to hear how He wants to use you in your gifting. Don’t listen to familiar spirits. You’ve GOT TALENT - LETS USE IT FOR HIS GLORY… Yesterday while working outside my home Donna came to me and said “I know its hard for you not being able to travel and minister.” I can’t begin to tell you what that meant to me.
I had my entire year planned accept for one month. In January I was in the Dominican Republic. Then I was suppose to go to Romania in February but the Holy Spirit said “don’t go.” There was no explanation. Just “don’t go.” I had to contact the pastors and tell them I wasn’t coming and could only say that I was trying to be obedient. Then the why came three weeks later. My father (94 years young) was in Florida and it was time to bring him to live here in Massachusetts. I had to make many arrangements and I then flew to Florida spent a week getting his affairs in order spent days cleaning out his trailer and then we flew home. The next day I was on a plane to India. The trip was 10 days long a change from the original plan of 14 days. Praise God I heard to change how long I was to stay. My flight was the last flight to United States because they shutdown the airport in India. If I had not changed my flight I would have been stuck in India, Anyway, this morning I was telling the Lord (he already knew) that I was unable to travel. To be honest I probably was venting…Then in the middle of a sentence I heard “you can’t go but I can.” It was like getting a dope slap (being gently tapped on the side of my head). As I began to pray asking the Lord to visit every city, town, village and to personally visit every person I had ever met I suddenly saw a wind blowing. It was a gentle warm breeze that was coming from the throne of God. I became very excited thinking why didn’t I do this earlier. Yes, I can’t go but he can and He did. Even as I write this i can see angels going into the remote villages in Haiti, India, Dominican Republic, Moldova and all the places I have been in Romania. I hear the Spirit say to me, “pray and fan the flames.” I am reminded of Psalm 107 where it says”
So we can’t go but God can. It’s almost 8:30pm and I’ve come to my office to muse and talk to the Lord. I began saying to the Lord “you have to do something.” Our only answer is a mighty move of God. I love God’s response to Habakkuk we cried out in verse 2
1:2 “O Lord, how long must I call for help before you will listen? I shout to you in vain; there is no answer” God’s answer to Habakkuk and to us 1:5 The Lord replied: “Look, and be amazed! You will be astounded at what I am about” to do! For I am going to do something in your own lifetime that you will have to see to believe.” Father, our eyes are upon you. Show us what to do and what to say. Help us to comprehend who we are and stop listening to who we are not. Remember God has always worked through imperfect people. |
AuthorPastor Brian R. Weeks began ministering in 1972 and has served as a pastor to both youth and young adults. He also served as an associate pastor for eleven years, and then for 25 years as a senior pastor, apostolic missionary, and church planter. In March of 2017 he released his church Solomon’s Porch, but in order to remain part of the local church, continues to serve among its several pastors. Archives
January 2022
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