"Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. They continually say to those who despise Me, The Lord has said, You shall have peace; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, No evil shall come upon you." For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? Behold a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury, a violent whirlwind! it will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly." Jeremiah 23:16-20 NKJV
Imagine with me for a second that you owned a washer machine factory, and your company made the best washer machines on the market. To help people get the most out of their machines you wrote an instruction manual detailing how to care for the washers, and what not to put into it. For a while, everything is going great for a season. Then some strange complaints start to pour into the customer service department. Company salespeople have gone around and told customers that heavy rocks can be put into the machines without any bad side effects. On top of that lie, the salespeople have informed the customers that no matter how they abuse the machines and try to make the washers do things it was not designed to do, that the maker will honor the warranty and everything will turn out fine. Now ask yourself, what would you do as the company owner to those salespeople? In the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah, God is pouring out His complaint with the false prophets that are telling the people lies in God's name. Instead of turning the hearts of the people toward God they were encouraging and participating in wickedness. Instead of leading the people toward God they were gathering followers to themselves by telling them prophetic dreams that made everyone feel good. The result is instead of following God, the people were following these rock star prophets, which had made them worthless. A prophecy that does not originate with God is divination. True biblical prophecy always points the recipient back to God and can either correct, comfort, or strengthen. Divination always points the recipient back to themselves and will encourage sin, pride, and stubbornness In this age be careful of the teachers and prophets that you listen to. Satan ministers can transform themselves into teachers of light. Remember the warning that Jesus gave concerning the end days. "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying I am the Christ and will deceive many."Matthew 24:4-5. Just like how the false teachers came in Yahweh's name and turned the people away with false visions so it will be now. False teachers and prophets will come in Christ's name, telling people that Jesus is the way of life. But these false prophets and teachers will lead many astray because sometimes they "proclaim the name of Christ". The warning that Christ and the apostles preached over and over again concerning the end times was, do not be deceived. Every prophecy, teaching, dream, and vision has to be judged by the word of God.
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
If you have ever read through the Bible, you will notice that God is really into memorials. After crossing the Jordan, God instructed the Israelites to grab 12 large stones from the midst of the river to mark it as a memorial. The reason is that humans have a tendency to forget the milestones of the previous generations. When Jesus told the disciples that every time they drank the wine and ate the bread it was in remembrance of Me. The beautiful thing about communion is that you can take it at home between you and God. I decided to take communion this past weekend with my children. After the initial Mom what is going on questions, my son finally asked me the most important question. "Mom, why do we need to take communion? At that moment as the children stood around the dining room table, each with their own round cracker and a glass of grape juice, I answered. We do this to celebrate and remember the sacrifice that Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus died so that we could live with Him in heaven as part of His family. That is why we eat the bread. We drink this juice to remember that His blood heals us, and cleanses us from our sins that separated everyone from God. I don't know if they fully understood the ramifications of what I said. But in that moment the dining room became a sacred space connecting my little family with the Divine. Now we have a new family tradition of remembering the Lord's death till He comes again.
As many of you know I am a mom of three beautiful children. Last week the children's father called to tell them that he was going to get them a yummy surprise. Thiana my youngest was particularly excited because her daddy always gets her the best treats. While the kids were waiting for their dad to come over Thiana was starting to get a bit hungry. She said mommy when is daddy coming, I'm really hungry? I said do you want something to eat while you wait for your dad to come? Yes, can I have some square cereal? I said you sure can. As I was preparing her cereal, Thiana had another question. Mommy if I eat this cereal I won't be hungry for daddy's surprise. Your right, you probably won't have room to eat daddy's surprise if you eat now. I watched as Thiana was faced with this moral dilemma, as concern washed over her little face. Mommy, I don't want any cereal I will wait for daddy to come. Are you sure sweetheart? Your daddy may be running a bit late. Yes mommy, Thiana replied I will wait for daddy.
Twenty minutes later Thiana comes back to my office and climbs into my lap. Mommy when is daddy coming, I'm really hungry? Your daddy will be here just like he promised sweetheart. Doesn't your daddy always give you yummy things when he promises? Yes, said Thiana but I'm really hungry now! But if I eat the cereal I won't be able to eat the surprise. Are you sure daddy is coming? Well, baby, you know that your daddy loves you very much right? Yes mommy, said Thiana. Then because your daddy loves you, he will come with your surprise. But if you want I can always get you cereal while you wait. What would you like to do, for it is your choice Thiana? Then I will wait for daddy to come, I won't eat the cereal. Certain in her choice and convinced that her daddy loves her she hopped off my lap and went to play with her sister.
As their Dad got delayed, Thiana went through the choice of eating now or waiting for the surprise at least 3 more times that afternoon. Each time I told her that her father loves her and he will keep his promise to his little girl. Despite the hunger pains she was going through, each time Thiana chose to wait, and declared that daddy is coming. Finally, the long-awaited moment arrived when Daddy came bearing all kinds of treats. Thiana got a big juicy cheeseburger that looked almost bigger than her head, as well as some lollipops and snack cakes. As she dug into that big cheeseburger, with meat juices dripping down her chin she smiled and said I'm glad I waited, Mommy.
Trusting in the Prophetic Word
Whenever God sends His word to us, we as believers are immediately faced with a choice to make. Do we believe in the divine word that was sent or do we find our own way to meet our needs? Thankfully in all things God has provided an example to us of what not to do while waiting. The writer of Hebrews said " TToday if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion" Hebrews 3:15. During Israel's Wilderness (waiting) season "God said that they tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works for 40 years, so I swore in My wrath they shall not enter My rest" Heb3:9-11. Do you remember that saying that God will not give us more than we can bear? Well, that principle applies to when God asks us to trust Him with the right time for the promise to appear. When we were new believers, did you notice that God often came through for you quickly? Sometimes in the most dramatic and spectacular fashion imaginable. Those deliverances left no doubt in your mind that God was with you and for you. As you begin to mature in the faith, He started to put you in situations where the wait is stretched out a bit longer. In an ideal situation, you would have recalled how God came through the last time and held out and trust that He would come through again. This cycle continues over and over again with each delivered promise bringing us to another level in Christ. Hopefully, while we wait on God, we begin to rest on His promise, knowing that if He did it before, He will do it again. That rest during the wait is what keeps us from working to make something happen in our own strength. Let's go back to the example of the Israelites and what not to do while waiting. The journey during the Wilderness kicked off in spectacular fashion. A pillar of fire guided their way by night and a cloud by day. This lead them to the Red Sea miracle where God forever put their former life behind them, by parting the sea and drowning Pharoah's armies. God was doing everything possible to show them that the people could trust Him just like their forefathers did. Apparently, God didn't build up enough trust for the Israelites because it quickly went out the window a mere THREE DAYS after the Red Sea deliverance. The Israelites complained about the bitter water as if God wouldn't supply water for them. For it was God that took them on that route! This dysfunctional cycle of miracle, complaining, disobedience, repentance, and miracle continued until the final culmination of the mutiny of the 10 bad spies. At that point, God had enough of the relationship and decided to start again with the next generation.
Entering His Rest
So what stopped the Israelites from entering the Promise Land? The writer of Hebrews said that an evil heart of unbelief caused them to depart from the living God. In every scenario where the Israelites faced a dilemma, instead of holding fast to the promise that God would provide, they would despair and act out. Now, what does unbelief look like to God? Unbelief says to God I don't trust You, and because I don't trust You, I don't believe that You will do what You said. Remember unbelief stops the hand of God from acting in your life because it also leads to rebellion. Recall the first human sin in the garden Genesis 3:1-5. God had provided for Adam and Eve for probably years in a perfect environment. Then Satan comes along and causes Eve to lose trust in God's motives and provision for her household. Thinking that God was now untrustworthy she took the matter of knowing good and evil into her own hands. The result, God's provision was canceled out and they were kicked out of Paradise. When Jesus was traveling in His hometown, He could not do many mighty works because of their UNBELIEF Matthew 13:58.
"A promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. The word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it, for we who have believed do enter that rest" Hebrews 4:1-3. Remember that God will equip you to perform the duties He has called you to do. If you feel during your waiting that your faith is running short, then ask Him for faith. "For by grace you have been saved, through FAITH, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is the GIFT of God, not of works lest anyone should boast" Ephesians 2:9. If you find yourself questioning God that is ok, He can handle your questions. In fact, it is better to take your questions to God and have a difficult conversation with Him, rather than letting Satan talk to you about your questions. We have a great High Priest that can sympathize with our weaknesses. Our High Priests tells us to come boldly before the throne to find mercy and grace to help in our time of need, Hebrews 4:16.
Hasn't God performed so many miracles in your life up until now? Remember that your heavenly Father loves you. He has given you a great high priest in heaven, and Christ lives to make intercession for you. Lastly, God has given you His Spirit that lives and dwells inside of you as proof that you are His child. God will come through for you. Wait and trust in His timing, for He knows when you will be ready to receive. For the blessing of the Lord maketh one rich and He adds no sorrow with it Proverbs 10:22.
My name is Shannelle, I am a stay at home mother, writer, baker, artist and all around woman madly in love with her Creator! I also have a YouTube channel under Java Devotions.
