Prophetic Ministries Today

There is one verse of scripture the Lord has given to me many times as a word from Him to the church. This particular verse also confirms that God is still appointing angels to various churches to lead them into a successful place of worship. When we are commissioned individually by God to go and accomplish a certain task, He will send an angel before us to prepare the way.

"Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." Exodus 23:20-22

There are times when God will give us supernatural strength and empower us with the strength of an angel to defeat our foes. Many times the Lord has given men power beyond their physical or natural abilities. There are stories of men picking up objects that are humanly impossible to lift in order to save a life. Children have fallen from great heights that would normally lead to death; however, they tell how someone caught them before hitting the ground . (ref. Psalm 91:12,12) Many testimonies have been collected over the past few years regarding similar encounters with life saving Angels of the Lord. We find written in the book of Zechariah that God gave old men strength that equaled that of King David's, for God's desire was that Jerusalem would not be defeated by its enemies.

"In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." Zechariah 12:8,9

Too many times we do good things to please God, but it is not what God wants us to do. When this happens, God gets angry and we get in trouble. Too often I see people running around doing things they believe pleases the Lord only to find them later weeping in confusion and despair. "Why am I going through these trials and tribulations when I have done all of these good things," they say? They have the misconception that it must be Satan causing their problems because they are serving God, when in reality they are serving themselves. They begin to rebuke Satan, when in fact they are really rebuking the Lord who is trying to correct their ways and lead them into His perfect will. I have heard people quote this next verse of scripture when they are going through the furnace of affliction.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are CALLED according to HIS PURPOSE." Romans 8:28

This verse says nothing about the devil attacking us. What it does say, however, is that if we are in HIS PURPOSE (His will) all things will work together for our good. If we are not following what God has CALLED us to do, then we have no business doing it, no matter how good it may seem.

There was a time when I would give away my last twenty dollars if I felt someone needed it more than I did. I would walk away feeling noble and honorable before God. Years later I gave someone my last few dollars and the Holy Spirit came to me in anger and put His finger in my face and chewed me out. "Why are you mad at me, Lord?" I asked Him. He replied, "I was teaching this one how to trust me for his financial blessings and you got in My way." What I had thought to be a good thing turned out to be a big mistake. I do not give away money to feel good about myself any longer, even if I feel compassion to do so. I now wait upon the Lord for His okay before giving away anything. The Lord is grieved when He blesses us with a gift given for our needs and then we give that gift away for our own self-gratification. We play God when we parade around blessing people with His gifts that are intended for our own needs. One reason God may withhold His blessings from us is so that we will learn this spiritual law. (ref. Romans 12:8) Now the only time I bless someone is if God prompts me to do so. Many times I have found myself repenting for doing these, so called, good deeds. These works are only good in the eyes of man, not God. I have had to repent of dead works many times before finally learning this lesson.

"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to the perfection, not laying again the foundation of REPENTANCE OF DEAD WORKS and of faith toward God." Hebrews 6:1