Equipped for the Prophetic Lifestyle

²⁸ “And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Acts 2:28-29

The Prophet Joel declares an outpouring of the Spirit of God regardless of age, sex or social class. This at the time was unimaginable given in the Old Testament, the pattern was that God only poured out His Spirit upon select individuals for a specific task. For example the Spirit of the LORD came upon Saul, Balaam, David etc and after their assigned tasks were done, the Spirit of God lifted off the person.

However, this is what Jesus says to the Apostles before He ascends into heaven;

⁴ And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; ⁵ for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:4-5

And on the day of Pentecost, both Joel’s prophecy and Jesus’ promise come to pass in full color.

“2 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Acts 2:2-4

The numbered disciples gathered was about one hundred and twenty and they all began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. As expected, the onlookers had differing reactions to the event. Some were amazed and marveled because they could hear these Galileans speaking their languages.

^“8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” ¹² So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

Acts 2:8-12

On the other hand, others mocked saying, “They are full of wine.” Well, Peter stands up and clarifies that the men were not drunk as it was too early in the day – the third hour – for that kind of thing. Then he refers to Prophet Joel word for word and a little more;

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸ And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.”

Acts 2:17-18

And on that day, 3000 souls were saved.

The promise of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. That promise of the Holy Spirit came with a “3-piece” package;

• Our sons and daughters shall prophesy
• Young men shall see visions
• Old men shall dream dreams

What does this mean for us today?

God kept His promise. He did send the Holy Spirit. Along with this promise, the “3-piece” package was delivered to us. No one was left out – the young and the old. Male and female. All have access. As a people of God, it is time for us to arise and live the life we are already equipped for – a Prophetic Lifestyle. God would like heaven to invade the day to day life through His sons and daughters all over the world. God would like an army of mouthpieces who will decode heaven’s voice and declare it to the recipients that their hearts will be turned to God just like the 3000 did on the day the promise was released. The 3000 saved that day was a demonstration of what it should look like when anyone – Peter in case – receives the Holy Spirit and operates fully under His power.

Arise! You have already been equipped for a Prophetic Lifestyle. You shall prophesy. You shall see visions. You shall dream dreams. Go be God’s mouthpiece that all may come to the knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

WHAT DO YOU SEE: The Power of a Name

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.

¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.”

Genesis 2:1, 19

When my husband and I were preparing for the birth of our children, we went through great lengths to find names for both these precious people. We went on the internet to find names that described what we were feeling in our hearts about them. For the firstborn, we were based our decision on the fact that firstborns in the old testament bible times were dedicated to God. Hence, Lemuel– Hebrew name meaning ‘Dedicated to God’. Then came the second child. As we pondered on what she would be called, friends of ours visited us and jokingly mentioned that since both parents are worship leaders, this child should be named Worship. And boom!!! The idea settled in our hearts and she got to be named Sinza – Luganda word meaning ‘Worship’. In the years that have followed, I see a continuous fulfillment of their names daily. At the age of 11, Lemuel is serving as an instrumentalist on the church worship team, he is mindful of people, justice is important, volunteers once in a while with children’s church, is innovative, has never broken a bone (even when they say boys will be boys, they will break bones)and many other things.  At 8, Sinza is singing soprano on the music team, writing songs, does vocal and lyrical practice independently, and is leading people older than herself.

God invites us to co-create with Him. He did not need Adam to do the naming because after all, the work of creation had been completed. But then, He goes ahead and brings each living creature to Adam ‘to see what he would call them’! It almost feels like a test of sorts to me. It seems as if God is checking what Adam’s perspective and thinking is concerning the creature. The last part of verse 19, confirms that He (God) is posing a question to Adam, ‘What do you see?’;

‘And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.’

A name is a powerful thing; a declaration of what someone, something or situation will be. When we receive children at birth, adoption or otherwise, God gives us a clean slate. Everything is else is set for the child – limbs, eyes, ears, nose, internal organs, etc. Only the name is missing! He is waiting to see what we shall name them; what we shall choose to declare over this child for the rest of their lives. Whatever we choose to name them is what they will be!

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18:21

God has given us the privilege of co-creating with Him in naming. Whether it is a child, an event, a health condition, or a situation; whatever you call it, it shall be.

 

Words of Peace

Genesis 41:15-16

“And Pharoah said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream to interpret it.’ So Joseph answered Pharoah, saying, ‘It is not in me; God will give an answer of peace.’”

Before Joseph got to hear the details of the dream which bothered Pharoah, he made a profound statement; “God will give an answer of peace!” Joseph’s experience of God in times of turmoil was peace. Pharaoh’s dream had thrown the whole nation into a state of panic; a catastrophic famine was inevitable. God’s answer indeed helped Egypt to collect one fifth of the produce of the land in the seven years of plenty.

At the heart of every prophecy (by way of dreams, visions, words of wisdom and knowledge, etc) should be always be words of peace.

 “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” 1 Cor 14:1,3

In John 7:11b, Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery; ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’  God said to Abram, ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them for four hundred years. But in the fourth generation they will return here.’ Gen 15: 13, 16a

However difficult a message is, there ought to be peace and healing at the heart of every prophecy. Declare words of peace as you prophesy.