Thursday, 21 September 2023
“You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; GOD is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? Now if you are exempt from correction and without discipline, in which all [of GOD’s children] share, then you are illegitimate children and not sons [at all].” – Hebrews 12:7-8 AMP
One of the ways that prove that we belong to Jesus is when we are able to hear His voice and we follow Him, (John 10-27). The question then becomes, if you are confident that you hear His voice, what is the voice saying to you about you? Many of us have a habit of hearing what GOD is saying about others and not ourselves. We listen to a rebuking message and we hope so and so is hearing it because they are a problem and the message must deal with them. If the message does indeed deal with that so and so, then they are GOD’s biological child and not the one who does not hear and receive the correction or rebuke for themselves. That one, the Word of GOD is clear, is illegitimate.
I remember when I first came into the ministry, some teachings I would find hard to take in because they felt harsh to my soul. As much as I was desperate for GOD, I was not fully prepared for the breaking and undoing that would take place within me in order for me to truly be His. In moments of rebellion, I would find myself offended by a message because it was so directly aligned with me that I would ask if the man of GOD had received some intel about me, or if indeed it was GOD talking. But I soon learned that whatever my thoughts are, the word MUST break, rebuke, and correct me in order for me to be supple and usable to GOD.
It was also hard to see the Prophet as a father and someone to whom I was suddenly accountable. After all, I was a grown woman who had lived her life alone in peace and not answerable to anyone. So why did I suddenly have this urge in my heart to want to live right, and not to hurt the man of GOD who is also my father? Bare in mind that at no point did the Prophet ever say I must now call him father or answer to him or even report anything about my life to him, but the Spirit of GOD ministered to me that indeed this was my spiritual father and whatever happens to me, mattered to him as he stands guard over me.
In the times that I’ve had to stand at the pulpit and share the Word, that very same Word has dealt with me in the secret place while preparing. “For the Word of GOD is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NKJV. So (on a much smaller scale of cause) I can imagine what the man of GOD must be going through on the daily in order to hear a Word from GOD that, not only covers and protects the entire flock but also breaks and builds us as his sons and daughters.
It is easy to feel that being accountable to someone is a burden and an inconvenience, but that is exactly what the enemy wants you to think because he knows how much that accountability will save and protect you from his schemes. The one who truly hears the Word of GOD will not run a mock and is safer under the covering of the church than out there in the world as a lone ranger. “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 GNT.
It is easy to feel that being accountable to someone is a burden and an inconvenience, but that is exactly what the enemy wants you to think
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