Does this scenario sound familiar? You receive a prophetic word either from someone or through a dream of how God sees you or God’s plans for you then within a very short period of time thereafter, the exact opposite transpires in the natural. (Aside: my understanding of prophecy are words that encourage, edify and comfort. 1 Corinthians 14:3)
That’s happened to me 3 times in the past few weeks.
I was having shall we say a “lively discussion” about this with my Heavenly Father to the tune of “what’s up with this” fueled by doubts such as did the person speaking to me hear correctly, did I interpret the dream correctly, did I mis-interpret what appeared to be circumstances aligning for God’s provision accompanied by disappointment in either my actions or the actions of others towards me that seemed diametrically opposed to the message I’d received.
With the caveat that this may be on the verge of TMI :), I share with you that one of Holy Spirit’s favorite times to speak to me is when I’m showering. It’s like the natural of act of the water washing away the grime of the world and being completely exposed and authentic opens a connection in the spiritual realm for the same to occur.
As I toweled off after a shower, that is when I heard it “the Joseph effect”. My profound response was “Huh”? I heard it again “the Joseph effect” followed by seeing Joseph in the bottom of a pit, left to die by the very brothers he had recently seen in a dream bowing down to him.
Ohhhhh …. Joseph had a choice. Give up on the 2 dreams God had given to Joseph of His plans for him or hold on to those dreams/promises through years of an up and down roller coaster ride to arrive at the dream’s fulfillment.
The phrase “nip it in the bud” just popped into my thoughts and with it the image of Barney Fife from the The Andy Griffith TV show. When Barney didn’t want something to happen that was his response “Nip it, just nip it in the bud” before something ever had a chance to take root and transpire.
Hmmmmm …. sound like a possible game plan the enemy may have for you and me, joints heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17)?
We can choose to hope in the truth that God’s word contains within it the very power necessary to accomplish itself (Luke 1:28-38) accompanied by God’s faithfulness to complete the work He has started in you (Phil 1:6). Or, we can capitulate to the enemy’s “nip it in the bud” scheme, i.e., the Joseph effect.
It’s a moment-to-moment, day-after-day choice that is before us … to hope or not to hope. It is not for the faint of heart.
As we enter this New Year … I offer these 2 quotes to encourage you to choose to hope and turn “nip it in the bud” on the enemy himself:
This is what the Eternal One says,
the One who does the impossible,
the One who makes a path through the sea,
a smooth road through tumultuous waters,
The prophet appeals to a powerful memory: the exodus.
He reminds God’s people—all descendants of slaves in Egypt—
how God liberated them from oppression,
how God devastated the powerful army that pursued them
in order to take them back to the whip and lash, back to servitude in Egypt.
Stories of the exodus have been told time after time for many generations;
they are permanent fixtures in their minds.
The prophet evokes these amazing memories
to comfort them and assure them that what God is about to do
is like what God did do for their ancestors centuries ago.
Eternal One: Don’t revel only in the past,
or spend all your time recounting the victories of days gone by.
Watch closely: I am preparing something new;
it’s happening now, even as I speak,
and you’re about to see it.
I am preparing a way through the desert;
Waters will flow where there had been none.
Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 VOICE
Quoted from Bill Johnson’s teaching 8/18/13
“Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Nothing is two words.
No and the word thing is the word Rhema.
Rhema is a freshly spoken Word of God.
It is different than what is in print.
It is the voice.
It actually carries with it the implication that it is the voice of God that you hear.
So it says no freshly spoken word of God will be impossible.
The word impossible means: without ability.
So it can actually be translated like this:
No freshly spoken Word of God will ever come to you
that does not contain its own ability to perform itself.
The Word of God comes with ability.
It is the Word of God that carries ability.
It is the Word of God that carries divine capacity to perform itself.
Your part, my part is the tender heart,
it is the yieldedness, it’s the embracing, it’s the protecting.
Mary modeled this beautifully.
The Mother of Jesus would ponder these things in her heart;
she would stop and meditate;
hover over; protect these words and guard these words that God had given to her
through the shepherds, through the wise-men etc.
She guarded them, she protected them, and savored them,
she went over them over and over again.
Why?
Because those were words that needed fulfillment
that she couldn’t bring about,
but she also didn’t want to miss her opportunity.”
Hope Without Limits 