10/02/2009
During the healing movement in the 60’s and 70’s God gave great grace and authority to His ministers. There were many great signs and wonders.
It was mainly because God wanted to restore the healing ministry to His body again. Now as this ministry blossomed many failed to see the bigger picture this particular ministry and its gifts fit into. They failed to put the gifts into perspective and draw people to the Healer. So people started to look for healing or looking to the minister rather than the Healer.
When this happens there is an unhealthy focus on those particular gifts. People start giving more importance to them, thereby ignoring (or at the expense of) the rest of the gifts. As a result when God wants to birth something fresh or renew another truth to the body, many stay behind and stop proceeding further into what God wants to do next.
Also, when people loose focus on the One who gave the gifts in the first place, men and women start occupying a place of honor that only belongs to God.
As a result many ministers in the healing movement fell from grace and ended badly, bringing great pain and confusion to the body of Christ and tarnishing the Lord’s name.
Now we need to understand that each ministry has its value and emphasis in the body of Christ. However when one considers itself more important than the other it is on the road to a disastrous ending.
The prophetic movement also started in a similar fashion as the healing movement. Since it was the times for the renewal of the gift of prophecy and the role of the prophet to the body of Christ, great grace was bestowed upon it. Remarkable visitations and powerful prophetic words came forth during the birth of this movement. However, since we didn’t learn from the mistakes of the past we have traveled down a road similar to that of the healing movement. As a result of the unhealthy focus on the prophetic gift and prophetic people, there has been a lot of confusion in the body of Christ.
One of the results of this unhealthy focus today is that people are taught to prophesy without a prior emphasis on why they are prophesying. They or the gift by itself is the object of focus and importance rather than Christ.
“The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev 19:10). This is the core and the fundamental essence of prophecy. The grace for prophecy flows from this truth. When we don’t have this fundamental truth in place, how can we tap into the prophetic realm and walk in it?
“The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev 19:10). This is the core and the fundamental essence of prophecy. The grace for prophecy flows from this truth. When we don’t have this fundamental truth in place, how can we tap into the prophetic realm and walk in it?
We’ve tried to access this realm from a self centered foundation rather than on the foundation to see Christ glorified. While God’s mercy might have sustained us in the past, there has come a time where it has run out. This has led to a lot of error and therefore many prophesy according to the corrupt nature of their heart, exalting self rather than Christ.
For us to get back on track, we need to get back to basics, which is to want to see Christ and Him alone glorified. We need a heart that desires to see His purposes alone fulfilled and not our selfish ambitions and egoistic endeavors.
For us to get back on track, we need to get back to basics, which is to want to see Christ and Him alone glorified. We need a heart that desires to see His purposes alone fulfilled and not our selfish ambitions and egoistic endeavors.
In conclusion, as we have brought to light mistakes that need to be set right in the prophetic movement we need to be firm on certain things.
The gift of prophecy and the office of a prophet is a much needed grace (as the rest of the gifts) in the body of Christ. While we might have veered of track it does not necessarily mean we will end badly. Let us pray for a proper renewal and restoration of the movement founded on the fear of the Lord that will bring it back on course. Let us not be quick to judge when we see the mistakes in the movement but rather humbly ask God to set things right.
