Three Death Traps
A prophet needs to stay effective. That means he/she needs to stay free. Paul says that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom or liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). This is essential for any prophet. Without the Spirit of the Lord, without Christ, without His presence and without fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, there is no freedom, no grace, no power, and no prophesying.
That being said, even when in communion with God, some things are left to the prophet to be aware of and make sure are in check for the sake of preserving that very same freedom. Paul also instructs not to grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
In Christ, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). The Spirit residing in us gives us life. There is no excuse to use this freedom to practice lawlessness. But falling into detrimental behaviors may cost us a lot and cause hurt to those around us. Being grounded in the love of God is of utmost importance and that is really the anchor of our hope and all that our faith and service are grounded on.
I would like to discuss 3 major things that can cripple a prophet, three death traps. These are mainly things that creep in because of lack of care, prayer or communion with God and can serve as signs of warning when they do happen. In fact, these may render a prophet completely ineffective. Of course, this does not mean that God rejects the prophet, but it does mean that the prophet can no longer operate freely and effectively.
1. Being Judgemental
The moment we allow a judgmental behavior and approach towards fellow human beings, we immediately cut ourselves off from the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against demonic powers (Ephesians 6:12). The moment we fall in the trap of targeting humans, we immediately desert the ownership of ministry, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and are left all alone. We are gifted with supernatural abilities to discern and judge only for the sake of saving those who are lost, never for targeting or accusing them, which is the work of the devil himself, who is the accuser of men.
2. Being Too Common
On many occasions, I've written about the importance of prophetic people being part of the community and reachable, just as Jesus was in his community. But being reachable does not mean being common. John the apostle tells the church to not love the world. He adds that whoever does love the world, the love of the Father is not in them (1 John 2:15). The Lord said that we are in the world but not of the world. He prayed to the Father to keep us from the evil one, in this world (John 17:15). By the grace of the Father, through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, we have what it takes to serve Him in this world, reach the unreached, touch the dying with the touch and the Word of Life. It is up to us to keep watch and make sure that we are in the world but not of it so that we can offer it what it desperately needs, not what it wants.
3. Being Religious
The religious spirit is a tricky one. It will creep in unnoticed, disguised as holiness, as a virtue, but will rob us of the very jewel of godliness which is brokenness and humility before God, as the only Holy One, the only source of righteousness, who adopted us, clothed us, redeemed us, when we were still sinners and enemies. He came down to save us because we were unable to save ourselves. It is because He loved us first, that we can now love Him. Nothing we have, we have of ourselves or by ourselves. Everything we have, we owe it to him. Furthermore, everything we have now, even the things received from Him, we should adopt an attitude of counting them all as a loss for the surpassing glory which awaits us, counting nothing like quality or advantage over others (Philippians 3:7-11). We ought to remind ourselves constantly that the King of glory was crucified on a cross in the most humiliating manner by men who considered themselves to be authorized to condemn Him, in the name of religion.
"The last shall be first and the first last." (Matthew 20:16)
Friends, if you do find yourselves in any or all of these, the good news is that "if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2). I come in agreement with you right now, as you are reading this, to plead the blood of Jesus, that can cleanse us of all sin. (1 John 1:7)
I believe that these are times of empowering and release. No setbacks are tolerated. We need to be ready. We cannot afford to be bound by any of these. It is time for the Church to go in with full force. We're here to hold each other up. We are here to come in agreement and defeat the schemes of the devil. We are going in to take what is rightfully ours, what is rightfully our inheritance. The Kingdom is here. Rejoice, hold your ground, we're going in, any minute now...
"As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.”
(2 Samuel 5:24)
