Prophecy contains a call

Bethel Church is Prophetic

We have actively pursued the revelatory gifts and especially throught he efforts of Keith and Pauline we are growing as a prophetic part of the body of Christ. Bethel has some prophetic words from the past that I feel to remind us today: “Bethel is called to be an Apostolic Training center, training and releasing apostles” “Bethel is called to be a place of firsts” “As part of the Catch the Fire Family of churches Bethel shares in the call to be the cutting edge of God’s plan to fill the earth with His glorious kingdom as we fill the earth with churches that release God’s glory.” “We have a call to have fun as we give our lives away for the Kingdom”

More recently at a world leader’s retreat in the Dominican Flora received a word from the Lord that we must prepare to grow to 300 people. When we receive prophetic leading and calling from the Lord it contains information, and invitation. And they are not separate. The Prophetic word itself contains a call to follow, submit and obey the Lord as we receive it. Prophetic revelation from the Lord is His way of saying “this is who I see you to be, this is what I am inviting you to become, put your little hand in my hand and lets go after this”.

Here’s part of a word I received in 1999.

“The Lord has anointed you and there is a Mantle upon you, a STRONG mantle, even an APOSTOLIC mantle upon you. You will be a father to His people, one who teaches and trains and prepares. Wisdom and revelation will be on either hand of yours, you will not lack them. Ask and I will give the Nations to you as your inheritance. You will lead leaders, you will have leaders under you and you will be a leader of leaders in the house of the Lord, fathering other leaders.”

This word was information, and invitation. I have had times when I had to re-read this and renew my faith that this is part of how God sees me. There were times after this word was given when it seemed untrue. I struggled at times with loneliness, with the refining, with the way it looked like things were moving faster for others and I was going nowhere. But the invitation contained in the information remained, and I have been walking into more and more of the things He has spoken as I follow Him.

In 2005 I received my first significant invitation to pastor. Duncan and Kate called me into their office and told me they had a vision for a Catch the Fire young adult church in Guelph Ontario, and would I like to go plant it and pastor it? With great excitement I agreed, and walked out of that office praising God for what He was going to do. For the next three months I did absolutely nothing to activate that invitation. Duncan and Kate saw the potential in me, loved me, trusted me, and called me, and I did not know how to respond. My heart’s cry was “Thank you Lord that someone sees in me what I believe YOU see in me, this is going to be so exciting.” I did not visit Guelph. I did not research Guelph. I did not look for potential venues. I did not begin to consider who I would invite to come with me. It did not occur to me to take any steps whatsoever. My only thought was “i’ve been called to plant a church in Guelph”. A second meeting was called and Duncan and Kate asked “so how are things going with Guelph?” “Still excited, I’m ready, just let me know when you’re thinking.”

“Oh, well we want YOU to let US know when YOU are thinking. Just get over there and see what the Lord will say, and then we can talk about it, strategize, plan, get you moving”. Spolier alert, I did not plant a church in Guelph. A call came to me that was directly in line with who I am called to be, and I took no action in repsonse to that call. I believed it, but took no action. I had faith, but no works. So my faith did not lead to life. I had a call, but I responded to it by believing “Yay, God’s going to do it”. It isn’t faith if it doesn’t require faithfulness. It’s wishful thinking. Thus began a process of retooling and reworking my understanding of what God is looking for when He calls us. To borrow today’s language, I deconstructed my faith in the realm of taking action so it could be RE-constructed in a way that works properly. Some of you may be able to relate to “wishful thinking” faith. So have hope, you’re not alone.

----pause---- If God gives you a prophetic call, it is NOT only information about what He is going to do. It is an INVITATION to enter into that call, and go WITH Him as He does it. This is a HUGE distinction.

Let’s look at some examples in the bible of people receiving prophetic calls:

Destiny for the whole human race

Adam and Eve: Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion OVER it. If Adam and Eve received that prophetic call and treated it the way I treated MY call to Guelph, none of us would be here. They had some work to do.

So if you have absolutely no idea where to begin in your pursuit of God, be fruitful, mulitply, occupy the place of dominion. You are seated ABOVE the things of this world, and you should not be consumed with trying to sort out your life in this world, at the expense of your life in God. Realign yourself so your pursuit of God and your seeking the Kingdom is the highest priority, and move through this life in a way that supports that. I can personally attest to times in my life, and many times in the lives of those around me when the physical flesh was weak, and we had to make choices about what to prioritize. I can count on zero hands the times I was glad I put concern over my own wellbeing ahead of what God was inviting me into. It’s happened, and it never worked out like I thought it would.

Faith without action: Moses: in Exodus 14: 12-16 Upon reaching the red sea, with Pharoah closing in behind, the people despair saying :

Exodus 14:12–16 NASB95

12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14 “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 “As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

Sometimes it SOUNDS like the faith decision to stand still and let God work for you. #won’tHedoit. But there are times when God has put things in front of us precisely to show us the authority WE have as His called ones. Moses was totally sure the correct response was “just stay here, cry out to God, keep believing, stand firm, be unmoved” and God is actually expecting the exact OPPOSITE from them. In this case faith required action. Oh shucks, there’s resistance in my path. We better stop here until God deals with it.... WRONG!!!! Keep moving in the direction he calls you, and watch the resistance part before you.

A good number of you have commented to Carolyn and me about feeling or sensing some resistance even in Bethel. Perhaps resistance to a change of season. Perhaps resistance to coming along on a journey that may cost us a lot of our comfort, or our time. And with all the best intentions, the folks who bring this up to me often have the same strategy “we should gather and pray”. I’m all for that, and in fact we will have another night of prayer soon, because you’re never going to go wrong seeking the Lord. But the resistance can’t actually stop you, if you keep stepping forward.

I think of some of the words Bethel has had. An Apostolic training center…how can we change and adjust our walk to accept this word and partner with it? Did we receive that word and say in our hearts “wow, won’t it be neat when God does that for us? Gosh I wonder how He will do it?” I would like to invite you out of thinking prophecy means “This is what God will do” and invite you into thinking “I am coming along on that journey, Lord move in my heart and change whatever you need to change about me along the way, so I get to see your word fulfilled.”

Faith in the negative outcome

Israel was led STRAIGHT to the promised land, and God said YOU GOT THIS GUYS, and the people said “Forget it, there are giants in the land, they will kill us.” They wanted to kill Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. Anyone who was gonna lead them forward, the people collectively wanted to eliminate. Have you even indulged in a moment of daydreaming about your life and exploring what it may have been like NOT to have been called? Like....every time your house is a mess you daydream about not having had four kids? (point at self)

It’s possible to know clearly and completely exactly what God is saying to you, and for you to still say “forget it, i would die”.

Being out of season David: In a season when Kings go to war, David was at home. David was in the wrong place for the season he was walking through, and in his own thniking he could stay home and his mighty men would go win the battles for him. This is the season when he sees Bathsheba and David makes all sorts of horrible moves. He’s out of step with God’s calling to be King.

You can find yourself out ouf step with who God has called you to be, and you can actually experience what I have experienced before, which is a sense that God has been moving and I have been staying still. I have great news for you. One YES is all God needs from you to pull you right back onto His ways. And then He will go about refining you and transforming you, and moving how your Spirit has wanted you to move all along.

Faith FULLNESS Paul: Ananias comes to him and tells him “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” and immediately something like scales fell off Saul’s eyes, then he stood and was baptized.

1 Thessalonians 5:19–23 NASB95

19 Do not quench the Spirit; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bethel Church, this message is a call to adjust our thinking to how we pursue God, and how we respond to His heart. Catch the Fire globally is in a new season. For 15 years we were in the gathering phaze of revival, where the nations came to Toronto. For ten years we were in a scattering season where the seeds that had been produced in the gathering were scattered across the whole earth. Today we are in the season of multiplication, where what has been planted is producing fruit. If you are in the multiplication season, it’s not wise to act, think and pray as though we are in the gathering season. Carolyn and I could just as well have stayed in Toronto, standing on the prayed lines, crying out to God for the next wave of Revival. But instead we get to BE the next wave of Revival, and we get to do it with YOU.

In the months to come we will be defining and refining our vision for how we are going to pursue the Father’s love, Intimacy with Jesus, Restoration of the heart, and empowering the Saints in the anointing. These are our values, along with the fifth value, have fun as we give our lives away for Jesus. Today you have an opportunity clear the ground that is your life and receive a fresh impartation of His love, his Power, and His Grace to help you move with Him in your Faith. Jesus said that many are called yet few are chosen. Today, before you’ve received the practical steps, before you know how it will change you, give Jesus the opportunity to call you, and for you to respond. I don’t want you to be ignorant of the cost. The apostles had moments in asia when they despaired. But they were only moments. They did not LIVE in that place.