Step out of your comfort zone...

23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:23-24)


You know...I honestly believe that -lot- more things would be done for God if people would only feel more "comfortable" doing them. This isn't going to devolve into: "we should find a way to make it easier for people to serve God". No...this is almost exactly the opposite. People should get over their little personal hang-ups and realize that there is something -much- bigger than them going on. I was reminded of that recently.
First, let me say that I do -not- fancy myself a prophet. I know that I know things that I should not know, and sometimes it is a bit more in advance of the event happening than I may be comfortable with, but I don't seriously purport myself to be a prophet by any means. However, recently God revealed to me/laid it upon my heart...I don't know the correct way to say it, I just -knew- that my father's pastor was about to go through something. Mind you, I have only met the man once. The one time, he spoke words of prophecy that are still coming true. Most impressively, he spoke on things of differing ranges as in short-term, medium, and long-term. And they are happening just as he said it. And he was a bit too specific for it to be "coincidence" or false "psychic" guessing, if you are wondering. I have a bit of a Gift for Seeing (discernment) and Knowing, but I still have a hard time believing in prophets. Probably because I have seen -so- many people puffed up with themselves, or so impressed with what they're doing that they leave the Holy Spirit somewhere behind them in their need to be seen. There are two big reasons I don't tell people about having Gifts (even in small doses). 1) If -I- have trouble believing, why wouldn't you? 2) I don't want to be seen. Getting off topic, but I Know that my dad's pastor is going to be going through something. It's not made clear to me -what- it is. Just that it is. And...idk what's going on. What I do know is that before I have acted on such Knowledge and been told that I was wrong. I don't know what happened. I could have been mistaken, or the person could have been refusing to receive. It's not for me to say, only to do. So...I'm a bit hesitant, but I do. I start by asking my father to pray for him, because I know that my dad will remember much better than I will. Then it become more and more plain to me that it's -not- something that I'm making up or misinterpreting. And this one song kept playing in my mind. It's a song that I heard down in Pastor Steele's church way back when. It's called "Don't Stop Praying For Me", and it says: "Don't stop praying for me/even though it may seem/that everything's fine/in this life of mine./Don't stop praying for me/for there's no way to see/what kind of load/waits for me down the road..."
A couple of days later I call my father back to tell him that whatever is going to/supposed to happen, that it will most likely happen within the next four days. And then I just let it go at that. Why? Because it made me uncomfortable to "push" my knowledge on other people.
Then, tonight, I felt a -strong- stirring in my spirit to make the call personally to this Pastor. I was pretty sure that he remembered me, but I was embarrassed to say the -least-. Internally I was like, "now God...I know better than to doubt you, but if I'm getting this one wrong, please don't let it be too bad". So I txt my father for the pastor's number. My dad is busy. Ok...I can leave it at that, right? Wrong. The feeling is stronger. So, I call my father's wife. -She- doesn't have the number. She says "you father has it, but he's in a meeting". "I know...that's why I asked you :) ". She has the pastor's wife's number. So I text the pastor's wife and sort of explain who I am (since she -doesn't- know me), and politely as possible as to speak to her husband. At this point, I'm not trying to be all "I HAVE A -WORD- FROM THE -LORD-!!" So I don't even mention what I need the number for, I just ask to be put in touch with her husband. She says that she'll have him call me. I Know that it won't be tonight. And I am supposed to complete this tonight for some reason. At this point I just want to get it over with, to tell the truth. I'm not going to pretend like I'm Mr Super-spiritual, because I'm not. I'm -very- much human, and I didn't want to be bothered to be flat honest. I -really- didn't want to be embarrassed. Well...my dad called me back as soon as he got out of his meeting. Thank God for people that follow up. I don't know anyone that does the way that he does. So...I have a number now. I txt the pastor to ask if it would be alright to call him tonight. I -still- don't want to put anyone the -slightest- bit out of their way and be wrong. The pastor ends up calling me back and I get embarrassed.
I get embarrassed because he is so -thankful- that someone would be in tune and listening to God enough to bless his life the same way that he blesses other people's lives. I -still- don't know what he was/is going through, and I don't -want- to know. It's none of my business. I was just the messenger. But it felt -mighty- good to be a part of something so much bigger than myself. For a moment I stepped out of my skin and it blessed me to bless someone else because...God is -still- working and moving all over the world. He doesn't -need- you, He -wants- you. You just have to make yourself available to Him...

About two Sundays ago the person who brought Word was talking about availability when dealing with the things of God. He was saying something to the effect that we as a people are generally too busy. Too busy to do the work of God.
God doesn't need you to be super talented or super good looking. Moses had a speech problem, and he was sent to speak not only to greatest leader of the known world at that time, but also his step-brother. His -younger- step brother. The murdering son-of-a-slave whom Pharaoh's daughter had "taken pity on", only to have him turn on her and her people one day, willfully (because that's how they would have seen it), this guy who can't even speak and should rightfully be in jail, has the gall to talk about a burning bush, the demands of the monotheistic God of the slaves who has no likeness (btw...why haven't we figured out that He -does- have likenesses all over -everywhere-? We were made in His image, weren't we? Look in the mirror!), and how it would be in the Pharaoh's best interest to destroy his people's economy by letting go their nation's greatest asset. The Hebrew slaves. You think that was comfortable for Moses? Or how about David being the runt of the litter to the point where he was left out to tend the sheep when Samuel came by to anoint the next king of Israel (I Samuel 16) You would think that a father would want -every- son on hand, just in case. Apparently they thought so little of David that he wasn't even worth consideration(I Samuel 16:11). Or, take for example Jesus Himself. "he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2b). It doesn't matter what a person looks like, or what talents they have: "for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (I Samuel 16:7b).
What the man said that brought it heavy and hard to -my- heart was that "When you make yourself available, God will make you capable". He said that when God was looking for disciples His recruitment pitch went like this: "follow me". The man said that if you want to follow God, you have to make yourself available. And then, the part that -hurt- was when he made the point that PROXIMITY is not AVAILABILITY. Read that again. We can be -near- the Will of God, we can be -by- the Will of God, we can be in God's house on Sunday, we can look and act the part, but being close or being in the right place isn't the same thing as being open and available to be -used- by God. What is it that God is asking of you, or telling you to do? God doesn't always demand. Most often He simply asks, and we deny our own selves blessings simply by refusing His request! Other times He demands and, when something hugely dramatic happens because we ignored Him for years, -then- we sit up and take notice and all of a sudden it's a huge testimony. I don't want to get started, but you'll have to ask Dr Breakthrough about getting more information on "Divine Interception vs Divine Intervention". He knows someone who is coming out with a book on that, and let me tell you that is going to be powerful starting from the -name-!

The moral of the story that I started to tell was that two people were blessed just because I stepped out of my comfort zone to do what I was told. And I -really- needed that confirmation. I had, in fact, asked for it. Only to find it in encouraging someone else. -Never- underestimate the power of blessing other people, and don't take the chance of missing the chance to be blessed...by blessing others. It's 1:46 am and my thoughts are starting to run together. Just make yourself available, and God will take care of the rest.

Make this song your prayer:
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