Glen Hartline

    First of all I want to make it very clear that I am not against prophetic words, experiences, or any prophets, or apostles, ect… Over the last 12 years, most of my times with the Lord have included prophetic words and experiences. These are very important and can be extremely beneficial to an individual. What I am trying to do is to break some mindsets that have become so pervasive throughout the church today. In a never ending attempt to “know what God’s will is” or to get a personal word from the Lord, Christians follow and are enamored with everyone that calls themselves a prophet or apostle. This is not the way God wants it to be! It has gotten to the point for many Christians that unless they hear a word from the Lord and have it confirmed three or four times they won’t do anything. Believing that this makes them more spiritual or as they call it, “doing only what they are led by the spirit to do.” In reality, most never do anything other than talk about what God has called them to do.

Heb 1:1-4

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Here we see that God spoke to the patriarchs through the prophets, but in the last days (that’s right now) He has spoken to us through His Son. You see, the Old Testament patriarchs did not have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. They were not one with Christ. They had to rely on the few who the Spirit would fall upon to tell them what God’s desire was. These days every Christian not only has the Holy Spirit in them but also the mind of Christ.

1 Cor 2:11-16

11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

We have the ability to hear from God ourselves. Its o.k., especially in the beginning to use these gifted men and women to confirm what God’s will is so that you can gain confidence that you are hearing from God. But we must get to the point where we are not only able hear His voice for ourselves, but also to trust that we are hearing. Unlike man under the old covenant we have the ability to go directly to God for ourselves, we don’t need to have another man to go on our behalf. There is only one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus. Any other way is anti-Christ. It is essential we get to the point we know what God’s will is ourselves and act on it!

Another way to know the will of God is to look at Jesus.

Heb 1:3

3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

Jesus is the express image of God’s person or character. The Old Testament did not reflect God’s character, but it did reflect God’s holiness and justice. It showed how God had to deal with man based on his sin, not how God wanted to deal with man. Through Jesus’ sacrifice we can see how God deals with man when sin is no longer an issue. If you want to know what God’s will is, look at what Jesus did. Jesus showed us that it is always God’s desire to heal and bless man even though we don’t deserve it. That’s the point, we don’t deserve it and we never will. It’s all by grace, it’s all Jesus. Nothing you can do can take away from it or add to it. We can never repent enough or act sorry enough to appease God. We either believe and receive or doubt and do without. Even your repentance doesn’t change how God views you; it just changes your view of yourself and shuts the door to the devil. His view of you is entirely based on Jesus. So if you are presented with an opportunity to pray for someone or bless them then do it! You don’t need to ask God if He wants you to do it, Jesus did it so He wants you to do it!

Finally, if you wait to mature before you step out, you will never do anything. First all, you cannot mature without doing what you are commanded to do. You cannot study or learn your way to maturity. In order to mature spiritually you have to move beyond spiritual milk and eat meat.

Heb 5:12-14

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

John 4:32-34

32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work

As long as you are just learning, and not doing you are taking in milk only. I don’t care who told you they were giving you meat, they can only give you milk. It becomes meat as you put the revelation to use. Another way I like to explain it is found in James.

James 1:22-25

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.

When we hear or read the word and don’t do it it’s like looking in a mirror and seeing who we are. As we go away and don’t act like the image we saw, that image in our mind dims and we forget who we are. But if we view that image and when we turn away start acting and being who we were shown we are, that image is reinforced in our minds. Our minds are renewed and we become that image. When we become who He says we are, then we will have fulfilled what He called us to do.