Zambia Part 2

I've been in Zambia for over two weeks now. It’s been really good so far. The Bumsteads have started me off with a lot of office work (which, for me, is a very good thing). I've been keeping busy, but not like I was back home. I've had time to spend in private and corporate devotions daily, as well as start memorizing Scripture again. My guitar skills are improving with all the time I've had for practice and I've had time to start working out again.

Lately, I've been giving a lot of thought to prophecy and Spiritual gifts; particularly thinking of why we don’t see them manifesting as often as we read about in Acts. I asked the Lord why I don’t see them very much in my own life. His response was a bit unsettling. My faith is lacking. Just a few weeks ago, I made the boast that I have a faith to move mountains. I followed up the comment with some disclaimer as to why I don’t see the Lord moving. Now I’m realizing I don’t have the faith of a child that it requires. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS ASK! Why can’t I drill this through my head?

The other thing that I feel gets in the way is my pride. (I say feel because this isn't a word from the Lord but an analysis of me, by me). I get scared that I will deliver the wrong message to a person when I prophecy or I think “what if they don’t get healed?” or “what if they don’t receive this?” This stems from pride. If I was humble, I would understand that “God gives grace to the humble” and wouldn't let me deliver the message if it wasn't from Him. If I was humble, I wouldn't worry about my own discomfort at the person not being healed, but would have nothing but love for the person and put them above myself.

These revelations have in no way discouraged me. Rather, they are very encouraging. It means there is hope. God is committed to us achieving all that He has for us and He is at work! Our only task is to accept His working in us. As a result, I've been trying to just hear the Lord’s voice. Today, I felt like I had a breakthrough. I just sat down for about a half hour and had a conversation with the Creator of the Universe. He is soooo happy! He exudes joy! He is soooo cool!

I've been listening to Graham Cooke teachings on Approaching the Heart of Prophecy. If you haven’t heard or read this, you should look it up. It is so good! He’s giving me so many ideas on things that I can do and he also encourages me to keep pushing deeper and to just love the Lord. I’ll leave you with a quote from Graham. “We are a blessing, that’s who we are. It’s our joy, it’s our pleasure, it’s our privilege to try to bankrupt heaven. God is looking you right in the eye saying ‘Go on I dare you. Put me to the test.’ There are thousands of blessings that you need to be giving away. No one’s safe from getting blessed cuz you are the living embodiment of the Good News.”