Open Heaven 25 November 2024: Prophesy With Wisdom (2)
MEMORISE: Proverbs 10:11
“The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.”
READ: 2 Samuel 12:1-15 (KJV)
1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never* depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional Here
Today, I will be concluding the teaching I started yesterday on prophesying with wisdom. In our Bible reading for today, God sent Nathan to announce King David’s punishment. As a wise prophet, Nathan knew that the way he communicated God’s message would determine if he would leave the palace alive that day or not. Therefore, he started the message with a parable. When the king himself pronounced judgment based on his parable, he said, “That fellow is you, sir.” There is a powerful lesson for you to learn from here: when God sends a message through you to someone, you must be careful about the way you relay that message to the fellow.
If God tells you something about somebody, don’t be in a hurry to tell the fellow. Ask God for wisdom to relay the message in the right way so that no one gets in trouble because of the prophecy. Over time, I have learnt to do this. This is why I often give prophecies in the form of parables. If God has told me something and I am to share it with the public, if I know that the thing can be tough for some people to swallow, I will say it in the form of a parable. This way, I communicate God’s message with wisdom.
I have also seen people who use the gift of prophecy to destroy families. If God tells you something about someone and He says you should tell the fellow, after asking God for wisdom on how to relay the message, you might also need to advise the fellow on how to use the information that he or she now has. This is because such a fellow might not have the same level of wisdom and understanding as you. If he or she lacks understanding or is not mature enough to handle the message appropriately, the devil can take advantage of this and push the fellow into taking actions that will cause more harm than good. If you know that the fellow may not use the prophecy correctly, and God is not compelling you to reveal the message, you may decide to just approach the person with general advice and guidance concerning that issue. This way, you can help him or her without causing any trouble.
Beloved, the gift of prophecy is to perfect the saints, not to confuse or endanger them (Ephesians 4:11-12); use it wisely!
KEY POINT:
Deliver prophecies with wisdom.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Romans 8-10
Open Heaven 25 November 2024
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