- Mar 5, 2024
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What Do You Have To Hide? Part 1
Christians sometimes fear prophetic ministries because they worry their personal lives might be revealed, and things they would prefer remain secret get exposed to the light of day. Granted, the Lord can indeed sometimes lay our lives bare before the eyes of others, but as I will explain, among the true children of God these types of things are never as bad as they might seem.
One of the foundational passages for this teaching is found in Hebrews 4, where it states:
12 The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creation hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
The "word of God" spoken of here was more specifically the prophetic word, which exposes what is in a person's heart and mind and reveals things concerning their lives only the Lord would know. Such things could occasionally happen during church services, like what the apostle Paul described here in 1st Corinthians:
24 If all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all and convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)
The principle here is that if we want God to move in our lives, we cannot continue to obstinately insist on keeping everything a secret. The problem many people have, however, is that while they have no issue with God Himself knowing the intimate details of their lives, they are not nearly so comfortable with their fellow man knowing them, even if such believers appear to be devout and sincere Christians whose sole intent is to be vessels of God on their behalf.
So the question comes back to this: What do you have to hide? We received dreams about a couple of sisters who were not really wild about the idea of sharing their dreams, the reason being they knew I could potentially interpret them and weren't sure if I might abuse the situation or judge them in some way.
Ladies Sowing Their Lips Down Dream
Two ladies are looking at me and laughing and giggling as they sew their bottom lip down with two stands of thick thread. The way they were sewing it would pull their bottom lip away from the top lip. They were laughing at me because of the perplexed look I had on my face as they sew, and they thought I should do the same to my lip.
The subject matter of their dreams appears to have not been all that serious, but they were nevertheless agreeing together to make their communication to me garbled and unclear (tying each other's lower lip down), and it appears they also didn't wanted my friend who was receiving dreams about them sharing them either. But in the economy of God, He loves His daughters like a Father, and loves His sons like a Father as well, so He is merely interested in bringing us together as a family. There should not be secrets among family, for it engenders mistrust and eventually leads to strife and divisions. What He wants is for us to know and love one another as we truly are, and let the spiritual gifts draws us closer together, which is what the apostle Paul was also taking about in 1st Corinthians 13 when he stated:
8 Love never fails. But whether prophecies, they will fail; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:8-12)
Despite the horrendous job Cessationists do of interpreting this passage, the meaning is this: We know others "in part" when the Spirit of God prophesies and reveals things about them, but when we get to Heaven the Spirit will continually be revealing what is in everyone's hearts and minds because there will be no more secrecy. We will be able to hear one another's thoughts even when they are not vocalized, and have reached the place where we are more like adults to one another, no longer hiding behind walls and keeping things secret from each other but fully knowing one another as we truly are, and not just "in part."
In keeping with this thought, Jesus also advised that we pray to our Father saying, "May your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." In relation to this topic, I believe it means He wants the world to recognize us by the love we have for one another, and by the fact that the Spirit of God Himself makes us a close-knit family. And He does so by keeping the lines of communication open Himself that we might truly know one another; more open in fact than we ourselves might always be comfortable with.
In Part 2, I will go into an other examples I've seen of this in ministering to others, and well as an example regarding my own personal life where it came into play. The point is always the same: Even in situations where we might get corrected and convicted about something publicly, we should not fear the work of the Holy Spirit. It is meant for our good and not for evil, both collectively and individually.
Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
__________________________________
What Do You Have To Hide, Part 2:
Christians sometimes fear prophetic ministries because they worry their personal lives might be revealed, and things they would prefer remain secret get exposed to the light of day. Granted, the Lord can indeed sometimes lay our lives bare before the eyes of others, but as I will explain, among the true children of God these types of things are never as bad as they might seem.
One of the foundational passages for this teaching is found in Hebrews 4, where it states:
12 The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creation hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
The "word of God" spoken of here was more specifically the prophetic word, which exposes what is in a person's heart and mind and reveals things concerning their lives only the Lord would know. Such things could occasionally happen during church services, like what the apostle Paul described here in 1st Corinthians:
24 If all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all and convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)
The principle here is that if we want God to move in our lives, we cannot continue to obstinately insist on keeping everything a secret. The problem many people have, however, is that while they have no issue with God Himself knowing the intimate details of their lives, they are not nearly so comfortable with their fellow man knowing them, even if such believers appear to be devout and sincere Christians whose sole intent is to be vessels of God on their behalf.
So the question comes back to this: What do you have to hide? We received dreams about a couple of sisters who were not really wild about the idea of sharing their dreams, the reason being they knew I could potentially interpret them and weren't sure if I might abuse the situation or judge them in some way.
Ladies Sowing Their Lips Down Dream
Two ladies are looking at me and laughing and giggling as they sew their bottom lip down with two stands of thick thread. The way they were sewing it would pull their bottom lip away from the top lip. They were laughing at me because of the perplexed look I had on my face as they sew, and they thought I should do the same to my lip.
The subject matter of their dreams appears to have not been all that serious, but they were nevertheless agreeing together to make their communication to me garbled and unclear (tying each other's lower lip down), and it appears they also didn't wanted my friend who was receiving dreams about them sharing them either. But in the economy of God, He loves His daughters like a Father, and loves His sons like a Father as well, so He is merely interested in bringing us together as a family. There should not be secrets among family, for it engenders mistrust and eventually leads to strife and divisions. What He wants is for us to know and love one another as we truly are, and let the spiritual gifts draws us closer together, which is what the apostle Paul was also taking about in 1st Corinthians 13 when he stated:
8 Love never fails. But whether prophecies, they will fail; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:8-12)
Despite the horrendous job Cessationists do of interpreting this passage, the meaning is this: We know others "in part" when the Spirit of God prophesies and reveals things about them, but when we get to Heaven the Spirit will continually be revealing what is in everyone's hearts and minds because there will be no more secrecy. We will be able to hear one another's thoughts even when they are not vocalized, and have reached the place where we are more like adults to one another, no longer hiding behind walls and keeping things secret from each other but fully knowing one another as we truly are, and not just "in part."
In keeping with this thought, Jesus also advised that we pray to our Father saying, "May your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." In relation to this topic, I believe it means He wants the world to recognize us by the love we have for one another, and by the fact that the Spirit of God Himself makes us a close-knit family. And He does so by keeping the lines of communication open Himself that we might truly know one another; more open in fact than we ourselves might always be comfortable with.
In Part 2, I will go into an other examples I've seen of this in ministering to others, and well as an example regarding my own personal life where it came into play. The point is always the same: Even in situations where we might get corrected and convicted about something publicly, we should not fear the work of the Holy Spirit. It is meant for our good and not for evil, both collectively and individually.
Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
__________________________________
What Do You Have To Hide, Part 2:
