Prophetic gifts
come in a variety of forms, and, depending on our church tradition, we are open
to these gifts, in ourselves and others, or not.
One way the
prophetic gifting works through faith in God is through visions for encouragement. This is where God speaks His possibilities
through our reflections. We think either
with intention or not, consciously or unconsciously.
A vision for our
encouragement comes, many times, when we least expect it to, because God is
active with us, by the prayer of His speaking, when we open up cognisance to
our spiritual environment. This
spiritual environment is like a river of God communication — it’s there! We just have to be open to hearing, exploring
and acting.
All prophecy
ought to be of encouragement, because all of the Kingdom of God is about
encouragement. Encouragement can involve
challenge and even rebuke if it’s immersed in the seedbed of love.
Visions for encouragement
are crucial especially when we feel down and out. God speaks into our minds, through a word-vision,
an image, or via a word of encouragement from another person, which God uses to
furnish our mind with possibility.
Visions for encouragement are to be
held loosely as possibilities.
held loosely as possibilities.
One thing we don’t
count on with visions for encouragement is that not all of them — not even most
of them — end up coming into reality. Whether
a vision for encouragement comes to pass or not is irrelevant. What’s important is the vision for
encouragement is possible; something for which we might hold loosely in our
belief for what God might desire for
us. “Might” is an operative word!
***
God uses visions
for encouragement to speak to us, through prayer; to not give up, to press on,
and to steady faith in the absence of hope.
God speaks
through the perspective of encouragement, messages for the mind of prayerful
visions for hope.
© 2016 Steve Wickham.
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