Hi all,
I've shared that one of the things the Lord talked about was 'social miracles' that would be seen in home based churches, meetings, and within the family and community of faith.
Looking in all the wrong places
Those of us raised in the faith within the auditorium service have been trained to look for miracles within the confines of that auditorium. That's not being critical, it's just an observation, having been there and done that.
Once in a while a pastor may be secure enough to let a cell group deviate from the bulletin-published outline to let the Spirit flow in worship and prayer if his leaders are trusted, but that is relatively rare. All programs of the church are directed back to the Sunday morning service in the auditorium.
So the church populace dutifully looks towards the auditorium service as the font of God's wisdom, and the place where miracles happen. When a special speaker is given the pulpit for a service, expectation is high that God may do something special. Add in Christian TV, ministry videos, and tales of missions trips where great miracles happened, and it is confirmed that the auditorium church is the place that God moves by His Spirit.
Look where miracles occurred in the New Testament
It is often rightly observed by pastors and teachers that much of Jesus' and the apostles' miracles were done in homes or out in public, usually with the exhortation that the congregation needs to 'get out there' to the highways and byways. The pastor then becomes the cheerleader and the congregation feels guilty because witnessing to a perfect stranger is uncomfortable and breaches normal social protocol.
We read of Jesus' first miracle of water turned into wine in a home, and nod in agreement and maybe wonder what that wedding reception must have been like. We see all the other healings that took place in homes, sometimes even when He was eating a meal, and maybe we realize even Lazarus was raised from the dead at his home. We read that Pentecost happened in a home, and later in Acts 9 Dorcas was raised from the dead while lying in repose in a home.
We even observe that Acts ends with Paul healing the ruler of the island, a man named Publius, of what was probably dysentery, which led to many of that region being healed. Jesus' first miracle was a social miracle, and the last miracle of Acts was a social miracle - and done in homes.
But it never sinks in to our own thinking that for us and our lives, the first place to look for healings, miracles, and signs is the home. We don't first look to God doing a miracle for social reasons - benefitting a larger group of people.
Is that an indictment of the poor spiritual quality of our home life, or of our incorrect understanding of scripture - not understanding the whole of the New Testament was written by apostles doing church in the home and writing to people who did church in the home?
That is about to change
What Jesus told me: "Much of my body has been looking in the wrong place for miracles and healings. Many live isolated spiritual lives, having no true relationships with others in Me. They have no spiritual family or community for their support, yet within that family and community is where miracles may be found."
That is not to say it is wrong to look for miracles and healings for ourselves - it isn't. But that focus on self only is going to change.
The days are coming when the Father will for instance, multiply milk for a family that has run out but for a small amount in a container, yet that milk will not run out until more milk maybe be purchased. The days are coming when a family that has no food will hear a knock at the door, and it will be someone whom the Father either directed or told outright to take food to them. They days are coming when the needs of clothing and pantry foods will be supplied with miraculous timing by others in their network of faith who has those items, and felt prompted to told to give them.
The days are coming of the underground economy in the body of Christ that He said I would see, in that visitation about 10 years ago - all within the framework of Christian relationships.
The fence is more narrow now
Many readers will remember I've shared what the Lord told me on February 4, 2001 that set CWOWI in motion. He said at that time:
"See what I see, many running to and fro to this meeting and that looking for the spectacular, thinking that is supernatural; While they miss the supernatural work in their midst, even in their own hearts, for the process of discipleship IS supernatural."
“Many are running to and fro asking, ‘Where is the next move, what is the next season of the Spirit?’, and I say to you it is under their very noses. They stumble at the supernatural work in their midst and refuse to humble themselves and be taught, because they seek the sensational and that which appeals to the outward man. They fail to recognize the true move of God because it must be spiritually discerned.”
There is an awakening happening within millions which will cause them to stop chasing the spectacular in favor of settling down to actually grow in Christ. While culture and society increasingly become anti-Christ, behind the scenes, in millions of hearts, the body of Christ is growing up, leaving spiritual childhood behind, and entering into maturity.
They want something real. They want real people. They want a network of people who will be each other's safety net. True friends. That is what is happening from the heart up, a cry in the body of Christ for the real, the genuine, the True. There is so much more...but I feel led to stop there. New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
I've shared that one of the things the Lord talked about was 'social miracles' that would be seen in home based churches, meetings, and within the family and community of faith.
Looking in all the wrong places
Those of us raised in the faith within the auditorium service have been trained to look for miracles within the confines of that auditorium. That's not being critical, it's just an observation, having been there and done that.
Once in a while a pastor may be secure enough to let a cell group deviate from the bulletin-published outline to let the Spirit flow in worship and prayer if his leaders are trusted, but that is relatively rare. All programs of the church are directed back to the Sunday morning service in the auditorium.
So the church populace dutifully looks towards the auditorium service as the font of God's wisdom, and the place where miracles happen. When a special speaker is given the pulpit for a service, expectation is high that God may do something special. Add in Christian TV, ministry videos, and tales of missions trips where great miracles happened, and it is confirmed that the auditorium church is the place that God moves by His Spirit.
Look where miracles occurred in the New Testament
It is often rightly observed by pastors and teachers that much of Jesus' and the apostles' miracles were done in homes or out in public, usually with the exhortation that the congregation needs to 'get out there' to the highways and byways. The pastor then becomes the cheerleader and the congregation feels guilty because witnessing to a perfect stranger is uncomfortable and breaches normal social protocol.
We read of Jesus' first miracle of water turned into wine in a home, and nod in agreement and maybe wonder what that wedding reception must have been like. We see all the other healings that took place in homes, sometimes even when He was eating a meal, and maybe we realize even Lazarus was raised from the dead at his home. We read that Pentecost happened in a home, and later in Acts 9 Dorcas was raised from the dead while lying in repose in a home.
We even observe that Acts ends with Paul healing the ruler of the island, a man named Publius, of what was probably dysentery, which led to many of that region being healed. Jesus' first miracle was a social miracle, and the last miracle of Acts was a social miracle - and done in homes.
But it never sinks in to our own thinking that for us and our lives, the first place to look for healings, miracles, and signs is the home. We don't first look to God doing a miracle for social reasons - benefitting a larger group of people.
Is that an indictment of the poor spiritual quality of our home life, or of our incorrect understanding of scripture - not understanding the whole of the New Testament was written by apostles doing church in the home and writing to people who did church in the home?
That is about to change
What Jesus told me: "Much of my body has been looking in the wrong place for miracles and healings. Many live isolated spiritual lives, having no true relationships with others in Me. They have no spiritual family or community for their support, yet within that family and community is where miracles may be found."
That is not to say it is wrong to look for miracles and healings for ourselves - it isn't. But that focus on self only is going to change.
The days are coming when the Father will for instance, multiply milk for a family that has run out but for a small amount in a container, yet that milk will not run out until more milk maybe be purchased. The days are coming when a family that has no food will hear a knock at the door, and it will be someone whom the Father either directed or told outright to take food to them. They days are coming when the needs of clothing and pantry foods will be supplied with miraculous timing by others in their network of faith who has those items, and felt prompted to told to give them.
The days are coming of the underground economy in the body of Christ that He said I would see, in that visitation about 10 years ago - all within the framework of Christian relationships.
The fence is more narrow now
Many readers will remember I've shared what the Lord told me on February 4, 2001 that set CWOWI in motion. He said at that time:
"See what I see, many running to and fro to this meeting and that looking for the spectacular, thinking that is supernatural; While they miss the supernatural work in their midst, even in their own hearts, for the process of discipleship IS supernatural."
“Many are running to and fro asking, ‘Where is the next move, what is the next season of the Spirit?’, and I say to you it is under their very noses. They stumble at the supernatural work in their midst and refuse to humble themselves and be taught, because they seek the sensational and that which appeals to the outward man. They fail to recognize the true move of God because it must be spiritually discerned.”
There is an awakening happening within millions which will cause them to stop chasing the spectacular in favor of settling down to actually grow in Christ. While culture and society increasingly become anti-Christ, behind the scenes, in millions of hearts, the body of Christ is growing up, leaving spiritual childhood behind, and entering into maturity.
They want something real. They want real people. They want a network of people who will be each other's safety net. True friends. That is what is happening from the heart up, a cry in the body of Christ for the real, the genuine, the True. There is so much more...but I feel led to stop there. New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
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