Amazed by the Apostolic ... Again!!

Terry Virgo's latest blog proves yet again what a vital resource his regular writing in this fashion will be to the Church at large. I read his post with interest as to "what he had been up to" as Luke mentioned. But I was dramatically and emotionally touched by something which he felt led to do in the Newfrontiers Northern Europe Conference he had been attending. Before I quote what he wrote, led me share the context as to why this apostolic word so profoundly touched me.

I have had a really rubbish day today. We've just moved out of the house we have been living in Bristol and my flatmate has moved on up to Birmingham whereas I have had to move home with my parents as I haven't got a confirmed job in Birmingham to go to yet - hence I am still nursing down in Bristol. This is quite frustrating as in between night shifts, I have spent a lot of time on the phone trying to impress on Human Resources Departments why I really would like to start work soon! I had to go straight from a night shift to my old house as the estate agents were doing the "check out inventory". I spent all Friday vigorously cleaning the house as I hope to use the deposit money from the house to get our website - Ern Baxter dot com - up and running. The woman was horrid and told me quite frankly she thought I had done a rubbish job and will be recommending the house gets professionally cleaned - hence a loss of deposit - hence no website (yet)! And that on top of a desire I have to give money away to some people and churches I feel deeply about.

So with that day in mind, imagine my excitement and encouragement when I read this:

"I felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to pray for the many present who had walked forward with their offering in serious obedience to the previous evening’s sermon and invitation. I felt that God showed me that as Jurjen had been released from pain, so that they had stepped into a new dimension of confident commitment to giving and that God was dealing with their previously ‘brittle’ faith, imparting new grace and to many the gift of giving (Romans 12:8).

Many stood in response to my invitation and I felt that God told me to declare Paul’s confident promise, ‘My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus,’ over them, not simply as a wonderful Scripture (Phil. 4:19) but as a prophetic blessing and affirm that they would go on to experience God’s provision in the same way that our brother had experienced God’s touch.

To my surprise, at that very moment, one lady in the meeting experienced sudden and strange spiritual and emotional distress and cried out publicly. After prayer she felt released and set free. We were later informed that serious financial problems had blighted her life".

Can God use prophetic words from apostles to bless people who weren't at the conference at the time? I am open to being corrected but my feeling is that a vast amount of prophetic promises in the Bible that haven't yet been fulfilled (as Simon Pettit reminded us at Stoneleigh 2000) are of huge encouragement to the church, even though we weren't there when they were originally given! So I feel quite comfortable in welcoming this prophetic word warmly. My finances aren't sorted out yet. The deposit woman didn't suddenly ring me up and relent and ask forgiveness. I haven't seen a cheque come through my parents door covering the set-up fees for Ern Baxter dot com. But I am HUGELY blessed by the promise applied by the prophetic here;

"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus ... not simply a wonderful Scripture but as a prophetic blessing and affirm that they would go on to experience God's provision in the same way that our brother had experienced God's touch".

What an AWESOME God we serve in, believe in, hope in and trust in! One who is not simply limited to history and to words on a page - but a God who is alive and who intervenes in time and space to pour out countless blessings upon His children - knowing EXACTLY the right time to encourage and to bless! Surely here is another classic example of how blogging can be used to bring about the "charismatic resurgence" that Jesse P spoke of!