Prophet? Who me?

A prophet is one who speaks for God, and many times we see this image as one who is old, bearded, and spews out gloom and doom in preparation for the coming kingdom. While this antique imagery is not without truth, I believe a prophet is much more. IN the scriptures, prophets not only spoke, but acted on behalf of God. There was an active and dynamic aspect of prophecy. Often times, a prophet would not even be allowed to speak but instead would simply mime, dramatize or live out scenarios that had divine and foretelling implications. Prophets as explained so far sound quite heavenly, but indeed are usually ordinary people. In fact sometimes less than ordinary that they may often go unheeded by the people they so seek to counsel. Jesus in Matthew 14, returns to his hometown of Nazareth. While one would have hoped his message and theme would be appropriated accordingly, and would lead to many miracles, it was largely an uneventful experience. His town folk actually took offense at him because they thought he was putting on airs. After all Jesus was one of them. “How did he end up being so gifted and unusual?” They wondered where he got these powers from, and doubted in his ability. Because of this uncertainty in his prophetic identity, he could not do many miracles for some of the people he was most familiar with. A spiritual leader is a prophetic person who need to be aware of his identity. When God calls us in to leadership there is a dynamic, active, living approach to his working in our lives that others are supposed to experience. Whether you lead in the church or in the marketplace God desires to use you as a message to others. Yes friend, you are a prophet as you lead for God. We need to shed the one-dimensional archaic view of prophets that is prevalent, and understand that we as Godly leaders are messages of life and meaning to others around us. Without this knowledge of your prophetic identity you will see limited impact as was the case in Nazareth, where they doubted our Lord’s prophetic nature. Are you a teacher, writer, singer, Sunday school teacher, officer, preacher? Do you see ministry in any of these capacities? Does God use your leadership gifts somehow, even in the littlest way? If so then embrace the prophetic. Get wisdom and understanding. Let it weigh down deep in your heart, that you are a spokesperson for God. God speaks and lives his message through you. Pray for a revelation of this, and act it out. As you step into your day remind yourself that you are a prophet for God, and that you point others to God through something in your being. And as you possess this identify, then maybe others will see you more in this light, and I trust you will be able to see Christ manifest more in your life making miracles for them to see louder and clearer than ever before.