The Lesson of Menorah

Since Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations overlapped this year, we decided to light the menorah we received as our wedding gift to celebrate both occasions and something special happened as we lit the first one of three candles on the third day. The window was opened and suddenly a  strong gust of wind blew on the candle. I thought it would blow it out, but to my amazement it lit a candle next to it,  and then  a moment later, another gust of wind blew and lit the third candle. I thought it was pretty cool and took a picture, which you see to the right of this post.

There were many times recorded in the Bible when God would use a natural occurrence as a spiritual lesson to his prophets and a prophetic picture of what He was planning to do in the future. I believe that the Holy Spirit is using this menorah incident to teach us a spiritual lesson as well. The menorah in the New Testament is a symbol of Jesus Christ and His Church as we se Him described by apostle John in the Book of Revelation 1:12-13 standing among the seven golden lampstands. The fire that lights each lampstand is  symbolic of the fire of the very presence of God and the wind is often symbolic of the Holy Spirit who manifested Himself on the day of Pentecost both as fire and the wind.  ( Acts 2:1-4)

 

 

So, the lesson of  menorah is that even if one member of the body of Christ gets on fire by spending time in the presence of The Lord and waiting on Him, the wind of the Holy Spirit will then blow that fire on the members in close fellowship with that member if he/she is receptive. I believe that this is both an invitation for us to spend time in His presence and a picture of what will happen when we do so, as well as an invitation to have a close fellowship with people who consecrate themselves and spend time in His presence. The fire will spread when the wind of the Holy Spirit blows, we just have to be ready and in position for this moment in history. There is a move of the Holy Spirit coming greater than any one before it.

 

Even as evil spreads  around the world, we should not be discouraged for The Lord is greater than that and He is always many steps ahead of the enemy. Remember that the light shines brighter in darkness, so do not mourn over the darkness, but get closer to the Light, so you will be able to become a light that shines in whatever darkness is around you. Happy Hanukkah to you all. Jesus is the Light of the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.

Discerning Between True and False Apostles and Prophets

There is no doubt that we are living in the end times. The Lord Jesus warned us that during this time period, especially the closer we get to His glorious return, we will see the emergence of false

prophets, and His apostles warned us on the pages of The New Testament against false apostles and teachers as well.

So, how do we know if someone is a false apostle, teacher, or prophet? Well, we just need to carefully study the Bible as it spells out very clear criteria for those individuals, though we have to be also careful not to give anyone a label of  a false prophet, teacher, or apostle rashly. Too often people these days call someone a false prophet just because they do not agree with their message or do not believe in the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in modern day Church. The Bible teaches us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so His Words and works do not change from one era to another. The New Testament encourages us to receive and to operate in the  gifts of The Holy Spirit, so calling people whom we do not know without biblical basis for it a "false prophet" is slander and it is very dangerous to denounce men and women who truly serve God as such because it can bring you under judgement. We are to discern and judge  teachings, dreams, or visions that we come to contact with, but unless we know someone very well and clearly see that their fruit is bad, we should not give anyone such label.

That is why I am not going to give any particular names or people as examples here, but  I am going to share with you instead biblical principles that will help you to discern between true servants of God and impostors, so that you can stay away from the latter.

God is in the process of restoring to the Church the true apostolic and prophetic ministries and it is a great blessing to all of us. Apostle Paul taught us in his first letter to Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 20, not to despise prophetic utterances and Apostle John in the Book of Revelation states that, "...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." ( Rev.19:10)

But whenever there is a fresh move of the Holy Spirit on the earth, there is also a counterfeit from the enemy, so we must judge and discern prophecies without rejecting the prophetic altogether. I encourage all of you to read the Bible from cover to cover ( you could do it by reading 3-4 chapters a day in one year) paying special attention to the way in which God communicated through the ages with humanity. You will notice that He often spoke to people  and revealed things to them through dreams and various visions. Studying those biblical dreams and visions will teach you the symbols God uses to communicate with us as well as His heart.

Right now I am studying the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, which clearly states what is the difference between true and false prophets. It boils down to one major difference. True prophets call people to repentance when people of God go astray, while false prophets prophesy only what the people would like to hear. God's heart is to bless His people, but when they begin to walk away from Him and engage in sinful activities, He will call them to repentance and if they refuse, He will discipline them, by removing His hedge of protection from them in hope that they will repent and return with their hearts to Him.

Moreover false prophets and apostles promote and elevate themselves  instead of being humble and seeking to give glory to God. They use their God given spiritual gifts for selfish gain. The Bible teaches that gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, so it is possible for someone to operate in them while living in sin. That is why accuracy of prophecies,  healings, deliverances, or miracles themselves are not a sign that someone is truly serving God those these are still the works of the Holy Spirit, because He will always honor the name of Jesus. This explains why Jesus said that in the future some will come to Him and say that they did all these things in His name, but He will still call them the "workers of iniquity" and reject them saying that He never knew them. (Gospel of Matthew 7:23)

It means that it is possible to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not have a personal relationship with Jesus anymore. That is why we should not fellowship or sit under the ministry of those who claim to His followers, but live in sin such as greed, adultery, fornication, or idolatry and not wanting to repent of it. it can sometimes happen to people of God to fall into a time of backsliding for a time, or to commit a sin because of temporarily walking in the flesh, and they can be restored if they truly repent, but if you see that someone is just sorry that they have been caught or begin to excuse their sins because they are "under grace and not the law." Keep away from such people. True servants of God have repentant hearts, they are also not stuck au on titles.

You know an apple tree or banana tree does not need to proclaim that they are an "Apple Tree" or "Banana Tree" because everyone can see that they bear apples and bananas. In the same way and apostle or prophet do not need to use their offices as titles and demand that people call them that, people will simply know them by their fruits.

So, if you are called to prophetic ministry refrain from calling yourself a prophet, especially during your training. Do not say "The Lord told me" if you did not actually hear His voice telling you that because it is a presumption. That is why I never call myself a prophetess even though I do operate in prophetic gifts. I also avoid saying , "The Lord told me" or "Thus says The Lord" unless I clearly heard Him say that. Instead, I just share my dreams, visions, and what I see in the spiritual realm and let you judge it. Judge it against the Bible and also ask the Holy Spirit to show you if something is true or not, He always confirms that which truly comes from Him.