August 21st, 1993 “Living to Glorify God” Mrs. N. D .Daniel
Joel 2:28&29 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
Amos 7:14 &15 “Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.”
I always pray that God should raise up many prophets and prophetesses in our Fellowship. We see it is God's will to pour His Holy Spirit upon our children and upon our sons and daughters, that they may prophesy. Joel says, it is God who should send His Spirit upon us, and young men shall see visions. It says, “Old people dream dreams.” We are all ordinary people. When we think that God wants all of us to become prophets and prophetesses, how great is His loving heart! God's choice of Amos shows that God is no respector of persons. It is not that only prophet's children can become prophets and prophetesses. Amos says that he was just a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. “I am not a prophet or son of a prophet.” It is amazing that such a great gift was given to him. He exhorted people to repent for their sins. He said, “God is our judge and He will judge the people.” So he warned the people and preached repentance.
Amos 8:11&12. Amos preached that there would be very soon a famine of the Word of God. He was able to foresee all these things. He was just a shepherd, and God gave him such a vision of the mind of God. God was able to show to him the revelation of the future and taught him how to preach to the people. I think, he got used to talking with God and getting God's mind about what he had to preach.
Amos 9:1. Amos was able to see the Lord standing upon the altar. When I read this book, I always wonder how prophets come into such a close contact with God and know His mind and enter into His thoughts. God has got a great desire to bless all of us to be prophets and prophetesses. But we must see the fulfilment of God's desire by studying the Word of God diligently.
Amos 9:11&12. Amos saw not only the near future, but also the distant future in the mind of God, he was able to understand it and prophesy. He even said, “Prepare to meet your God.” He proclaimed many truths. He ended his prophesy by disclosing the final loving plans of God for them. Amos 9:14&15.
Our Fellowship, according to the blessing of God, is spreading on all sides. We have to rise up to higher levels in our prayer life in order to help many people. We must carefully study God’s Word. When we want to read the Bible, then a thought will come, “Let me finish this work and then I can read the Bible undisturbed.” Is this the thought of the devil, or our own habit of procrastination? We must discern. To become prophets and prophetesses, we have to walk with God with fear and trembling. What we preach, we have to live it. And what we live, we have to preach. So many people are in need of our spiritual help for their problems. So we have to give the right counsels to them.
I am reminded of one of my experiences in my walk with God. One day a teacher came to me for counsel. I had just finished reading Daniel chapter 5 and God was revealing His mind to me out of it. “Mene, Mene Tekel Upharsin.” This teacher was in tears saying that her husband was very seriously ill in the hospital. At that time, my husband was away. I prayed and told her, “Go and ask your husband to confess his sins and get right with God. His time is up.” She delivered the message and very soon he died. But he sent word saying that he had confessed his sins and the Lord forgave him.
When you are reading the Word, it will speak to you and speak about the needy person about whom you are praying. A certain brother was coming to your meetings on his bicycle. On the way he met with an accident and was hurt. He went to the doctor and the doctor examined his right hand and said that the middle finger has to be amputated. On his way to the doctor for amputation, he came to me for prayer. I prayed and then said, “Do not go to the doctor. Do not lose that finger. You need all the fingers of your right hand.” He believed and did not go in for amputation. His finger is still there and of good use. God helped him to believe. How many times, in how many places, we fall down in our journeys. But God keeps us from injury. Two years ago, my daughter fell down while alighting from the plane because a drunken man missed his footing and fell on her. But she was not hurt. The angels are around us and around His children to protect them from injury. We will be granted not only the gift of prophecy, but also angelic help and the Holy Spirit's gift of God's love in our hearts. We need these blessings in order to preach His Word. Why should we lose all these heavenly blessings? Why should we not understand God's plans for us?
When
Amos was able to see the Lord, we also must see the Lord and His angels on the
pulpit and around us. I am able to see God's love around us. Since there is
such a scarcity of water in
I am able to see the love of God and His presence in our midst. God is our “everlasting Father”, with an everlasting love. We should not go away from His love for us. Let us recall what the prophet Jeremiah preached. “I have thoughts of peace and not thoughts of evil for you.” So we shall ask the Lord to make us what He wants us to be. In this one life, we have to glorify the lord. We should not grieve the Lord, because He loves us. Pray for me also. I want to live the life which brings glory to God. May the Lord bless you!