Hi all,
I'm
sharing some details these last 2 weeks about the visitation with the
Lord that changed my life the most. I had first seen Him in April of
1986, but on October 1st of that year He
appeared to me saying, "I want to teach you how to hear the Father's
voice." What He taught me wasn't like I would have thought up to that
time - thinking the Father's voice was only to be heard as a loud
speaker in my brain - He shared not only about the verbal, but many of
the 'non-verbal' ways the Father communicates as well. That's the part
that I am sharing.
In the middle of talking about the rich man and Lazarus...
He reminded me of John 16:13
which says the Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself, but only speaks
what He hears and will guide us into all truth, and will show us things
to come. He mentioned only 1 of the 3 (speak, guide, show) is verbal -
speaking. Thus to listen for only a voice will cause us to miss much of
what He communicates to us.
He
also reminded me of I Corinthians 2:9-16 which the same thing a bit
differently: It says the things of the Father aren't communicated
by what we can see, hear, or think in our minds (circumstances &
imagination), but by the Holy Spirit who searches the deep things of the
Father for His provision for our lives.
That
revelation - not to read circumstances as His will or not His will -
rearranged my theology greatly, yet it was as clear in the scripture He
was quoting as the nose on my face: "Eye hasn't seen, nor ear heard, nor
has it entered into the imagination of man the things the Father has
for them. But these things are revealed by the Holy Spirit who searches
all things, yes the deep things of the Father."
His
words were explosions of revelations within me - a personal revelation
means it is nearly impossible to tell another person about all that you
are suddenly understanding, for it all suddenly falls into place and is
known within.
I
can honestly tell you I must have looked confused because every book
I'd read, every bit of church culture, was built upon the foundation of
God 'out there' dropping circumstantial clues like a person dropping
bread crumbs along my path in the hope I will desire Him enough to
properly interpret each 'sign' - all of church culture made the Father
the adversary, having to be convinced and manipulated into answering
prayer and making each of us a code breaker of His cryptic ways of
communicating.
Now
Jesus was standing before me in pure light, quoting scripture point by
point, causing me to remember instances in my life where I'd
accidentally stumbled into listening to His witness, revelation, voice
in my spirit...realizing when I'd followed my spirit and peace it all
worked out, and when I tried to force it or force myself to 'hear' His
voice nothing happened. It all suddenly made sense.
The conversation continues: The man let down through the roof...the scribes thinking...
I
asked if body language helped in any way, and He said, "Body language
can draw your attention in the natural to someone when the Father or I
have something to share, though not always. I wasn't reading their
minds." (The scribes thinking in themselves, 'Who does this man think he
is, only God can forgive sins') But when I looked at them and the looks
on their faces, I knew in my spirit by the Spirit what they were
thinking."
"Remember
reading of me going to Jairus' house and the woman with the
hemorrhaging condition touched my clothes. (Suddenly that memory of Mark
5:30 & Luke 8: 46 was vivid in my
mind) The street was more narrow than what you are thinking. (I
adjusted my thoughts down in size of the street) It was more crowded
than what you are thinking. (I adjusted) That's about right. My physical
senses were all going off - the crowd jostling me, the sights, smells,
and sounds - but I was continually shifting my thoughts between my
physical senses and spiritual senses. That's why Luke 8:46 says I 'perceived power going out from me.'" (KJV)
"You
must train yourself to continually shift your attention between the
natural world and senses, and your spirit man and the spirit man's
senses. Again, they are connected, but unless you train yourself to
respond to your surroundings and what you see and hear especially, by
checking with your spirit, comparing those things you see and hear with
your spirit, you will miss many things the Father is trying to
communicate."
"Do
you remember that store on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall? You went in
looking for a gift but immediately sensed another spirit present. It
wasn't until you looked at all the Buddhist statues and belongings and
talked to the clerk that you realized what you sensed in your spirit and
what you saw with your eyes confirmed one another, and you left the
store."
"You
know what the spirit associated with that religion feels like in your
spirit, and your mind remembers that witness. This is how people who
have experiences with spirits they grew up with - like addictions, lust,
and other things - can now in Me immediately recognize a person with
those spirits. They remember their own experiences and what they (the
spirits) felt like, so when they come across someone with those spirits
it bears witness with their spirit through the Spirit of Truth within
them, and their mind 'picks up' on that witness, so they know what that
person has."
Another example
"I'll
give you another. Remember Paul in Lystra (again by the Spirit, the
passage sprang to my mind fresh and crisp) and the man who had never
walked? Acts 14:9 says Paul perceived he had faith to be healed after he
had 'steadfastly' looked at him. Do you know what Paul was doing? As he
spoke he was focusing on something he perceived in his spirit about the
man and his faith, and it took that focus for him to correctly
determine the situation. Paul had to stare at him while he spoke to
perceive the man's faith. You must train yourself like that. When you
sense something in your spirit, focus on that for clarity, otherwise
you'll miss what the Father has."
I've
used that many time since, often looking over a congregation and
sensing the Spirit more heavily on 1 person, so as I teach I'll keep
coming back to them, making eye contact, sometimes pausing as I perceive
what the Father has for that person. Often once I do focus, I'll see a
mini-vision played out above or beside them like the visitation, seeing
both in the Spirit realm and the natural at the same time. He
continued...
"When
you give a prophecy how do you do that?" I responded, "Well, I sense
something in my spirit, like the first lines of a sentence, or have a
sudden knowing of what you or the Father want to say to them, then I
wait for an opportunity to share what I have." "Do you give that
prophecy with your eyes open, or closed?"
"Closed."
"Why?" He asked. "So I can concentrate on what is in my spirit. It
helps to block out everything around me (suddenly I was getting His
point) so I can concentrate what is in my spirit." "Exactly. You do what
you can to shut out your physical senses so you can concentrate on your
spiritual senses. As you continue in these things and become more
experienced, you'll not only be able to prophesy with your eyes open,
but I'll enable you to see both physical and spiritual realms at the
same time - what you call an open vision or mini-vision..."
Flash forward
There was much more teaching but I don't have room here.
The rest you can read in Pursuing the Seasons of God,
and I'm not trying to drum up sales, but I'm out of room here and had
the realization that 30 years had passed since then, and some might be
interested in the visitation that changed my life the most. The Lord is
amazing, meek, lowly in heart, and He truly loves us. But He is strong
in the sense He doesn't pander nor bend to our flesh - He is Truth - so
if we want to grow in Him it requires us to live in Truth, because He
will move on and go on about His business anyway.
But
if we will grow, change, mature, decide for the fruit of the spirit and
Christ-like character in all things, He is there to bring us along in
sensitivity to His ways...I'm sure not perfect nor have I 'arrived',
just ask Barb or our kids or daughters in law or CWOWI leaders (though I
think most of our grandchildren are young enough they still think
grandpa is pretty much perfect, lol) - but I have learned a few things. I
hope to be a blessing.
New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
New CD/MP3 Series
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Glimpses Behind the Scenes- CD/ MP3
Things the Lord has Taught me about Prayer and Worship- CD/ MP3
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The Revelation of the Father- CD/ MP3
The Revelation of the Holy Spirit- CD/ MP3
Pursuing the Seasons of God- CD/ MP3
Knowing the Ways of God- CD/ MP3
Getting to Know our Heavenly Father - CD/ MP3
How Jesus Taught Me to Hear the Fathers Voice- DVD
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The team from DR Congo shares the story of one of their amazing church planters who inspires them with his faith and courage:
Northern
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