“I was talking with one of my neighbors last night about prophets,” Stan commented while we were waiting for our breakfast.”
“Is he making or losing?” I asked.
“Prophets,” Stan replied, “as in people who see things about God that others don’t see, not ‘profits’ in the sense of money.”
“Oh,” I responded. “I misunderstood. Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Stan said. “In fact, what my neighbor and I talked about is how easy it is to misunderstand that someone is or may be a prophet.”
“Easy to misunderstand in what way?” I asked.
“It happened with Jesus,” Stan replied, “and, as I was telling my neighbor, it happened with a friend of mine back in the old town who had a gift of being able to see things in God’s word that other people didn’t see.”
“How did that happen with Jesus?”
“It’s recorded in Matthew’s gospel,” Stan replied, “and mentioned in the other three gospels as well.”
“Must be important if it’s in all four gospels,” I commented. “What was it?”
“Jesus had returned to His hometown of Nazareth and was teaching in the Synagogue, but the people largely discounted what He had to say because they thought He was just the son of a carpenter, just a man, rather than recognizing Him as the Messenger sent from God the Father.”
“And what happened?” I asked.
“Not much,” Stan replied. “In fact, it’s mentioned that Jesus didn’t do much in Nazareth because of the people’s unbelief. And it was the same sort of thing with my friend in old town.”
“What? That people didn’t respect what your friend had to say about God and His word?”
“That’s it,” Stan replied. “In my mind, my friend was clearly gifted with the ability to see things in God’s word, and to hear things from God’s voice, that others didn’t see and hear. A lot of people discounted what my friend had to say because they thought of him as nothing out of the ordinary. And I think they missed out on some important stuff that God may have had for them to hear from him.”
“So you think your friend was a modern-day prophet?” I asked.
“I do,” Stan responded. “At least for me I know I profited from what he had to say about God and God’s word. He showed me things I don’t think I would have ever seen on my own.”
“You profited from the prophet,” I commented. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“You got it, my friend,” Stan replied. “Prophets are where you find them, and you will find them if you look closely enough and pay attention to what you find!”
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Bible verses to consider:
And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:57-58.
And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household.” Mark 6:4.
And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town.” Luke 4:24.
And Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. John 4:44.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for those people you gift with the ability to see and to hear what you have for them in ways that you do not have for others. Thank you that you gift them in that way so they can help others to know what you have for them. I confess that too often I think I know all I need to know about you and I am not open to hearing what you have for others to make known to me. Please forgive that foolishness. And please help me to follow every step of your lead in knowing you more deeply by whatever source and from anyone you have for me to learn. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Have you ever rejected something God may have had for you because you didn’t think the source was “good enough”? If so, what was that all about? Do you believe there are “modern-day prophets” that God gifts with the ability to see things in His word and from His voice that you may not see or hear? Why or why not? If you sense you may need to be more open to what God has for you from whatever source, how is that going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 