Convergence: Where Faith and Life Meet by Paulette Reed

Surprise, AZ

Miracle Growth

As I've been in a season of quietness lately, contemplating the past year while also looking for signposts for the coming year, Holy Spirit clearly spoke to my heart and said, "Faith grows by using it, a seed grows by sowing it, and love grows by being it." At the surface of this statement, I realize that most of us already know this. But when we receive an utterance from Heaven, the Lord's Spirit speaking to our spirit, that word becomes ours. It's like a prophetic arrow that hit the bull's-eye, a word for this time and for this season.

The faith that God has been building in you, those seeds you've sown in different arenas of your life, and all the love the Lord has poured in and out of you is about to explode for the purposes of God in this coming year. This year is going to be a year of convergence for many in the Body of Christ. Let's take a look at the three areas the Lord spoke to my heart – faith, seeds, and love– before we look at how they all converge together.

Faith Grows by Using It

Think back to last year for a moment, and then write down a minimum of five prayer requests the Lord answered for you. You prayed and believed, sowing seeds of faith in your heart; your prayers spoke life into those seeds as they germinated, similar to planting seeds in a field. It's amazing to realize that while planting these seeds of faith, we become conduits for God's will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. By writing down answered prayer requests, we set up stones of remembrance that will testify of God's goodness forever. The Book of Joshua tells us about the importance of these stones and how our faith grows by using it:

"Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, "Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight."'

So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, 'Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, "What do these stones mean to you?" then you shall say to them, "Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off." So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever'" (Joshua 4:1-7). (Photo via Pixabay)

The more stones of remembrance we accumulate over our lifetime, the more our faith becomes actual knowledge. We no longer think the Lord will do something for us; rather, we know He will do it. And knowing that God is actually working on our behalf leads us to Habakkuk 2:14, where we see that we are to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

What is the knowledge of the glory of the Lord that the earth will be filled with? Well, no human can truly define glory any more than we can define God. But, we do know that glory is the fullness of God, and it is a topic that's higher than our ways and too complex for our finite minds. We also know that when God gives His glory, He gives of Himself. So glory is all that God is – His splendor, honor, praise, worthiness – and all that He has.

As our faith grows by using it, then it becomes usable knowledge. When we accumulate this knowledge by cultivating faith in our hearts, then we are filled with the Lord's glory so that we become more like Him, more Christlike, and we have more of what He has. Therefore, filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, we have provision for our vision.

Romans 12:3 tells us that each of us is given a measure of faith: "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." As our measure of faith is stretched, it grows – our measure of faith increases. God longs to strengthen our faith, causing us to grow more and more in the use of our faith, so that when the Son of Man returns, He truly will find faith on the earth (see Luke 18:8). (Photo via Pixabay)

Let's be attentive, Beloved, and make certain that our measure of faith is growing. I see too many people get stuck in survival mode, and their faith lies dormant. We know that the Israelites went from not enough, to just enough, to more than enough – that's what the Lord wants for us as well. This is because the more we are blessed, the more we can be a blessing to others.

The Apostle Paul reminds us of this in 2 Thessalonians, declaring that faith grows as we use it: "We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing" (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

Think about it: How will you know how much faith you have if you don't use what God has already given to you?

A Seed Grows by Sowing it

The second thing Holy Spirit said was that a seed grows by sowing it. He didn't say that we throw our seed about; He said that we actually have to sow it. Paul wrote, "A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7). That means that if a farmer plants corn, then that same farmer will reap corn; if he plants soy beans, then of course he reaps soy beans; likewise, if he plants cotton, then he'll reap cotton.

Whatever we sow is what we are going to reap. Or to say it another way is that we never reap something we didn't sow. When I need clothes, I sow clothes. When I need money, I sow money. In my life I have sown dining room sets, bedroom suites, entertainment centers, and even a car. To God be the glory, I have reaped them all back when the Lord knew I needed them.

So, as we travel on our journey with Jesus, we learn to sow our seeds and we speak life over them. We pray and water them with the Word of God, nurturing them in our heart, being careful never to speak curses but blessings over them. Not only that, but we also expect a harvest of the seeds that we have sown. (Photo via Freeimages)

Just as our faith grows by using it, so our seed should grow by sowing it. And, keep in mind here, that the seeds we sow should be getting bigger and bigger, because we are reaping larger blessings as a result. If we sowed $1.00 ten years ago, we'd better still not be sowing the same $1.00. The Word of God commands us to be fruitful and multiply (see Genesis 1:22). The smallest number that we can multiply is 2, which means if we sowed $1,000 last year, then this year we should be thrilled to sow at least $2,000. We don't add a little every season – we multiply it.

Love Grows by Being it

Many years ago, someone significant in my life said to me, "I just don't like people. I mean, I just don't." When this individual said this to me, I knew in my heart that it was just not right. And so I thought, "I'm going to love people. That's what God would do." I relate this brief interaction to illustrate the point that we have to make the conscious choice to love someone – it doesn't always flow naturally out of who we are.

In fact, love is the bedrock of Christianity. Christ died for us because the Father was motivated by nothing other than His great love toward us. Jesus didn't call 10,000 angels to get Him down from the Cross – it was because of love that Jesus became a human, dying the death we deserved, so that we could have the life He deserved. It was love that held him on the Cross so that we could be forgiven. Likewise, everything that we do as disciples of Christ should be motivated out of love. Especially as a prophetic people, we cannot be prophesying without love or we are nothing but a clanging cymbal or a noisy gong.

The love we carry will be consistently tested so that it can grow. Alleluia...I think. God doesn't want us to stay at the same love level as we walked in last year. He longs for us to grow as we continue to behold the God of love: Jesus Christ Himself.

When a man came up to Jesus to ask Him what the greatest commandment was, Jesus quoted an Old Testament Scripture, saying that a person is to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the greatest commandment. But then Jesus quickly followed it up by saying that the second commandment, which is much like the first, is that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (see Matthew 22:37-39). If you're really struggling with loving someone, then press into God and His love will flow through you. Jesus said in John 13, "Love one another, even as I have loved you." We only love because He first loved us. (Photo via Pixabay)

I think that one of the greatest ways to test our love level is to go on a mission's trip. When you have ten women staying together in one room, then you'll know what I mean when I say that we have to consciously choose to love others. This can also happen in our day-to-day lives – at the marketplace, the grocery store, or even in the church parking lot.

Each time we bump into others, there is an opportunity for our love to be tested. Consequently, our love can't really grow if we're isolated. How exciting it is to know that each time we pass a love test, our level of love is bumped up. Let's make it our prayer this year to ask God for a fresh baptism of love – ask Him to fill you to overflowing with His abundant and steadfast love.

Convergence

This year is going to be a year of convergence. Convergence is when your dreams, gifts, talents, skills, and Christlike character all come together at a point in time, and they come into alignment so your destiny can explode.

I recently ordered a stainless steel pizza rack for a large luncheon I was hosting. When the pizza rack arrived, I took it out of the box and for a moment I couldn't find the opening where eleven pizza pans could slide onto the shelves. It was then that I realized the company I ordered from had inadvertently sent two pizza racks, which were locked together. As I separated the two racks, Holy Spirit spoke to me about the idea of convergence – that 2016 would be a year of convergence. (Photo via Paulette Reed)

Of course, we need to first build up and develop our dreams and our destiny, otherwise there wouldn't be anything to converge. But when we have built and prayed and used our faith, sown our seeds, and loved as Christ loves, there is an amazing convergence that takes place where we see an explosion of Kingdom productivity.

We can't actually make a convergence happen, but there are a number of ways we can cooperate with what Holy Spirit is doing in our lives. I think many, many people never get to the point of convergence in their lives because they aren't aware of the Kingdom process.

For one thing, we can stay focused and avoid distractions, learning to stay in the rhythm or the flow of Heaven and not strive. We need to be faithful, sowing seeds, loving God's people, and always listening for the still, small voice of God. And of course we trust God, remaining grateful, to cultivate an atmosphere where convergence takes place.

I believe that convergence is always God's intention from the time we're born. We see it in the Old Testament with Joseph, who had favor in prison and everywhere else he went, and he ended up ruling a nation. We see it manifested in the life of Daniel, as he interpreted the king's dream with his spiritual gift – his gifts converged with his environment and he had provision for the vision.

Let's make our mantra for this year to be "Convergence: Where Faith and Life Meet."

Paulette Reed
Prophetic Arrow Ministries
Email: info@propheticarrow.org
Website: www.propheticarrow.org

I Am Calling My Women Out of the Caves by Paulette Reed

Surprise, AZ

The Women

Recently, one morning, I heard Holy Spirit say to me, "I am calling My women out of the caves." As I prayed into this word from Heaven, the Lord showed me hundreds of women hiding in caves because of fear, failure, or fatigue. I then saw the women running from the caves with good news. It was clear that many had overextended their season in the caves and what was intended to be their secret place had become their hiding place. Today, God is calling you out of hiddenness and to the frontlines.

In the New Testament we find that Jesus had a group of female disciples who followed Him, whom Luke called "the women" (Luke 23:55; Acts 1:14). And since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then of course female disciples are still following their Savior wherever He leads. As God releases the great company of women commanded to share the good news in Psalm 68:11, we will see thousands more following Christ out of love, adoration, and devotion to Him. Women are being released to step into a new boldness in the Lord.

Run for Your Life

A couple memorable cave experiences can be found in the book of 1 Kings. Remember that the murderess Jezebel was going to have the prophet Elijah killed but God provided protection and provision, as He still does for His people today. 1 Kings 18:4 says, "For when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water."

Unfortunately, the spirit of Jezebel is still active in the earth today. The Body of Christ made great strides in overcoming this spirit several years ago; however, as we have relaxed following the victory, and as an Elijah company is arising, we are seeing this spirit frequently raise its ugly head once again. As we live out Acts 2:17, God pouring out His Spirit on all people, and as we prophesy, let's stay alert and remember that this spirit is out to kill the prophetic. We are never to tolerate it (Revelation 2:20).

Go!

One of the reasons that many women are in caves is because of hurts and rejections they have experienced throughout life. I can't even begin to count how many people have shared their stories of hurt and pain with me, and while they were wounded many inadvertently made ungodly covenants as they ran into caves. The confession usually goes something like this: "I'm so hurt. I'm just going to love the Lord and worship Him in my secret place because I sure struggle with His people right now."

I do understand that hiding in a cave can make a person feel safe, but in actuality it's a false security and it does not line up with the Word of God. In the Great Commission we are commanded to go into the whole world, and 1 John 4:20 says that we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ: "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." So, beloved, we must love our brothers and sisters as we go and serve Christ in them.

Let's rejoice in the fact that there is always a genuine safe place for all Believers—it's in the shadow of the Almighty's wings. This true security is a supernatural act of protection, not an excuse to hide. We must learn to love and serve the Bride of Christ even with all of her spots and wrinkles, for our gifts are not to be hidden for ourselves but they are to be given away to others. Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Developed in the Dark Room

It's wonderful to know that the character of Christ can be formed in us, even if we're in a cave season. We can learn a lot if we remain teachable and determined to become better and not bitter:

• We learn to stay in the safe place after slaying giants (1 Samuel 24:3).
• We learn to love (1 Samuel 24:10).
• We learn not to touch God's anointed (1 Samuel 24:10).
• We learn mercy and forgiveness (1 Samuel 24:10).
• We learn of the Lord's provision (1 Kings 18:4).
• We learn when to cry aloud to the Lord (Psalm 57:1).
• We learn that miracles can be birthed in caves (Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1–7).
• We learn humility (Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1–7).
• We learn to delight in hiddenness and live to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7).
• We learn to hear the Lord's still small voice (1 Kings 19:9–12).
• We learn there is a season to all things (1 Kings 19:13).

What Are You Doing Here?

As the Lord releases a great company of women throughout the earth, let's take a look at 1 Kings 19:13–16 (NLT) to see what happened to Elijah as he was hiding in the cave. God asked Elijah a question as he stood at the mouth of the cave:

And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied again, "I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with You, torn down Your altars, and killed every one of Your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too." Then the Lord told him, "Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as My prophet."

In unpacking these Scriptures, it's great to see that God didn't lose track of His elusive servant, though Elijah had been hiding in a cave for quite some time. God had been watching over him and supernaturally ministering to his needs. But the cave season was coming to an end. Elijah had been resting, giving time to get his heart and soul right, so that he could continue on in his destiny and now God calls him back to the mountain to take a stand.

His heart must have been pierced by such a searching question from the Almighty: "What are you doing here?" I believe the Lord is asking many of us that same piercing question today: "What are you doing here?" Or perhaps we need to ask ourselves, "Am I in the right place?" Are you sensing a nudge from the Lord that's making you uncomfortable? If so, let's remember that the Lord often comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. Our faith, spiritual gifts, and Christ-like character grow by being stretched, not by lying dormant in a cave.

And then, in the solitude of Mount Sinai, perhaps at the same "cleft of the rock" that Moses hid in thousands of years before as God's glory passed by (Exodus 33:22), God showed up to give direction to His prophetic servant. It is amazing that God told Elijah to go back on the same road and along the same path that led him to the cave. Oh, how different this trip would be! Elijah was no longer fatigued or frightened by Jezebel; rather, he left the cave anointed by God and ready to be a heavenly force to be reckoned with.

I hear the Lord saying, "Go! Get your eyes off of yourself. Here are your new marching orders: love, serve, anoint, appoint, and raise up successors."

Exchanging Grave Clothes for Bridal Armor

John 11:44–45 tells us of the raising of Lazarus from the dead: The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.' Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him."

This is a season where God is exchanging your grave clothes for the armor of God. I declare to you today: "Come forth now, with boldness, with purity of devotion and passion after God. Exchange the grave clothes that held you in bondage for pure, white linens, the righteous acts of God's holy people, and declare the Good News of the Kingdom of God so that many will believe in Him!"

Just think what would have happened if Jesus had stayed in the cave. Thank goodness He arose from the dead and walked out of the tomb in resurrection power. In Romans 8:11 the apostle Paul makes it clear that the Holy Spirit, the agent of Jesus's resurrection, lives within every Believer: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

I speak life to dreams, marriages, businesses and families today. Come forth! You shall live and not die!

Psalm 57:1 is a beautiful tribute regarding David as he fled from Saul and hid in the cave, and it's valid for you and me today: "Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by."

Destruction has passed you by, beloved, and you are commanded to arise and shine. The Lord has softened your heart and given you a breastplate of righteousness. You're a radiant Bride, soft on the inside and tough as nails on the outside. A heavenly, royal wedding gown covers the armor as you march in the great army of women. God is calling His women out of the caves.

Paulette Reed
Prophetic Arrow Ministries
Email: info@propheticarrow.org
Website: www.propheticarrow.org