The Prophet

The prophet sees the Lord’s vision for humanity. Because they feel fiercely, tears flow from their eyes because many aren’t even conscious that the word of God is disregarded. The prophetic message that is spoken isn’t to be shunned because the Lord has concern for all of His creation. Prophets aren’t worried about if their the minority because they have learned to maintain their loyalty to the Lord over popular opinion. They seem to live out of a much different kind of value system.

Because their testimony didn’t originate from themselves they don’t just burn for a season, their words burn for eternity. They have been touched by the eternal word of God which has extinguished the self centered ego that plagues humanity. Any need to prove themselves, has been replaced by a tenderness for the heart of the Father. The decree they speak isn’t necessarily a message of comfort, but a message that challenges. When the rights of others are forsaken they scream, and when human obligations are neglected, they weep. Their hatred towards sin doesn’t produce hostility towards others, it exhibits a desire for reconciliation. Their wholeheartedness for the honor of God is at times misinterpreted as an anger towards men and women who don’t share their beliefs.

For the prophet, to refuse to worship God is scandalous. The prophet doesn’t ask who men and women owe their ultimate allegiance to, for the prophet this is never a question but a demand. In other words, the prophet understands that ultimately autonomy that is fueled by human ambition leads to social confusion. The prophet of God may be misunderstood, however they are really pleading for the well being and prosperity of the nations. They passionately forgive and serve those who have rejected their words. With certainty, they preach not only the sense of indebtedness to God but a sense of indebtedness to every son and daughter of Adam.

Greatness isn’t something prophets attempt to obtain through their own ambition, it’s a gift. Because they’ve chosen to adhere to the relational expectations the Lord has laid out. In other words, to cultivate indifference for a prophet is the result of a conscience that is silenced by a culture that is unaware of the divine presence. Prophets champion the oppressed that are to broken to speak. The appeal for justice isn’t something the prophet can shake off, because the need for justices burns in their hearts. For anything that threatens the very source of life must be confronted.

Those who automatically have a prophetic voice never lose sight and never lose drive towards what matters to God. How God thinks, how God feels, how God acts, never leaves the prophets conscience. The prophet isn’t shaped by impulse, the prophet is shaped by the inner conviction that God is ever present in everything we do. Without an ambition for what is vain, without an infatuation with success, the prophet is entirely content being a friend of God.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

A Divine Partnership

God is not looking for our knowledge, He’s looking for our trust. By eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it would change the very nature of Adam and Eve. Meaning, what we eat spiritually changes our very nature. That is why we must eat right. A sense of vulnerability, shame, exploitation and exposure happens when we eat from the wrong source. Although the Lord prohibited Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent told them “why forfeit your personal rights? Just eat whatever you want.” The serpent seemed to capitalize upon their love and loyalty.

That’s why divine partnership is so crucial in our spiritual development. By choosing to partner with the serpent, Adam and Eve failed to not partner with God, but also by not partnering with each other. The serpent was never a suitable helper. Because finding the appropriate partner allows us to walk in the fullness of our humanity.

One of the greatest tragedies in the garden was that Eve lost her dignity because of Adam’s silence. For in Genesis two, the Lord was teaching Adam how to value Eve, however by not protecting the partnership, Adam doesn’t value her like he should. Therefore Eve is left to fight the serpent herself while Adam just stands there.

I believe Adam and Eve forgot who they were because of the intense battle with the serpent. They failed to remember that in the creative order of God, they were the only ones in the Lord’s creation that could pray, because they were able to commune with God. One of the truths that seems to be before us is that without exercising our true God given identity we are taken advantage of by the enemy. Our curiosity becomes catastrophic because of our hearts ability to trust in the goodness of God is compromised. Because like Eve, we begin to question the Lord’s heart towards us.

We also must discernibly look at the reality of why Adam demonstrates absolutely no resistance when Eve offered him the fruit. Why? Simply because trusting God’s heart is so intimately related to resistance. In other words, when we possess the correct core convictions we won’t allow the enemy to exploit the vulnerability of those who we are in partnership with us.

I believe the cure is to find refuge, not in restrictions but in appreciation. Because without exercising appreciation we are trapped in an attitude of indifference. Since knowledge without appreciation turns into self deception. Therefore we must operate with love in our dealings with each other if we are going to maintain a healthy partnership. We can’t afford to keep ourselves away from the Lord’s eyes. Absorbed with a selfish attitude and attempting to hide in our own manufactured identity. Partnership permits exposure and when love is at the center of the community, the guilty get forgiven and empowered.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

What is the destiny of humanity?

I believe that religion without relationship is the biggest distortion of the image of God. I am also convinced that what drives us when no one is watching, tells us what we have a passion for. For instance, when we have a correct response to God we then, and only then, can correctly discern reality.

Adam had all his hearts desire yet something happened in Genesis three. I admit, although he had everything, those things couldn’t keep him safe from the onslaught of evil. Only having the Lord as his one desire could keep Adam for falling. This is why when relationships don’t operate appropriately, our ability to love the Lord effectively, is frustrated. Our lives are to be uniquely balanced however, we also need more passion for God.

We were created to reflect what the Lord is thinking and feeling, not a narrative of what culture is preaching. Simply because in the very beginning the Lord stood near by and spoke humanity into existence. He took a piece of Himself and gave it to us while we were shrouded in darkness and nothingness. Our brokenness made us extremely vulnerable to His voice. Prophetic proclamations are the activity of God, meaning, His speech is what made us good. For without His voice we are an unproductive wasteland. The good news is that the unproductive becomes productive at the sound of His speech, the uninhabited becomes habituated when He uses His voice. No one is able to contest His word over us, for He is the author of all things. For His word is a creative act shaping and molding us in His likeness. Being made in His likeness isn’t merely physical, it’s the fact that men and women can partner with God, can reason like God and speak for God.

This dimension we bare isn’t to be Lord over Him but to be both responsible and worshipful towards our relationship with Him. Valuing who He is and honoring what He has entrusted to us. This eliminates the pride of self sufficiency and causes us to focus upon the command to love our neighbor. That way we can rule effectively and rightly represent His likeness. Our dominion then becomes a partnership with the Lord, not a call to control. We in a partnership with the Lord, we reflect His divine nature by how we manage and treasure what He has given to us.

Our yearning to be like Him isn’t only that we may rule effectively but that we may love like Him and love Him well. This is the cry of the image barer. This is the cry of the soul who wants to want Him. We are called to live in His world on His terms, this the destiny of humanity. Living on God’s terms means choosing to love Him and pushing away the desire for independence. This is a fight, however I believe the inner urge to see all the Lord has done for us will overthrow the urge to disobey His voice.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

We all have filters that interpret our experiences, but what if those filters are inaccurate?

The Hebrew prophets confronted the priests because the priests were dedicated to their ceremonies more than an inner attachment to the Lord. These leaders did not resolve to honor the Lord in their hearts. I believe that they fell into the trap of pleasing powerful people instead of pleasing the all powerful Lord. That is why the Lord began to speak through His servants. Because Israel needed individuals who ascended to the hill of Lord. God’s people needed the kind of prophets who would chose a pure heart over a successful ministry. Prophets who gave more thought about the love God felt for His people than a greater platform or more economic blessing. What set theses men and women apart was that they made mention what the Lord was in love with more than the religious agenda of the priests and politicians. They understood that the Spirit was able to beat the swords of men into plow-shears and give them the peace they longed for. Therefore, their message wasn’t just about punishment because punishment isn’t the greatest deterrent for humanity. They preached that if people saw the beauty of what was promised, then they would turn towards a loving God.

So then why were their hearts so hard, why didn’t they fear the Lord? Why didn’t they feel the burden of their guilt? One reason is because of the abuse of power from those who were in a position of leadership exploited others through their lust for personal ambition. A heart filled with arrogance and pride doesn’t fear the Lord nor does it feel guilty. The Lords response is by sending a man or women of God to awaken a sense of justice, a sense of righteousness. A submitted vessel who possesses an inner identification with God’s will and a concern for the safety of others. For within the inner heart of these prophets they have to warn us because of what they’re seeing. Not to prove how right they are, but to protect the people God loves.

To the prophet, the Lord isn’t an idea to be discussed, but a King to be praised. Their message is to see what the Lord sees and to feel what the Lord feels. Nothing proves the sincerity of the prophet’s beliefs like their willingness to suffer for them. That is the reason why every prophet suffered for what they believed about God and humanity. Prophets suffer because men and women are held hostage by deception and pride. You see, the prophet is a man or woman who burns with eternal love, a love which has been imparted by the heart of the Father. They have traded in any respectability, for spiritual wisdom and revelation. The stigma that comes from walking in the supernatural doesn’t faze them because of their personal bond with the everlasting God.

I believe in this generation we are going to witness an awakening of the “prophetic conscience” men and women who share within their inner selves the same burden and passion of the Hebrew prophets.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

Finding Contentment

What we are filling our hearts with and what we are conceiving in our hearts, are the two most important questions we could ask. Because what we conceive in our hearts forms behaviors. This is why contentment is so vital to our emotional and spiritual livelihood. Contentment is when we tell Jesus that His presence is enough to meet our every need. It’s a sign of spiritual maturity, it isn’t being complacent with the ordinary because there isn’t anything ordinary about Jesus. It’s the call to be completely absorbed in a vision much higher than ourselves. This narrative is where He lives in absolute contentment, and the greatest news is that our Lord has given us an invitation to never thirst again. For in that place we discover what Jesus has a passion for.

Let’s take the Apostle Peter for example, he felt very discontented when he was disconnected to Christ in his denial. Yet more alive than ever when reconnected with Christ on the shores of Galilee. Peter learned to trust the Lord with his heart and it created in him a peace that was supernatural. This made a lifestyle of contentment the very way Peter led his life from that point on. His agenda changed from one of discontentment to one of grace and power. Peter was no longer crippled by his mistakes, and now Jesus has complete access to this his affections. Peter wants what the Lord wants, he burns for what the Lord burns for. That’s contentment.

His self worth has been reinstated in the presence of Christ. While some find self worth in performance and possessions, Peter discovers self worth in his relationship with the Son of God. That’s why it’s so crucial that we know the source of what we believe. Because in the society that we live in there are those that make personal opinions the reliable source of truth. Whenever those feelings begin to develop we tend to miss a continuous comprehensive revelation of Christ. The results of this is that our self worth gets constructed by the wrong builder.

Lets take this example, I believe that one of the greatest obstacles is being able to resist opportunity for personal advancement at the expense of others. Although opportunities are wonderful, do they bring the emotional contentment that you and I long for, or do opportunities add more pressure and fracture the most important relationships? Because without contentment we have absolutely no buffer against any bitterness towards our own shortcomings. This in turn erects a discontentment that doesn’t just bring punishment upon others but upon ourselves. With it, brings the absence of self worth, debt, inappropriate desires for things we don’t need in our lives and a restlessness that seems to never be satisfied. Who would really want that?

In Peter’s second epistle it says: “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)

Beloved you and I have been give a better opportunity, because spiritual growth happens when our hearts and minds connect daily to what is completely reliable. Peter discovered that the only individual that was completely reliable, was our Lord Jesus and in our Lord’s will was the wellspring of contentment.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

Activating Your Prophetic Word

Proverbs 18:21 (KJVA) Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

There is tremendous power in your words. Many scriptures speak of the power of the tongue and it’s for good reason. Your words are powerful because they have in it a capacity to build the future that you will live in. That’s why in this moment in time, it seems harder and harder to open your mouth and speak and I don’t mean words that others expect you to say or that prevent you from rocking the boat, I mean the words that are inside of you that speak to the purpose that is shouting inside of you to make an appearance into the reality of your surroundings.

Those are the words that God is after and those are the words that if left unspoken, could meet the tragedy of never coming into existence. That is why the prophetic is so valuable. They help provide a language and an awareness of that very thing inside of you that needs to come out. Words spoken over you in prophecy are vital. They not only illuminate your future and the potential that you carry but also give you weapons to war with to achieve the victory of your purpose.

When we pair the prophetic word over our lives with the words that come out of our own mouths, it’s a prophetic physical action that we can take to lay hold and take claim of our promise that God has released for us to walk in. This is not something very hard to do and it does not take a lot of time.

Here is a practical process you can use to begin turning your prophetic words into a weapon of war:

1. Listen or read back the prophetic words that have been spoken over your life

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate to you the parts of the word that He wants to activate in your life now

3. Turn those prophetic words into declarations

4. For example, if the prophecy states that you have a mantle to affect and bless nations, turn it into a declaration that reads something like “In the name of Jesus, I declare that I walk in a mantle that blesses the nations of this world. I declare that my feet will tread on many nations and that the gospel of the Kingdom will come from my mouth over people of every culture, language and location throughout the earth…."

   1. I want to speak to this a little more, don’t be surprised that when you start declaring the prophetic word that you don’t also begin to get into a prophetic flow of prophesying and prophetically declaring and expounding on the word. Allow the Holy Spirit to prophecy through you as well!

5. Place Passion and Intensity Behind Your Prophetic Declarations

6. When you really honestly and truly believe something, when it is something that you are passionate about, your body reflects that belief. Hence we should declare loudly, with authority and with passion.

7. Do this 3 times a day for at least 3 days and see what happens!

Sincerely,

John Harke Team