THRIV3::{discipline.love.passion}

hey guys, it’s michelle - you know, the one living as your neighbor to the south. drew asked me if i would start writing on here and i love the idea of this site - hope i can encourage and add to this positively…

where do i even start? God has been teaching me so much throughout these past 7 months it would be impossible to recount them all if you haven’t been following along on my www.xanga.com/psychoshell

Currently I am living with a wonderful Mexican Christian family and their 4 children and I working with Compassion International in a very poor area outside of Mexico City. I am bucket bathing because they are repairing the bathroom in the house, I am learning to cook Mexican food, loving Spanish, learning submission to my directors, and trusting God that He will protect my honor and that my life will testify more than my words. In KVill we say that patience is “waiting without complaining when things get hard” and God is definitely giving me an opportunity to live that out… whether that’s good or bad, I’m still not sure. I had the opportunity to travel all around Guatemala during spring break and meet so many of God’s children and see what He is doing in a new country.

Currently however, I would say that I am learning a lot about the gift of prophecy - unfortunately not really through experience, but through reading. As much as I love the Village I wonder what it would look like if we would have the opportunity to allow the gift of prophecy to flourish - what would that look like? It’s amazing to me how little we really know about this gift and for some reason God hasn’t let me let go of my curiosity of it — and before I had never understood the “desire the greater gifts, esp the gift or prophecy” verse but I can definitely say that now I have this crazy desire for it.

(from my journal, 3/20/08)
Your voice
flattens mountains
rulers tremble before You
but right now I beg to be so near
as to hear Your voice
Say what You will
“peace be still”
or that You know my name
You can whisper in the dark
or open the clouds
but please speak
I will wait
straining with ears open
listening for a voice I’ve never heard
a voice I’ll know right away
If You want it to be a secret
I won’t tell a soul or
I’ll run from village to village shouting
In the silence of the night
or in the clamor of a busy day
let me hear Your voice
Speak, I beg You, speak to me
Is one word too much to ask
from a voice that flattens mountains? -me

Wayne Grudem (author of Systematic Theology) says that prophecy is different now than in the OT but it can be defined as “something that God reveals or suddenly brings to mind” meant to be encouraging and edifying the church. Ever had a moment when you need to pray for someone and then later you find out they were in a lot of trouble at that moment? Prophecy. Ever felt the need to share a Scripture with or call someone randomly, to find out that that’s EXACTLY what they needed? Prophecy. It can also look like visions or specific words for a certain person, even though the one speaking doesn’t understand what it’s about… I have always thought that I had the spiritual gift of encrouagement but now I want more - I want to be so in tune with God and His Spirit that I can speak words to His children, to be an instrument of encouragement that comes directly from Him and in no way comes from me - just take me out of the picture completely.