Little Paxton - Hearing and doing

We talked for quite some time this evening, mostly wrestling with practical questions of what to do. Then we prayed and found that the Lord had much more to say to us than we had said to one another!

Jim is troubled that there is so much need in Britain, society is almost entirely worldly and the church is not standing up for good moral standards; nor are we helping those in need in body, mind and spirit. He told us that he believes the church needs to be active if we are to turn this situation around.

I asked provocative questions mostly around the issue of motivation. I feel we need to do more than help people, we need to hear what Yahweh is saying to us and do that.

Sean said little at first, but after listening for a long time he made the point that we can effectively do nothing because everything depends utterly on the Lord. The only thing we need, and the one thing we cannot do without, is to get to know him better. Sean is absolutely right.

As Floyd McClung puts it, if we love him we will worship him, if we love one another we will care for one another, if we love the lost we will reach out to them with the good news.

We spent some time in prayer and received several visions and words from the Spirit. Here are some of the highlights.

I had a prophecy, 'There are not just three of you here, there is a fourth person right here with you. Your desire to be with me is not as strong as my desire to be with you. I love you so much, I will show you what to do. Listen and you will hear, look and you will see.'

He told us that we need to be still. Only when we stop being busy and active can we hear his soft voice speaking into our hearts.

Jim mentioned how Jesus had told the disciples to throw the net out on the other side of the boat and they caught a huge quantity of fish. These were seasoned and skilled fishermen, they knew their business well but because he told them to do it, they did it. And the result was overwhelming. We are just like them. We know how to plan and carry out the work of church ministry and mission. But Jesus shows us a better way, a way not of skill and planning and wasted effort, but a way of simple obedience.

Jim had a picture of an amazingly aromatic shrub, it represents the aroma of Jesus. I was struck by the thought that if we stay close to him we will always be aware of his aroma, it speaks of the essence of his nature - loving, kind, knowledgeable, wise, powerful yet humble.

Sean described a picture of a massive lake, it was crystal clear in the shallows and he could see the fish swimming nearby. But it was completely dark further out in the middle and he could see nothing there. Sean felt he was waiting to see what would happen. He looked at the fish but he didn't want to look up because it was so very dark.

Jim almost immediately commented that we should fish where we can see, beyond is the darkness where we can see nothing. We need to know where the fish are, they are where we are!