A mark is defined as a small
area on a surface having a different color from its surroundings; a visible
impression or stain; a line, figure or symbol made as an indication or record
of something.
A prophet will definitely be prophetic,
but a prophetic person is not necessarily a prophet. Prophecy is one of the nine gifts of the
Spirit, found in 1 Corinthians 12, and it is found in Romans 12 as a gift that
operates in the church. Prophecy is when
God wants to speak through you to His people to edify, comfort and exhort the
church. Anyone who is open to God can
prophesy; however there are some people who operate in the gift of prophecy on
a frequent basis; but that does not make you a prophet.
Prophets, found in Ephesians
4, is a part of the 5-fold ministry or ascension gift and they carry a mantle
(authority) of that office. The
preparation and training of a prophet is greater, longer and will cost you
everything. This is not something you
can put down because you are tired or you don’t feel like it anymore. God is your trainer, not man. Your pastor or the prophetic classes’ people
offer can speak to the God in you; encouraging and strengthening you, but ONLY
God Himself can train you as His prophet.
He is the one you are accountable to and who you will answer to.
Every prophet bears a
different “mark.” That mark identifies
the uniqueness and grace of your assignment; what God called you to
fulfill. Unlike some people who may get their
messages/sermons from the internet or textbook; God released prophets will
always have to bear the message they deliver.
What that means is you must be the first partaker of the word God gives
you. You must walk that word out and His
word will be tried in you and proven that it works. In doing so, you bear the mark of that
message that causes you to walk in the authority of that word while carrying
the glory of it.
Psalms 12:16, “The words of the Lord are
pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified
seven times.” Psalms 18:30, “As for God, his way is
perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to
all those that trust in him.” Jeremiah
12:3, “But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen
me, and tried mine heart toward thee…” Isaiah 28:16,
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a
foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a
sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”
Scripture tells us that God’s
word and your heart must both be tried; meaning that word will be tested and
has to be found true before it becomes a mark in you which allows you to carry
the weight of authority in that arena.
When my business moved into a storefront I thought I arrived, but I
quickly heard God say, “It’s a proving ground.”
That word means – an environment that serves to demonstrate whether
something really works, a place where the military test equipment. I’ve always known that God was preparing and
equipping me for ministry, but from that day forward, I saw and began to
experience God’s training at a new level and on a new platform.
A soldier that goes into war
will bear the marks on his body from the battles he fought and won. He may have 50 battle wounds and if you point
to them, he will have a story that details where he was and how he got it. That fact that he can talk about it, means he
got the victory over his opponent. 2 Timothy
2 says, “…endure hardness like a good
soldier of Jesus Christ…” God’s
will for your life is laid out in the Scriptures as well as the revelation
and prophetic words we receive along our journey. God’s way is HOW He brings you into
the fulfillment of His promises and that is what we fight. When you fight or relieve yourself of the
pressure in the process, you never allow the word to be tried in your life;
foregoing the mark that you must bear to carry the weight of His glory on your
life. You must pay the price for the
anointing and when you do that, the authority and weight of God will rest on
you. Man releases people every day into
these 5-fold offices that God never released; therefore they carry the title of
the office, but not the weight and authority of the office.
I encourage you with this word
from the Lord, to stop seeing the pressure in your life as the devil or the
other person which causes you to back up, shut down or disconnect. The PROPHET, like any other ministry gift is
formed and tried in the fire. Everything
that begins to come up out of your soul when the heat is on, is what God is
after. It cannot stay and must be
surrendered to God. When you (1) stay in
the fire, (2) stay consistent with what God originally gave you before the fire
came, (3) bow in His presence and (4) fight in prayer; that is how you will
begin to gain victory over the OLD self and come into a vessel that will be fit
for the Master’s use. Proverbs tells us
that “…the hand of the diligent rules.” So when you are careful and thorough
about the work God put in your hands, no matter what season you find yourself
in along this journey; He will cause you to rule in dimensions that no man can
put you. Let me say it another way; “…
when you are faithful over the little, He will make you ruler over much.”
Love you much and remember,
don’t RUN from the thing God was using to FASHION you as His KINGDOM VESSEL. (Click HERE to read "The Price of Being a Prophet")
Karen M. Presley
God’s Kingdom Ambassador
