Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Abraham was a man like other men until God spoke to him changing him forever.
Genesis 12:1-4 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
(Abraham believed what God said to him and therefore Abraham did according to the instruction given to him by the word which God spoke from heaven.)
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
(This is exactly what we do today. God reveals something to us by giving us HIS word from heaven and we believe and act according to that word because we believe it was God bringing that word to us.)
After God spoke to Abraham, he built an alter to the Lord and he called upon the name of the Lord. (Genesis 12:8)
Some of us have the experience of joining a church and being baptized in water, but not being born again by the Spirit of God. Though we attend a church group, we do not change and we continue to live like the world. Later, after we are born again with God revealing HIMSELF to us by HIS Spirit, we are very different. Now we want to know things of God.
Thus Jesus says: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
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On December 6, 2018, I fell at my house in Lubbock, Texas. As the ambulance people were rolling me past the front door of my house, I heard the following word: "You'll never see this house again."
I knew I had heard from God.
Therefore I put that house up for sale immediately, because I believed what I had heard.
At that time a women from our church group said, "I don't see how you can do this."
I replied, "Well ... I believe I have heard from God."
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Throughout our lives, God speaks to us by bringing instructions to our mind or by giving us information upon which we act.
Our faith is in God and in that word given us by God.
And that word is an anchor for our soul in the days that follow.
We enter into the way of God, the will of God, and the blessing of God as we believe that word that came down to us from heaven and as we do according to that word which we have heard.
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Jesus says:
John 6:32-33 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is HE which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
41-42 The Jews then murmured at Him, because HE said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
(They could only see by natural eyes for they were not born again although they were the religious leaders. They were also envious of Jesus because of the miracles which were causing the people to come to Him.)
43-45 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of (by) God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of (from) the Father, cometh unto me.
There is a vast difference between God speaking to us, learning from the Father, and us looking for something with our natural mind.
I Corinthians 2:9-13 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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John 6:48-51 Jesus said: I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
(Jesus, The Word, is that bread of life.)
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
The living bread is that word God reveals to us. That word comes down from heaven to us. The revealed word of God to us on the matter at hand is the way, the truth, the life.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
That word can come to us through a scripture ... or it could be an instruction, a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom.
Examples: A man in our church group went into his back yard and noticed his overflowing storage shed. He thought, "Maybe I should add another storage shed for my stuff."
Then he heard the following, "Why don't you just get rid of the stuff?"
This was a word of wisdom for this man. He was approximately 74 at that time. He had heart trouble. And within a very few years he died.
But we follow that word because we believe that word came down from God.
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In 2011, Pam Padgett, had this word stand out to her.
Micah 2:10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
Pam felt God was showing her to quit her secular job in computer programming at Fed Ex.
She had sufficient years to retire.
God didn't show her anything that she would be doing if she retired, and she was relatively young at that time, 56-years-old. As a programmer her salary was over $100,000 per year which she would have to give up, taking a significant reduction in retirement money.
But she believed she had heard from God, so she retired.
The only thing that matters in any issue is: Did God tell me to do this.?
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If we have a pattern of following God, often the previous step sets the stage for the next step.
In Pam's case, she lived a debt free life. Her house was paid for so she didn't have a mortgage. All her bills were paid monthly so she didn't owe anyone.
When the word came showing her to retire and leave that high paying job, she was in a good position to leave.
One characteristic showing the wisdom that is from above is: easy to be intreated
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
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Jesus said:
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
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Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
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