"Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy"

Tonight I went downtown with my friend austin. Our sole purpose for being there was to deliver prophetic words to people because thats the Lord's desire.

example a:
"But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort."

we're claiming that the Lord speaks to us and we know His voice

example b:
"When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

Prophecy is such an oddly avoided word in the church and it seems to sketch so many people out. The truth is, however, prophecy should be desired and pursued. That's my biblical understanding at least. If Paul's saying he wants all his crew to prophesy I don't see any reason we shouldn't all go after it.
Is it a gift for some people more than others? yes.
Are some people called to be prophets and some not? yes.
Do we all have the ability to hear the Lord's voice and speak it into the lives of others (aka prophecy)? yes.

Back to the beginning, I went downtown tonight with my friend austin and we sat on a bench and waited for the Lord to give us specific words for people so that we could go tell them.

And He did.

i don't have any whack stories. There weren't any people freaking out. It was simple, sweet, and full of peace. The model is --get a word for someone, walk up to them and just tell them, hey. i feel like this is true about you. Or ask, hey do you know anything about this, or is this going on in your life. or whatever.
it's just all about speaking the heart of the Lord over people and testifying to them that He is aware of everything going on in their lives and that He cares.

I do have one favorite moment:
so austin goes and delivers a word to this random girl, just something that the Lord told him. While he's sharing with her she's all like "that totally makes sense. well-said." he walks away and she turns to her friends and says "I think Jesus just spoke to me through that guy over there."

and there you have it.
for that moment, I will take all the crazy labels anyone wants to give me. The love of God poured out today is worth any loss of dignity, embarrasment, or rejection. It's just so true that I have nothing to lose. The affections of God are permanent in my life and i want for nothing else. I have said it before but i just want to believe it and grow stronger in belief exponentially every moment of the day. Boldness is so much better than fear, confidence is so much better than unrest, and identity will always trump insecurity.

identity:
i am a son of the living, loving most high God.
i have every good and perfect gift given to me from the Father of lights.
He gave me prophecy because it is the testimony of His Son.
I am His. prophecy (just one of His gifts) is mine.

bam-shaw.