Listener: This morning the first words that I heard were This is not a time for prayer but for repentance! The Holy Spirit had given me a message yesterday for the Bible Study lesson, and I had decided not to include it in the lesson, forgetting that several weeks ago the Holy Spirit had strongly emphasized that we do not get to pick and choose what we will obey and what we will ignore. Now He has told me to put the message in both Daily Bread and the Bible Study. So, here it is … All sins, past, present and future, were covered at the Cross: Jesus paid the price, the penalty for those sins. Yet in Luke 11:4 in the Lord’s Prayer, the model prayer which Jesus gave to the disciples, Believers are told to pray “forgive us our sins.” So why do Believers need to confess their sins as they occur if all of their sins have already been forgiven? Holy Spisrit’s answer was The key is repentance. You can repent only when you acknowledge an action, attitude or thought as sin. To confess means to acknowledge; to repent means to both acknowledge and to change your mind, to turn away from. What you seek in confession and repentance is not to be forgiven but to claim the experience of the forgiveness already provided for you at the cross.. to be freed from the sin, not from any consequences of that sin but from its continued influence in your life. … And, now Holy Spirit has given me a second hard word to deliver this morning…not hard for you but hard for me because it is personal. Two months ago, He gave me an important word for someone. When I asked if I was to speak the word or to pray for that person based on the information that the Holy Spirit had given me, His answer was very clear: PRAY. And so I prayed. Then, two or three weeks ago, The Holy Spirit began to tell me that He had given me a message which I had not delivered. Confused, I searched my revelation notebook to confirm the first instructions and found that He had clearly said Do not speak, Pray. For two days I worried about this apparent contradiction. It seemed that I must have misunderstood either the first or the most recent instructions from the Holy Spirit, and I was most disturbed by my failing to hear His words correctly. Then this morning He responded to my confusion, graciously not pointing out the obvious, that I should have asked Him for clarification sooner. He explained: THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW… SPEAK. Then He continued, I wanted you to include this personal experience as an example of how I will lead those who read it when they receive their “ears to hear.” It reveals confusion in your understanding and shows how I clarify any confusion that may occur. Remember, I am a speaking Spirit who teaches. Finally, He gave me these wonderfully encouraging words, Today’s message illustrates one of the reasons why I chose you to become the Listener… you are willing to share how you experience my teaching so that others may learn as you learn.
