Recently the Lord spoke to me, "The prodigals will come home when they are no longer being enabled".
In referencing the word, 'prodigal' as a noun, it can be defined as such; 1: one who spends or gives lavishly and foolishly; or, 2: one who has returned after an absence (Merriam-Webster).
In using these definitions as guidelines, many in the body of Christ can therefore be considered as a type of prodigal in one way, or another, at some point within a lifetime. This could take in a prodigal as one not merely spending lavishly in terms of money and resources, but also to include the careless spending of time, talents and possibly even in the area of our callings (casting pearl before swine, perhaps). It also may include a parting, from our first love, the use of our gifts and talents, a calling, a physical household, or possibly a departure from specific convictions of lifestyle.
Enable - (Merriam-Webster) : to make (someone or something) able to do or to be something : to make (something) possible, practical, or easy.
God said 'the prodigals will come home when they are no longer being enabled'. Have we unknowingly been enablers? It's time that we do a thorough accountability check to evaluate whether we are, out of good intentions, potentially enabling the very ones we are praying for. It was by no coincidence, this word was spoken to me the day before an opportunity arose to be an enabler, within my own life, or maybe I should say, to continue to be an enabler. The Lord allowed me to see, the very action that I thought was being helpful and compassionate, was in reality, harmful because it was enabling someone to continue down a dead-end path, rather than becoming awakened to a better and more beneficial way for them. The growth they needed would require for them to go through a bit of growing pains, which is never easy to walk through nor is it easy to watch someone dear to you walking through it. Even so, the truth remains, sometimes growing pains are a necessary part of acquiring maturity and a healthy life.
Also, I sense the nudging to not only check ourselves in how we might be enabling others, but to also take the responsibility upon ourselves and do a deep heart check of how we might be enabling ourselves to continue on a path that is not beneficial. What excuses have we been telling ourselves? What have we been blaming someone else for when we, in all honesty, need to bring the accountability back to ourselves?
This is not a call to condemnation. Not at all! In fact, it's quite the opposite. It's a call from the Holy Spirit for us to step up to our full potential He has placed within us, as well as, making sure we are not being a hindrance to those around us from walking in their full potential. Our good intentions to help take care of others might sometimes prevent them from a much needed step of the learning process they are in need of, to go higher. There is no shame or condemnation in realizing we have been enabling someone else or, ourselves. This is a call to freedom and a call to reaching a higher altitude for vision and advancement in our lives. There are instances when our intervention can be as a stumbling block as opposed to the stepping stone our good intentions wanted it to be.
A few days prior to this word, I had a dream in the night. I dreamed; a good friend of mine was involved in dating two different men at the same time. These two men were very different from one another in pretty much every aspect. One man was much more attractive to the natural eye, as well as having an outgoing personality that was full of energy and charisma. It seemed that whenever she was with him, it was a good time, filled with nothing but fun. Everything was about what seemed good to do in the moment, being recklessly carefree. Time spent with him was all about being a continual adventure and party. There really wasn't much of anything that had to do with getting to know one another on a personal level or anything of depth. Nor was he a man of commitment in any sort of way.
The other man she was dating was slightly older, not such a heart throb in appearance or personality. He wasn't reckless in his spending, or in the way he carried out fun activities, nor was he someone who made decisions on a whim without thought of consequence. He was a man of integrity, stability, depth, security, true to his word, bearing a peaceful strength, genuine in his love and commitments. He was also a faithful provider who was also filled with wisdom, yet in no way a fuddy dud who didn't enjoy the positive adventures in life and fun.
My friend was caught up in the circumstances of enjoying the dating relationships of both men. She was passionately drawn to the more reckless man due to a desire for the thrill of adventure that gave her an escape from the mundane, everyday life. She also deeply desired security and commitment, of which she knew he would never offer nor could provide because it was not within his core to do so.
The other man, with the peaceful strength about him, deeply loved my friend and desired to marry her. Not going along with the usual traditions in asking for her hand in marriage, he instead, chose to do a surprise wedding for her. In the same way as one might arrange a surprise birthday party. He contacted her friends and family members to help strategically take her to the venue on the correct date and ensure she was dressed in the wedding dress he provided for her, at the correct time. We were also requested to be there to witness this event as those who loved her and desired her to be blessed.
The day of the surprise wedding came and we were all there. Just as planned, my friend was there in her wedding dress. Without question, she wore the dress. The other man was there, positioned at the entrance as an usher. He directed the guests to their seats and the unknowing 'bride to be', down the aisle. She proceeded to walk down the aisle, still having no clue of the destiny awaiting her at the end. I watched with such joy as my friend so beautifully walked toward her groom.
When she arrived at the alter, her groom greeted her by placing on her finger the symbol of his commitment to her. In the same moment as she said, "yes" to her groom, they also entered into an instantaneous marriage covenant. There was no lag time between the acceptance of his proposal and the covenant being established.
As the dream was ending I could feel her heart was fulfilled with everything she longed for, but had not previously realized it would ALL be found within the relationship of this one man alone.
This dream can be viewed as a sort of parable for insight into many people's experiences in the process of coming fully into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
How often do we start out wanting a relationship with Him but unwilling to give up the seductions of the world? Therefore we find ourselves dating both - the world & the Lord, without a genuine commitment to either one.
We are represented as the Bride. Jesus Christ is the Groom. The friends and family assisting the groom in the surprise wedding represent those who are praying diligently for their friends and relatives to enter into what the Lord has for them. Although, the prayers of these people may be in secret and not seeming to show much signs of fruit initially, their prayers are effectively powerful and, will prove to be in due season.
My friend put the dress on without question because she was being adorned with what had been created for her from the time she was in her mother's womb. She had been created to wear this bridal gown and it had been created to become her covering, adorning her to identify as the Bride to Whom she belonged to.
When we step into that which we have been created for and likewise was created for us, it becomes a part of our being. It is connected and woven into the very fiber of our identity and we find a greater sense of completion as who we truly are. We were created for a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Revelation 19: "7)Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. 8)And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
I asked the Lord as to why I saw the reckless man at the wedding, positioned at the entrance as an Usher. He gave me understanding that in our covenant with the Lord, life is not void of adventure and thrill, as our carnal minds would have us to believe. In fact, as we enter into our walk with the Lord in the fullness He has beckoned us into, adventure awaits us, in it's refined form, (that is without the presence and the quest of superficial and temporary gratification). It greets and escorts us along the way in the direction we are called to go in. It simply does not carry the same recklessness and lack of discernment in what is truly satisfying, as that in which the thrills, according to the world points us toward. In other words, what we perceived as adventurous and thrilling in the scope of the world's viewpoint, takes on an entirely new appearance in the presence of the Lord's refining. It transforms to an adventure with lasting pleasures and eternal rewards.
We are created to find our fulfillment from the covenant relationship with our Creator. It's how we were designed, and so, it is the only way we will ever find true, lasting contentment and become completely satisfied. If we have not entered His covenant, we find ourselves on a continuous journey to fill the void within us. During this dry season of wilderness we have been walking through, so many within the Body have been on an endeavor to find fulfillment wherever it can be found. There are some who have been searching in places that provide only a false fulfillment, and gratification that is superficial, therefore temporary. This is similar to feeding the natural stomach. You eat but the food does not provide a lasting solution. In a short amount of time, you are hungry again and must eat often to satisfy the demand of the stomach.
All of the attempts we make to fill this hunger with anything other than relationship with the Father, are merely temporal solutions and will not even come close in comparison with what the depths of the heart is yearning for. The instant gratification the world offers, only leaves us with a bigger void and a frustration for the lack of finding what hits the spot.
The Lord is sending out an invitation to each and everyone of us in this season to return to Him, or possibly come to Him for the first time ever. His desire is for us to enter into relationship with Him, with all of who we are, and walk in our full calling in Him.
We are in the entrance of a season, or time, if you will, of this present generation that will soon be seen as unprecedented to any time before this. We are a people who are called not only to preach the word of the Lord with our voices but also to preach it through demonstration. Miracles, healings, deliverance of demonic bondage, raising the dead who have gone prematurely, salvation being received by those who are considered the most unlikely people to receive salvation; all of what I have mentioned here are merely a hint of what we are called to be manifesting and are at the verge of seeing and experiencing. The Lord is delivering to us a great beckoning to walk away from ALL that is hindering us from stepping into the fullness of relationship and destiny He has marked us for. He desires us to be awakened to His kingdom within us and reject the temptations from the world's draw that lead nowhere beneficial.
1Corinthians 10: 23) All things are lawful [that is, morally legitimate, permissible], but not all things are beneficial or advantageous. All things are lawful, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. 24) Let no one seek [only] his own good, but [also] that of the other person.
The true thrill and fulfillment is found in Him. He alone can provide us with more than all of which we have been searching for. When we entrust Him with who we are and all that we have, nothing is ever squandered.
This is an amazing time to be alive! He is an amazing Father calling us back to Him in such a loving way and with such a rewarding destiny, desiring that we not miss out on anything He has intended for us in such a time as this. This is a time for awakening and celebration!
Ten years ago, the Lord gave me a similar dream to this one. As I've been putting this together, I have not been able to shake the nudging of Him wanting me to address the former one as well. In my logical thinking I would assume this recent dream would replace the former and be enough, but He knows better than I.
With the dreams being given to me ten years apart from one another, I felt urged to search out the meaning of the number ten. In the Hebrew context, the number ten is a number representing - shelemut. The Hebrew meaning of shelemut is; completion or, order. With that being said, I believe the Lord is speaking to us that within the contents and layers of these two dreams is direction, leading us to a divine completion and order in Him.
In Part 2, I will narrate and explain the first of the two dreams, as was given to me ten years ago.
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