A Time to Ponder

The former was the case of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. The angel appeared to him on the right side of the altar, which was a clue to Zacharias that God had a personal message for him. Had the angel appeared on the left side of the altar, the message would have been for the people.

Those of us who have public ministries requiring us to constantly have new material to preach may find ourselves in such a situation. Our ongoing temptation is to indiscriminately preach every new thing that God shows us. When God gives a personal word, we should keep those things private, pondering them only in our own hearts until He gives permission to do otherwise.

We should resist all temptation to broadcast our private revelations. To do so is to jeopardize all that God intends in our personal lives that would spring out of that revelation. God often seals our lips inwardly, like He did physically those of Zacharias, to keep us from broadcasting indiscriminately and presumptuously to others that which was intended for our personal edification, instruction, and/or notification.

Personal revelation must be carefully and thoughtfully ingested and digested in the hidden places of the heart that we might glean the maximum benefit from the word given. While in the immediate grip of fresh revelation, we may be tempted to draw wrong and inconsistent conclusions, thus perverting and/or thwarting the intentions for which the Father gave it. It takes time and deep consideration to unravel and properly apply the mysteries of the Father’s revelation.

There are times when we go through a dearth of meaning in life causing us to lose our sense of personal significance. This is often accompanied by a loss of self-esteem. It is easy at such times to grasp at any new thing that will shore up our public image and stroke our sense of personal significance. Such presumptuous use of personal revelation will cause us to make public application of things intended for private use only. In so doing we cheapen the word given, strip it of personal meaning, and bring famine to the inner person instead of the abundance that God intended.

Truth in one’s life should be like an iceberg. For every inch of revelation that is put out for public consumption, there should be many inches that are hidden away in the inner man. When a messenger of God runs dry in his public life it is a sure indicator that he does not take time to restore and to restock the inner man. We can be so busy doing Kingdom work that we fail to take time to privately saturation ourselves in Kingdom truth.

I am not one that can read a book in one sitting. I am a slow learner and it takes time for me to consider not just the spoken things but also the unspoken things that God speaks into my heart if He is given opportunity. When one does not constantly refill the inner man, he will find himself simply parroting information that he gleans from others. It is easy to just be a reporter of the revelations of others instead of one who speaks out of the abundance of his own heart

Private revelations are the spiritual substance that gives meaning, character, and value to those that are given for public discourse. One must learn from which side of the altar the angel is speaking so that he can make proper application to the truth spoken.

Jeff

• Jefferson H. and Norma R. Floyd, CO-directors • Jubilee International • P. O. Box 572 • Noblesville, IN 46061