Sunday, August 16, 2009

Kryptonite

“I sense that you sometimes have feelings that are not your own. That you feel what other people around you are feeling.”

Steven, a middle aged man with a brain to large for his skull, smiles at me on the little patio outside of the JH Ranch lodge. He has an unusually refined ability to hear from the L-rd, and now he begins to share with me some of the things that the Lord is trying to tell me.

“What can we do for you today?”

He smiles at me and then at his wife who sits in the third chair of our little triangle.

“I want to hear whatever truth the Lord has to share with me” I say with extremely well masked skepticism. I am not one to blindly believe in anyone who claims to have words from the Lord.

We begin to talk, and I soon admit that I have come to see him because of a prejudice that I have against the wealthy people, or more specifically, the culture of wealth. Whenever I meet someone from the money culture, I immediately judge them by assuming that they will judge me and that they won’t like me.

“People will often live up to your expectations,” Steven says, “so if you expect them to judge you, they will. Instead try to look for the good in everyone, and you will usually be able to find it. In fact, I believe that you have a gift for finding the good in people and that you will begin to reveal things to people about themselves that they never knew before”

We prayed for deliverance from my prejudice and, just as I was about to leave, I asked them if there was anything else that the Lord wanted to tell me. That is when they told me about my sensitivity to other peoples feelings.

I have always had a strong ability to tell how people are feeling and what they are thinking about, a characteristic that I inherited from my mother, but I had never considered that some of the feelings that I feel could be coming from other people. According to Pamela, Steven’s wife, G-d allows some people to feel the physical or emotional pain of others so that they can then intercede on behalf of that person through prayer.

I would love to hear different people’s beliefs about that, specifically any beliefs that can be backed up by scriptures.


4 comments:

Phil B said...

Andy, Yep, you got that from yer Ma. You are wise to seek this sort of counsel. I think he is likely correct.

Keep up the good work.

Robert G said...

Having been a recipient of similar words while at the Ranch, I have come to respect the impact that intercessors have in clarifying God's impressions to us. I would listen carefully with your spirit, as Truth often comes in unexpected ways. Anyway, it sounds like Pamela was referencing the spiritual gift of mercy. There are several " gift lists" , but Rom. 12:8 is often paired with the specific exhortation in Rom. 12:15-16. Might be worth some time meditating here.

Robert G said...

Please forgive my error in posting that profile name. I use this profile to follow another blog, but that name is presumptuous at best.

Andrew Bishop said...

hahaha, its okay Dr. G. I appreciate your input!