While it is good to hear testimonies of God’s power and understand the process of stewarding long term prophetic words, this information is useless without a deeper revelation of God’s love. Ultimately, the love of God is what sustains and motivates all Holy Spirit led prophesy.
Why? Out of God’s desire to give us eternity.
Jesus is God’s complete prophetic word to mankind.
In Jesus Christ, we discover that God’s primary motive and purpose for prophesy is love.
In the beginning, God knits together each person using his cords of love.
For you created my inmost being;
139:13
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.
Hosea 11:4
This secret weaving is a holy mystery.
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
15 My frame was not hidden from you
Psalm 139:15-16
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Through love, God keeps weaving us into communities. His love in other people calls us and aligns us to our right places.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Romans 10:14
Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
John 17:20-23
Through love, Jesus integrates and binds together his diverse people as one body. The covenant God makes to us all collectively in Christ is the foundation of Christian community.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[a] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:12
Whoever has made a covenant with Jesus, through his sacrifice and their faith, is automatically a member of God’s covenant family.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:17
Healthy communities are like a womb, forming and reforming us until we fully resemble Jesus.
And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13
Through covenants that reproduce God’s love, marriage also binds us together in Christ.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24
When we are ensnared by sin, God’s cords of love break us free from the entangling cords of sin.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
Hebrews 12:1
And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:26
The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
Psalm 116:3
God’s patience bears with us until the end.
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.”
Jeremiah 31:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Isaiah 63:9
And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
Luke 13:16
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Matthew 18:21
“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
Like Love, Good Prophesy Brings Life
The Holy Spirit only speaks out of God’s love.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
John 16:13
By love, God speaks in order to break forth his overflowing, eternal life out of lifelessness.
But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:3
“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”
Ezekiel 37:9
Even challenging words are life-giving when they are motivated by God’s love.
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
2 Timothy 4:2
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. 9And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:8-10
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16
God speaks direction, encouragement, and correction to nations so that he can bring them into the fullness of his plans for them.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Matthew 23:37
And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come[a] and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.
Isaiah 66:18
The measure of good prophesy isn’t accuracy, but the extent that it gives life by overflowing with the love of God.
God spoke to create all things in the beginning…
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:1-3
Through his prophets, he still speaks to give the nations and people a hope and a future.
Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!
Isaiah 40:3
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
John 1:4-5
This hope and eternal future can only ever be found in Jesus Christ.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
1 John 2:13
By love, Gods words break us out of death into overflowing, eternal life.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 5:24
Eternal life is like continuous resurrection that was in the beginning, and will be again.
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”
Genesis 1:20
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:4
| Overflowing Life | Natural Life |
| Originates in love | Can feel distant |
| Complete | Partial |
| Life-giving | Unsatisfying |
| Eternal | Temporary |
Fullness of Life and Eternity
Unlike love, prophesy ultimately ends. This is because like our natural life spans on earth, prophesy is partial.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:8-12
When Jesus is permanently with his people in a New Heavens and New Earth, the human heart will finally have satisfied its desire to put on eternity.
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.e
John 5:28-29
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations… There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-2, 5
The love of God in Jesus Christ will have brought his people fully alive, giving them new resurrection bodies that will last the entire scope of eternity.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: “I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 37:5-6
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;[a] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:42-49
This is the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people: that by their faith they will taste eternal life.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:7
Conclusion
From the beginning to the end, in this life and the next, God’s love is the driving force in our divine rescue story. Salvation, restoration, and resurrection are all motivated by love. They are all different facets of God’s overflowing life. Prophetic ministry, at the national or personal level, is all about encountering a God who knows what we need. He speaks powerful words motivated by love to bring all people to this abundant life.
Ultimately, all people who are willing to receive Jesus will be swept up with God into the fullness of his life, into his eternal, never-ending story.
Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.
Friends: We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.
She: How right they are to adore you!
Song of Songs 1:4
Prayer
Thank you Jesus, that you give us the privilege of prophesying your words of love and life. The level of trust that you have put in your human servants puts us in awe.
Please give us words that will show the people who you are.
May our lives be a vibrant representation of your life, in every way, big and little.
Through us, may the partial put on eternity.
Age of the Unexpected 
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