Sunday Sermon: Lessons I have Learned from Time and God

by Minister Denise N. Fyffe

Time has taught me many lessons, which I never could have learnt as a child. Time is like a university and experience is the chancellor. Pain and heartbreak has their own reward.

Emerging with scars proves you are a master scholar.

One must live and have lived experiences to not only gain understanding and wisdom. But one must have lived experience to truly believe the stories, cautionary tales, and advice that our fore parents tried to ingrain in us as children.

Nothing can replace time.

And nothing can erase our experiences, well except dementia. Which of itself is a horrible thing.

My life has been littered with lived experiences and I have been mandated to share the knowledge, wisdom and understanding so painfully gained. At the helm of all this is God, and at His right hand is Jesus Christ. But within is hand the scroll which dictates the terms of my call.

I don’t truly know if I have fulfilled all the prerequisites written there. But what I do know is that as best as I can – I will fulfill what is in my heart, my mind and my spirit to do.

It is important to understand your mission on earth.

Whatever you were born to do, whatever mission awaits you here on earth, will in some way tug at your psyche from an early age.

There would have to be extenuating circumstances to negate your desire to fulfil your call, but trust somewhere deep inside of you, you will have an urge to explore that particular road on your journey.

As young as maybe 10 or so, I had a desire to write. To create. To put pen to paper. I have told the story before, where I sat on the stairs leading to my neighbors rooftop and said a little prayer in my heart. I think I had a list of goals for my life. One of which was to be a writer. I didn’t know how I would accomplish that, but having read dozens of my mother’s romance novels had sown a seed within the deepest of my soul.

In my teens I too owned dozens of books. I had read hundreds of books by then, and the introvert within me lapped it up. Now I have read thousands. Then, I explored the world through those pages, learned languages and envisioned characters. You see it didn’t matter what the genre or type of books were, God used those seeds to lead me on a path to my destiny.

Since then, I have written thousands of articles. I worked as a copywriter, editor, publisher and I am an author of dozens of books.

But I remember as a child, maybe after I got saved, one word came to me, ‘Oracle’.

Oracle is a term historically used to describe a person through whom divine wisdom or prophecy is communicated. The word “Oracle” refers to someone chosen to speak God’s messages, serve as a vessel for divine revelation, and share spiritual truths, much like the role of a prophet or dreamer.

It drove me. I researched and sought to understand it within a biblical context. That was my first clue that I would have a prophetic call. I wrote little stories. Had no problem passing my CXC English exam, because writing was like breathing to me.

And then, there was the Flow.

What is the flow? I am talking about the prophetic flow, which now seems second nature. But it took some getting used. The cliché would be that its like riding a bike.

The prophetic flow is that harmonious synchronous place one finds in allowing the Holy Spirit to use you to bring forth God’s Word.

Everyone has their way tapping into the prophetic flow. For some it is easier than for others. But my encouragement for you, is to keep working at it and asking God to help you with it.

Many of the lessons, sermons, teachings etc. that I have shared for you on Revealing the Christian Life Ministry website, came through that flow. It is like a river.

You see God is always talking and the only deterrent is us. We are the ones who need to jump into the ‘river’ – into the flow. At first it was difficult for me to stay in the flow. It was like trying to keep your hand over a flame, the urge to withdraw can be overpowering. I still struggle with that at times. I guess it’s like learning how to meditate and tune others out. It takes practice.

But it is through the prophetic flow that I have shared many prophecies that God gave me years ago. About many countries and leaders.

It is that same prophetic flow that allows me to be a dreamer and for God to speak me though dreams and visions, constantly.

Tapping into the prophetic flow, is a part of the Call of a Prophet or a Dreamer. It is of the same stream; from the Holy Spirit. It is God communicating with and through man.

It takes time though.

But all this was not second nature for me. A lot had to happen for me to even become aware that God was indeed communicating with me in dreams and visions, especially. The prophecy part was more ‘in your face.’ I had the gift of tongues from I was saved as a teenager and I couldn’t quite shut up in church when the Holy Spirit was on me, heavy.

It was like trying to keep fire in your bosom, as they say.

But the dreams and visions, well life had to start life-ing for me to be like, “Ok, this is not just your average dream and eating too much before bed.” My spiritual and physical mind had to sync and start to decipher the symbolism. Some dreams/visions were vivid. Some were like trying to understand a rubix cube.

I did what I always did, I read and researched.

Though once I realized I was dreaming every night and remembering those dreams, I followed the instruction in my spirit.

Write them down. Write your dreams down.

They say “obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22) because that led me to research and research led me to sharing with you. And sharing with you lead to developing lessons and that led me to writing a book.

And here I am again, sharing with you.

God is real.

Many explain away the existence of God, but I believe that is folly. That is error and that is a person who is deeply deceived.

I believe God has been strategic with me. He saved me as a child. I believe if he had waited until I was an adult it would take a Jesus and Saul type confrontation on a road with blinding light to convince me. And honestly, knowing what I know now, I am happy to avoid that type of confrontation.

I am an intellectual and as such I require tangible proof to be convinced of anything. And that has been my experience with God. Though not in the way I would have liked.

Unfortunately, I have seen some demonic stuff and had demonic encounters and those have left me 100% assured.

There are physical and spiritual things in this world. No matter what people say. There is a physical and spiritual realm in this world.

That knowledge has only solidified over time. After four decades, my knowledge is once again being stretched.

I am learning as Solomon did that everything gained is folly and truly everything outside of serving God, is vanity. Vanity of vanities … All is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

2 “Vanity[a] of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he [b]toils under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And [c]hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. 8 All things are [d]full of labor; Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after. – Ecclesiastes 1:2-11.

What appealed to me as a youngster no longer stirs an impulse in my soul. All I want is what God wants me to fulfil and to truly be content or happy and have joy. It means I am looking for deeper things. And will quickly evict anything with the appearance of evil from my life too.

Also, I am more forgiving of myself, because I realize that as a man/woman – I am a flawed being. I have always been analytical – yes the overthinking type who will psychoanalyze everything and everyone. But more so myself. And I find that even now I am picking myself apart to gain greater understanding.

This can be a humbling experience.

And I have learned that we have many blind spots, which only others close to us can see.

And in life, to grow. To gain. To truly evolve, one must be willing to pick at those flaws and change them for what is a better version of ourselves.

Relationships that matter will force you to examine the scales of your being and shed what is decrepit.

It will force you to want to be better for others.

Time. Some have a little and some have a lot. But that is subjective. Time flies faster the older you get.

As a child you yearn to be older and have more responsibilities. But there is a shroud that one passes through and when you do, you can never go back. You stop stating your age as a whole and a half, and you start to reverse – claiming to be 21, 25, 30, 33 and the magic numbers. Whereas when we were younger, we claimed to be 16, 18, 21. But time, and life makes us want to reverse course.

Because when you get the responsibilities and independence and you see how life really is, we all want to go back to the younger, carefree version of ourselves – the one with no bills to pay and no responsibilities. The only part I would eliminate is the parent burden and restriction. But it does not matter.

For every man must march to the beat of time and we all march in one direction – getting older.

I pray though, you get wisdom and understanding.

Grab it with both hands from what I am sharing with you. Grab it from anyone who has ever been a cautionary tale. Grab it from the news. Grab it from wise friends. Grab it from anyone who is urging you to be a better version of your self and encouraging you to do more and to be more – in Christ Jesus.

For without Christ is loss. But with Christ is gain.

Remember, everything outside of serving God, is vanity.

Be blessed and be encouraged.

The Invitation

I invite you today to take a deep look and reflect on your life. Is God calling you to be baptized and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you been ignoring him? Have you been facing immense hardships and challenges? What can you do to take the first step and trust that he will help you to take the next step?

Be encouraged.

Be bold. Answer the Call.

In Jesus mighty name, Amen.

 

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About the writer:

Minister Denise N. Fyffe is a devoted Christian, author, and servant of God, whose life is guided by her faith and values. Since accepting Jesus Christ at a young age, she has made it her mission to share her journey and knowledge of the Bible with others. In addition to her passion for writing, Fyffe is actively involved in community outreach, Christian mentorship, and ministering the Word of God.